Education & Training

CHCA is committed to strengthening the existing health centers through education and training. CHCA supports its membership by providing, or making provisions for, various trainings, conferences, and continuing education opportunities to assist the CHCs with staff development, recruitment and retention, board development and other staff training needs.

CHCA provides, or facilitates the provision of, training through a variety of means and on a variety of topics that are pertinent to health center operations and the quality and financial management of health care services provided to their unique patient populations. 

CHCA determines the training and education needs through various means including board and staff training needs assessments, CHCA identified board priorities, input from CHCA network members, and mandates in the grant awards accepted by CHCA.  Additionally, CHCA staff continually survey the landscape of health care administration, the health care system and clinical quality initiatives to bring the latest in information and skills training to CHC staff members.

• Board Training & Development
  Initial and on-going education is an important part of the work of CHC board members.  Board training opportunities and information for CHC Boards are offered via a variety of methods.  The CHC Executive Directors may request that CHCA provide personalized board training tailored to the specific needs of their respective Boards and scheduled for their convenience.  CHCA further generally provides some Board training sessions at its annual conference each year.  Further, during the NACHC P&I and CHI, CHC Board members may enroll to participate in CHC Board “Boot Camp” Training.  There are also Board training resources that can be accessed via the Internet to be used individually or collectively in a training session.
  
  CHCA also provides “strategic planning” technical assistance and is available for facilitating CHC Board Strategic Planning Retreats.

• UDS Training
  CHCA provides annual training seminars on the usage of the Uniform Data Set (UDS) software. Past seminars have covered topics such as “Preparing The UDS Report”, which focuses on definitions of data elements, locating and reporting the elements, and common errors and problems to be avoided; and “Using the UDS as a Management Tool”, which focuses on specific elements of the UDS software package useful to management and decision making staff members.
  
  
• Advocacy Training & Development
  
  
• Leadership & Professional Development
  
  
• Annual Conference
  On an annual basis, CHCA staff develops and facilitates a multi-day conference in Central Arkansas that provides topics of interest to, and required of, all CHC staff members.  A theme is chosen that is timely and all general sessions/specialized educational track break-out sessions relate content matter to that central theme idea.  Educational tracks can include Leadership, Communications, Business Operations, Clinical Quality, Financial Management, Emergency Preparedness, Risk Management or Business Skills Development.  This is not only a great opportunity to receiving affordable training from subject matter experts, but also to network with peers and share best practices that enhance the ability of CHCs to fulfill their mission to their patient population.