About

VISION  

We are the exemplary standard of value-based athletic health care for colleges and universities worldwide.   

MISSION  

To provide the highest level of value-based health care to the intercollegiate student-athletes of Delta College.   

CLINICAL PRACTICE MOTTO

With the intent to cultivate, uphold, and enhance an athletic training culture of value-based care, the following clinical practice motto has been developed:

“Supporting you in life and sport: your health, our commitment.”

OBJECTIVES 

To bring about the successful accomplishment of the athletic training mission statement, “to provide the highest level of value-based health care to the intercollegiate student-athletes of Delta College,” seven key strategic objectives have been identified.   

These seven strategic objectives include:  

         Objective #1: Conduct comprehensive pre-participation examinations. 

         Objective #2: Implement whole-person health and wellness risk reduction programs.  

         Objective #3: Perform systematic initial patient evaluations, education, and care planning.  

         Objective #4: Implement systematized ongoing patient care.  

         Objective #5: Utilize release from care/discharge criteria.  

         Objective #6: Prepare system and team for next academic/athletic year.  

         Objective #7: Maintain ongoing clinical scholarship and team development.  

WHAT IS VALUE-BASED CARE  

The concept of value-based care focuses primarily on three things:  1) the quality of health care delivered, 2) the providers performance, and 3) the patients experience/satisfaction.  The value then, in “value-based care” is determined and defined by the patient, rather than the provider.  A value-based health care system implements a integrative strategy that places the patient in the driver seat of their care.  This system, if implemented successfully, encourages health care providers to uphold the components of patient-centered care through concepts, such as shared-decision making.  A value-based health care system would also encourage the implementation and utilization of improved patient education strategies necessary to empower patients to make informed decisions.  

Opposite of this model, would be a volume-based system, which promotes the increase of health care service quantity, rather than quality.  In a volume-based system, health care providers are incentivized to perform, oftentimes needless or low-quality, services for the sake of improving organizational outcomes.  In this system, the successful outcomes of the organization become the primary metric of successful performance, rather than the patients experience or satisfaction.   

Within a collegiate athletic setting, a system rooted in volume-based care seeks to decrease secondary insurance claims, decreased healthcare equipment/supply costs, and strives to increase student-athlete game time with the intent to win championships.  However, while these things are positive organizational goals, they do not address the specific needs, goals, values, and preferences of the individual student-athlete. For example, an athletic trainer may provide rehabilitative services, including prophylactic taping and bracing, to manage pain and ensure continued playing time, but what about the student-athletes overall health-related quality of life.  A student-athlete who has manageable knee pain during soccer practice, may still struggle to sit for prolonged periods of time during class, have difficulty walking upstairs, and/or may experiences chronic osteopathic pain later in life.   With a model of value-based care, health care services are provided in collaboration with the patient, while considering their short- and long-term health-related outcomes.   

Value-based care has been proposed as a means of reforming our healthcare system to combat rising healthcare costs, aging populations, and increased rates of chronic diseases.  To address this, the Institute of Medicine (IOM), now the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), has developed competencies necessary for every health care provider.  These competencies include evidenced-based practice (EBP), patient-centered care (PCC), interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP), health information technology and informatics (HIT), and continuous quality improvement (QI). Additionally, consistent with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) has set forth the sixth competency of professionalism for athletic trainers.  

In accordance with Delta College’s vision, mission, and core values, athletic trainers are expected to design and implement interventions, and interact with student-athletes in a way that fosters inclusiveness and promotes a sense of belonging by providing equitable value-based health care services.