NASHUA – Greater Nashua Mental Health officials said they are committed to serving the residents of the region with the best care possible.

In keeping with this commitment, officials have been participating in a joint initiative between the Northern New England Practice Transformation Network and the New Hampshire Citizens Health Initiative at the University of New Hampshire’s Institute for Health Policy and Practice, in a national project known as the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative.

Greater Nashua Mental Health was presented with a Certificate of Completion as an organization of Exemplary Practice Status for its work during the project. It was noted that by utilizing evidence-based practices such as its Emergency Services and Assertive Community Treatment programs, GNMH saved approximately $598,000 during a one-year period, by reducing the need for Emergency Department and other inpatient care.

In addition, the use of better data collection techniques and training that are part of this health initiative have shown improvements leading to success in tobacco screening. Because of the increased health risks of many of our patients, GNMH providers consider it extremely important to support clients in quitting smoking in order to improve their health outcomes. When improved data collection and reporting techniques and training were put into place to capture the rate of tobacco screening, it was found that GNMH providers are consistently screening within the 80-100% range of patients, and at last report the rate was 88.2%. These are just two concrete examples of the benefits being seen by the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative.

“It was great to be able to celebrate the hard work of GNMH,” Katherine Cox, MSW, Project Director of the New Hampshire Citizens Health Initiative at UNH, said.

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