Strengthening the Primary Care Workforce Through Education & Certification

The Healthcare Innovation Collaborative (HI Collaborative) is a nonprofit that works to improve health outcomes by strengthening the healthcare workforce across the country. It oversees two national certification boards: the National Board for Primary Care Educators (NBPCE) and the National Board for Practice Facilitators (NBPF). These boards set and maintain high standards for training programs that prepare people to work in key primary care roles.

Explore Certifications About HIC
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Certification Program

Primary Care Educators

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The Certified Primary Care Educator (CPCE) program trains and certifies new or existing health care professionals, community health workers, pharmacists, and other members of the primary care team to provide high quality, reimbursable, evidence based patient education on prevention and chronic disease management. Located within or in close association with primary care practices and existing primary care teams, CPCEs address major gaps in access to patient education and self-management training, including diabetes prevention and management, obesity, cardiometabolic disease, and self-management support for other chronic diseases.

CPCEs provide a dedicated focus on effective, reimbursable patient education and support for care management proven to be effective for improving population-based health outcomes in most practices.

Certification Program

Practice Facilitators

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The Certified Practice Facilitator (CPF) program prepares candidates with the skills and evidence based strategies needed to assist primary care teams in the delivery of high quality, reimbursable prevention and chronic disease support through optimization of clinical workflows and patient education. As conditions like diabetes and obesity place increasing demands on primary care, and as guidelines continue to evolve, the burden of implementing care management processes that optimize health care outcomes presents an important challenge.

Certified Practice Facilitators have the training needed to accelerate discovery and adoption of evidence-based processes. CPFs have the skills needed to guide primary care practices through the implementation of updated guidelines, improving workflows, leveraging reimbursement opportunities, and tracking progress toward better clinical outcomes. Through this training, CPF graduates gain the tools to support sustainable transformation across primary care settings.

National Certification Boards

The Healthcare Innovation Collaborative (HI Collaborative) oversees two national certification boards: the National Board for Primary Care Educators (NBPCE) and the National Board for Practice Facilitators (NBPF) to set and maintain high standards for training programs that prepare people to work in key primary care roles.

Each board creates and updates certification requirements, reviews training programs, certifies professionals, and supports ethical, evidence based education. Their work helps ensure that primary care educators and practice facilitators are well prepared and held to consistent national standards. These two roles, while different, work together to help communities receive reliable, high quality, and long lasting primary care.

Mission Statement

The Healthcare Innovation Collaborative exists to ensure every community has access to high-quality, patient-centered primary care by expanding the new or existing primary care workforce, enhancing access to patient education through standardized, evidence-based patient educational tools, supporting high quality staff training programs through standardized curriculum requirements, and promoting evidence-based educational practices and care management processes that empower both healthcare professionals and the patients they serve.