Promising Practices

HRSA's Bureau of Primary Health Care defines a promising practice as an activity, procedure, approach, or policy that leads to, or is likely to lead to, improved outcomes or increased efficiency for health centers.

Promising Practices may impact health center operations, service delivery/clinical, governance, and other domains. The Health Center Resource Clearinghouse sets further parameters by stating that promising practices must demonstrate:

• Feasibility. The practice has the ability to be implemented and shared.
• Implementation/Action Steps. The practice has action steps for implementation and/or the ability to be replicated and/or scaled beyond the initial implementation.

In addition, operational or clinical promising practices often demonstrate impact related one or more of the following:

• Impact/Outcomes. The practice has been used successfully by at least one organization and has an emerging, positive track record of improved clinical, operational, or financial (cost) outcomes, as measured by PSDA or other quality improvement mechanism.
• Engagement. The practice demonstrates improved patient or staff engagement as measured by a survey/tool.
• Data Collection Mechanism. The practice includes a way to track initial (quantitative and/or qualitative) data to support the establishment of benchmarks or represents a new method of collecting data, achieving outcomes, or analyzing data that improves health center benchmarks and measurements.
• Partnerships. The practice uses or creates innovative, strong partnerships that maximize efficiency, as measured by tracking health center efficiency from increased funding or increased visits, improved clinical outcomes, or similar measure.

* These criteria were updated 3/22/24 through a collaborative process with the Clearinghouse Work Group and build upon HRSA's Bureau of Primary Health Care’s operational definition of promising practices.

Through the identification and dissemination of operational promising practices, health center professionals can learn from one another about programs and services designed to enhance access to health care, and improve health outcomes and health equity, within the context of a learning health center system. Through the Clearinghouse site, health centers share success in “real-time” by showcasing an intervention, approach or practice with proven impact.

Clearinghouse Promising Practices are submitted by our partners who attest that they meet the above criteria. You can submit a promising practice to the Clearinghouse through the button to the right. Promising practices are accessible through the topic searches below and are incorporated into all Clearinghouse learning resources as a way to advance emerging practice.