QIO for Florida, is your
collaborative, quality
improvement partner
including nursing homes,
home health agencies,
hospitals, physicians
and managed care
organizations.
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| Swine Flu
Information
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is assisting the CDC in spreading helpful information and education about the swine flu outbreak and preventive actions to slow its spread.
More information is available at:
For more information about government efforts to use social media to inform the public about the swine flu outbreak and related information, please visit:
Thank you for your help in this important health and safety matter!
Seasonal Flu
Information
For all your informational needs visit:
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National Colorectal Cancer Awareness
Month
Dress in Blue Day
March 5, 2010
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Greetings!
Welcome to the March 2010 edition of Health eNotes: |
March
National Colorectal Cancer
Awareness Month
To learn more about Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month,
Dress in
To learn more about Dress in Blue Day,
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COLORECTAL
CANCER
NEWS
Developing a Quality Screening Colonscopy Referral System in Primary Care Practice:
A Report from the National Colorectal Cancer
Roundtable
Randa Sifri, Richard Wender, David Lieberman, Michael Potter, Karen Peterson, Thomas K. Weber, and Robert Smith.
CA Cancer J Clin. 2009; 60(1): p. 40-49
At-Home Stool Tests May Help Boost Colorectal Cancer Screening
Health experts are looking at Kaiser Permanente's program of mailing stool test kits to patients after the initiative successfully increased the number of people screened for colorectal cancer.
read more...
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SHARING
BEST
PRACTICES
Did you know...
The EHR 4 Prevention Project monitors Colorectal Cancer Screening (CRC) rates. The current aggregate screening rate for participating Florida practices is 35.9% and the benchmark (using a 90th percentile) is 74.8%. These rates are based on the data derived from the EHRs of the reporting practices in the project.
Medicare claims data is also used to track the CRC screening rates for Medicare beneficiaries in Florida. This data shows the overall Florida CRC rate was 55.7% through March 2009. The CRC rate varies largely by geographic location. South West Florida had the highest CRC rate at 60.5% while South East Florida had the lowest rate at 47.0%. CRC rates for other areas ranged from 54.9% to 57.7%. The national CRC rate was 50.0%.
Any one of the following tests meet the CRC project criteria for 51-80yr olds:
Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT) - within 1 year of current report date, or Flexible Sigmoidoscopy - within 5 yrs of current report date, or Double Contrast Barium Enema (DCBE) - within 5 yrs of current report date, or Colonoscopy - within 10 yrs of current report date.
Most importantly, your staff must document the results in the correct fields in the EHR. Your project coordinator has shared the appropriate fields where data should be entered within your EHR. Discrete data entry produces a report that accurately reflects your practice's activity and care provided to patients. Ask your staff to set attainable goals for updating data fields retrospectively (i.e. update 20 patient charts per week). Incorporating workflow changes for concurrent data entry should eliminate time-consuming retrospective data entry updates.
Please let us know if you need more educational resources or tools to assist with increasing Colorectal Cancer Screening awareness. Remember to access our website for more helpful information: http://www.fmqai.com/Prevention-CC-Tools.aspx
Thank you for your efforts!
Please contact us with your best practices and we will share your successes in our newsletter. |
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HIT/EHR
NEWS
eClinicalWorks Unveils
Stimulus Guarantee
(Health Data Management)
Westborough, Mass.-based eClinicalWorks Inc. is the latest vendor to announce a guarantee that its electronic health records software will meet meaningful use criteria under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. read more...
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BREAST
CANCER NEWS
Physicians, Women are at Odds Over
Some physicians and patients are at odds over whether to follow recommendations issued last year that women should start routine mammograms at age 50 rather than 40 and should get them every other year, according to an editorial in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The report said physicians are more likely to accept the guidelines, while women want to continue to have the cancer screening earlier and annually. read more... |
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CMS
NEWS
2010 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative & Electronic Prescribing Incentive Program - National Provider Call with Q & A Session
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Provider Communications Group will host A National Provider Conference Call on the 2010 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) & Electronic Prescribing Incentive Program (eRx).
This Toll-Free Call will take place from 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.,
EST, on Wednesday, March 10, 2010.
In order to receive the call-in information, you must register for the call. It is important to note that if you are planning to sit in with a group, only one person needs to register to receive the call-in data. This registration is solely to reserve a phone line, NOT allow participation.
Registration will close at 1:30 p.m. EST on March 9, 2010, or when available space has been filled. No exceptions will be made, so please be sure to register prior to this time.
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- Fill in all required data.
- Verify your time zone is displayed correctly in the drop down box.
- Click "Register"
- You will be taken to the "Thank you for registering" page and will receive a confirmation email shortly thereafter. NOTE: Please print and save this page, in the event that your server blocks the confirmation emails. If you do not receive the confirmation email, please check your spam/junk mail filter as it may have been directed there.
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STUDY: About 51% of U.S. Adults Look
Up Health Topics Online
A new survey from CDC's National Center for Health Statistics finds that more than half of U.S. adults use the Internet to research health information. Fewer Americans went online to e-mail physicians, refill prescriptions or schedule medical appointments. Researchers also found that women were more likely than men to use the internet for health-related purposes. Reuters, MedPage Today. read more...
The Benefits of Risk Factor Prevention in Americans Aged 51 Years & Older
Effective prevention could substantially improve the health of older Americans, and - despite increases on longevity - such benefits could be achieved with little or no additional lifetime medical spending. read more... | |
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