April 2015

brought to you by the Home Health Quality Improvement (HHQI) National Campagin

Congratulations to the new HHQI Agency of the Month

"Sutter Auburn Faith VNA's clinical team is honored to be recognized by HHQI for its dedication in helping patients and families successfully manage medications for optimal health and prevention of rehospitalization. All disciplines participate in this agency priority, and we utilize many of the Best Practice strategies found in the HHQI library. Selection of Sutter Auburn Faith VNA as the HHQI Agency of the Month is a source of great pride and confirmation of the excellent care provided by our amazing team."

Anne Lyons, RN, MSN
Clinical Manager
Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital

Would you like the chance to show the nation how committed to quality improvement your home health agency is? Nominate your agency today.

Video Resources included in New Cardiovascular BPIPs

HHQI has released three new Best Practice Intervention Packages (BPIPs) containing educational videos and other resources for improving the cardiovascular health of your patients.

Cardiovascular Risk Factors Video BPIP

Risks & Signs of Heart Attack & Stroke includes an 8-minute patient video to introduce or reinforce the signs of heart attack and stroke and what to do if symptoms occur. There are also additional activities for patients, including crossword and word search puzzles.

Cardiovascular Lifestyle Management Video BPIPs

Lifestyle Modifications parts 1 & 2 include

two 7-minute educational clinician videos that promote the six lifestyle modifications recommended to prevent hypertension.

All of the resources contained in these BPIPs are free and available to everyone who is registered with the HHQI National Campaign. You may use any resources created by HHQI as they are, or you can modify them to include your agency's information and/or logo.

Please note: If you are not yet registered, you will be prompted to do so before being able to access the BPIPs.

New Nursing CEs available through HHQI University

A new online educational course has been added to the Cardiovascular Health catalog in HHQI University. Nurses who successfully complete the LIfestyle Management for Cardiovascular Health course will receive 1.0 hours of free Continuing Education (CE) credits. Others completing the course will receive a certificate of completion. Many state and national therapy organizations will apply these certificates toward CE requirements. Please check with your organization for specifics.

The activities in the course include:

Reviewing content within the e-Learning course
Watching 3 short videos
Reading a few workbook pages
Completing an evaluation & post-test

Visit the HHQI University page on the HHQI website to learn how to enroll.

New Spanish Translations of Key Diabetes Resources

HHQI is excited to provide even more key patient and clinician tools in Spanish. We know that many home health agencies need translated tools for patients and families. Each month, HHQI will post Spanish versions of some of our key patient tools. All of our tools are free and in the public domain, so you can use them as they are or customize them for your agency.

HHQI Data Reports: Free to all CMS-certified HHAs

Have you registered on the HHQI Data Access System to access your agency's custom data reports? HHQI uses OASIS data to generate custom data reports on Acute Care

Hospitalizations, Oral Medications Management, Immunizations, and Cardiovascular Risk for all CMS-reporting home health agencies.

These reports require no additional work on your behalf. They're waiting for you now in the HHQI Data Access System. Register now.

DATE/TIME	LOCATION	HOST	EVENT	TOPIC
April 9, 2015 2-3pm ET	Online	HHQI	LiveChat	Open discussion; all topics
April 16, 2015 2-3pm ET	Online	HHQI	CardioLAN Webinar	The Role of Therapists in Cardiovascular Care
April 22, 2015 2-3pm ET	Online	HHQI	UP Network Webinar	Chronic Health Issues affecting Hispanic Patients
May 6, 2015 10am-1pm CT	Alexandria, MN	Minnesota Home Care Association	Hands-On Workshop	Building & Sustaining Data-Driven Quality Improvement

NAHC Urges Home Health/QIN-QIO Partnerships

In a recent National Association for Homecare & Hospice NAHC Report, the organization strongly recommended that home health agencies partner with Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organizations (QIN-QIOs) to improve cardiac health and reduce healthcare disparities. NAHC also emphasized that QIN-QIO efforts align with the goals of the proposed Conditions of Participation and offer a key opportunity for home health agencies to build a foundation for developing an ongoing, data-driven, agency-wide quality improvement program, while enhancing the process for care planning, delivery, and coordination of services.

Read the full NAHC article now, and then contact your QIN-QIO to learn more about the free individualized technical assistance being offered by QIN-QIOs to the nation's home health community.

Star Ratings Coming to Home Health Compare

Did you know that in July 2015, Home Health Star Ratings will begin to appear on Home Health Compare? Visit MyHHQI Blog to read this week's post about Home Health Star Ratings, links to resources, and where to find your preview report.

Home Health was not the first setting to receive the Star Ratings. Nursing Homes and Medicare Advantage Programs have been reporting Star ratings for some time now. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will begin reporting Star Ratings for hospitals later this month.

DATE & TIME	LOCATION	HOST	TOPIC
April 14, 2015 1-2pm ET	Online	The Joint Commission	Strategies to Address the 10 Most Commonly Cited Standards
April 22, 2015 12-1pm ET	Online	Post-Acute Care Center for Research	Successful Care Teams: Building Relationships with Referral Partners and Improving Patient Care
April 28, 2015 1:30pm ET	Conf Call	The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services	Open Door Forum: Home Health Electronic and Paper Clinical Template
May 21, 2015 1-2pm ET	Online	The Joint Commission	I'm Accredited; Now What? (for accredited home care providers only)
June 18, 2015 1-2pm ET	Online	The Joint Commission	Infection Control in Home Care
August 20, 2015 1-2pm ET	Online	The Joint Commission	Emergency Preparedness Strategies for Home Care Providers
October 26-27, 2015	Los Angeles, CA	NHF, PFCC Partners & HSAG	6th Annual Patient and Family Centered Care Conference

Geriatric Home Health Resources from CHAMP

Champ logo

The Collaboration for Homecare Advances in Management and Practice (CHAMP) Program was the first national initiative to advance geriatric home care excellence. CHAMP's valuable resources and e-presentations are still available online.

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This material was prepared by Quality Insights, the Medicare Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization supporting the Home Health Quality Improvement National Campaign, under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The views presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy.

Publication number 11SOW-WV-HH-MMD-040315