August 2016
brought to you by the Home Health Quality Improvement (HHQI) National Campaign

 

  CAMPAIGN NEWS
  
August 2016 Agency of the Month
In This Issue
This month, HHQI recognizes Robert Wood Johnson Visiting Nurses in North Brunswick, New Jersey for their dedication to improving home health care quality.

Home health agencies that are active in the HHQI National Campaign and closest to the national, risk-adjusted ACH 20th percentile and/or the national, risk-adjusted Oral Medication Improvement 80th percentile (or higher) are eligible for random selection as HHQI Agency of the Month. 

Be in the spotlight. Nominate your agency today, and if you are selected, your organization will be prominently featured here in HHQI Inside Edition - which reaches more than 16,000 subscribers - and on the HHQI website. Your achievement will also be shared via HHQI's social media channels.

 

  CAMPAIGN RESOURCES
  
In Observance of National Immunization Awareness Month
Free Resources to Improve Immunization Rates

August is National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM) and serves as a reminder to discuss the importance of keeping up-to-date on vaccinations with patients at least annually. It's also a great time to refresh your immunization knowledge as a healthcare professional. HHQI offers a variety of free resources that can help: 
  • BEST PRACTICE INTERVENTION PACKAGE: A 2016 Updates to Immunization Guidelines resource has been recently added to the Immunization & Infection Prevention BPIP. Log in or register now to access all of HHQI's free immunizations resources.
  • HHQI UNIVERISTY ONLINE COURSE: The Adult Immunizations course (in the Hospitalizations course catalog) offers 2 hours of continuing education for nurses and a certificate of completion for all other disciplines. HHQI University registration, course enrollment, and continuing education credits are completely free. Learn more.
  • HHQI DATA ACCESS REPORTS: As a CMS-certified home health agency, a tremendous benefit to participating in the HHQI National Campaign is free access to custom data reports created especially for your home health agency each month. HHQI uses the OASIS data that your agency is already transmitting to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to generate custom data reports on a variety of topics, including influenza & pneumococcal immunizations. Download the tutorial webinar.
  • CardioLAN WEBINAR: In January 2015, HHQI's Cardiovascular Learning & Action Network (CardioLAN) welcomed guest speaker Mary McGoldrick for her presentation on Preventing & Controlling Influenza in Home Care.
New HHQI University Course
Basics of Chronic Disease Management

On August 1, 2016, HHQI released its Basics of Chronic Disease Management course in HHQI University. This course is appropriate for healthcare leadership and clinicians and provides information on evidence-based strategies that can be integrated into daily practice for patients with chronic diseases. The course takes a look at:
  • Status of chronic disease and purpose of  disease/population health management
  • The Chronic Care Model and how home health and community providers are a prefect fit for the model
  • Clinician skills for self-management support and communication
  • Evidenced-based assessments
  • Stages of Change Model
FREE CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS FOR NURSES
This activity has been approved for 1.5 contact hours by the Alabama State Nurses Association, an accredited approver of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation (ANCC).

You don't have to wait for Inside Edition to learn about new courses. To be notified immediately when future online courses are available, please join our HHQI University mailing list.
Underserved Populations (UP) Network Webinar & Online Course
Delivering Culturally Confident Care: A 365 Approach

Please join the HHQI team and guest expert Emeobong Martin, MPH, Project Manager for the Adventist Healthcare Center for Health Equity & Wellness for this free education session appropriate for healthcare leadership. Learn more.

FREE NURSING CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS
This activity has been approved for 1.25 continuing education credits (CEs) by the Alabama State Nurses Association, an accredited approver of the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation (ANCC). To receive CE credits, participants must watch the 60-minute webinar and complete an additional 15 minutes of related coursework in HHQI University.

If you would like to be notified immediately when complete details about future webinars are available, please join our Educational & Networking Opportunities mailing list. You can also subscribe to the UPDate, the quarterly newsletter of the Underserved Populations Network.

  

  CAMPAIGN EVENTS

  
Online Networking Event | August 18 | 2-3pm ET
Network with Your Peers during HHQI's LiveChat
 
Networking regularly with other home health professionals can fast-track your quality improvement efforts. No matter what challenge your agency is facing, there's a good chance that another agency can offer some valuable first-hand insight. HHQI's quarterly LiveChats are an excellent opportunity to connect and learn what worked -- and what didn't work -- for other agencies when they were in a similar situation.

The next opportunity to participate in HHQI's LiveChat will be on May 19 at 2pm ET. 
This networking event is similar to an online chat room. There is no audio. You'll be able to type in real-time to ask questions and share your knowledge. It's a fun, ca sual way to learn from each other's experiences.

Visit the HHQI website to add the event to your calendar or to set an email reminder.
Save the Dates
"Third Thursdays" Event Schedule
 
Home health professionals are busy. Now, there's an understatement. In order to make the most of your limited time, HHQI's three primary online Networking events -- LiveChat, Cardiovascular Learning & Action Network (CardioLAN) webinars, and Underserved Populations (UP) webinars -- will each be held quarterly. 

Events will rotate to always occur from 2-3pm (ET) on the third Thursday of the month.

JANUARY 21APRIL 21
JULY 21
OCTOBER 20
LiveChats
FEBRUARY 18
MAY 19
AUGUST 18
NOVEMBER 17
CardioLAN WebinarsMARCH 17
JUNE 16
SEPTEMBER 15DECEMBER 15

Click on the Networking Event type above for available registration or reminder links. You can also browse our online event calendar or subscribe to our Educational & Networking Opportunities mailing list to receive details (topics, objectives, speaker info, & registration links) as soon as they are available.

  QIN-QIO CORNER
 
Immunization Q&A with Carolyn Bridges

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Associate Director of Adult Immunizations, Carolyn Bridges, MD, discusses the importance of open dialogue between patients and providers around vaccinations for the entire family. Read the full article.

 

  INDUSTRY NEWS & RESOURCES
  
Current & Upcoming Health-Related Observances

Each month, the healthcare industry puts the spotlight on a variety of health & wellness issues that impact home health patients and professionals. Follow the links below for more information and resources to get involved and help spread awareness. You can also follow HHQI on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for ongoing related content. Share your favorite photos and free resources & events with our followers too!
AUGUST 2016
SEPTEMBER 2016
Upcoming Webinars & Other Events

DATE & TIME
EVENT NAME
HOSTED/PRESENTED BY
August 9, 2016
12-1pm ET		Proposed Diabetes Prevention Program ExpansionCenter for Medicare & Medicaid Innovations
August 10, 2016
2-3:30pm ET		Innovations to Promote and Sustain Falls Prevention ProgramsNational Council on Aging & IlluminAge / National Falls Prevention Resource Center
August 17, 2016
1-2pm ET		Understanding Your Agency's PEPPER  
Learn about the Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report: how to get it & how to use it to support auditing & monitoring efforts
Visiting Nurse Associations of America (VNAA) / TMF® Health Quality Institute
On-demand through 
July 23, 2017		Pharmacotherapy for Adults with Alcohol-Use Disorders in Outpatient Settings: A Monograph*Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

*Continuing education credit is included or available.
Key Dates: Home Health Compare & Star Ratings Reports

The Quality of Patient Care Star Ratings Preview Reports are now available in the CASPER folders. These reports contain data that will be publicly reported on the Home Health Compare website in October 2016. The deadline for submitting missing or corrected data is August 19, 2016.
OCT 2016
Preview reports available in CASPER6/30/16
(or before)
Quality of Patient Care Star Rating suppression request deadline7/18/16
Deadline for submitting missing or corrected data8/19/16
Home Health Compare updated
October 2016
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.

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-080516