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August 2, 2014
From Our Experts
Reasons to Celebrate the Boulder County Care Transition Collaborative's Evolution
By: Meredith Koob, Telligen (formerly CFMC) Senior Quality Improvement Facilitator

In 2012, Boulder County healthcare providers and stakeholders committed to meeting as a community.  The Boulder County Care Transitions Collaborative (BCCTC) developed a charter that sets forth the mission, vision, and purpose of the BCCTC.  As stated in their community charter, the mission is to: "come together as interested parties to address the issue of readmissions and work toward united efforts to improve the care transition process."  In the context of the charter, "readmission" refers to 30 day hospital readmissions.  Care transitions, as defined by Healthy Transitions Colorado, refers to the movement patients make between health care practitioners and settings as their condition and care needs change during the course of a chronic or acute illness. 

In The News
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Death Cafes on the Rise in Colorado
From Colorado Public Radio, May 2014

Death can be a difficult topic and Americans are notoriously uncomfortable with it. That discomfort can complicate treatment plans and prevent patients from receiving the right care at the right time. Learn how one woman in Colorado is working to change that.

Full Article   

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What Would Mom Want?

By: Michael Wasserman, MD
From Altarum Health Policy Blog, April 2014

Doctors can have a difficult time discussing death and mortality with their patients. This can affect the kinds of information that patients and caregivers receive and can complicate health care decisions, potentially leading to complications and additional care needs. 

Full Article 

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Study: Older Americans Aim To Stay Independent In Their Homes

By: Ina Jaffe
From NPR, July 2014

A study from Georgetown and Philips Inc. finds that the vast majority of Americans want to age in their homes, but that they have taken no steps to make their homes suitable for aging in place. Adequate preparation increases the chance that individuals can age safely in their homes.

 Full Article

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Occupational Therapy's Role in Preventing Acute Readmissions
From The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, May 2014

Occupational therapy practitioners could play a vital role in transforming health care in acute and post-acute settings.  Occupational therapy brings attention to the broader issues of survival after discharge, such as self-management, appropriate medication management and activities of daily living (ADLs), which al have a direct effect on readmissions.   

Full Article 

Tools and Resources

Data 101: Using Excel to Collect and Filter Quality Improvement
Showcase your quality improvement efforts by providing specific outcomes and accomplishments via Microsoft Excel. Do you need a mechanism to demonstrate the outcomes of your program? This 1 hour Data 101 Series is designed for healthcare providers or communities who are looking to expand their knowledge on the use of Excel for quality improvement intervention data collection and organization. Topics covered include: Excel Basics, Building Data Entry Worksheets, Excel Formulas, Filtering Excel Data, Complementary Excel Topics, and more. This material was prepared by CFMC, the Learning and Action Network National Coordinating Center, under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

CMS Launches Restructured Quality Improvement Program

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is restructuring the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program, effective August 1, 2014. The QIO Program is an integral part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' national quality strategy for providing better care, better health at lower costs, and providing "boots on the ground" technical assistance through a national network of independent organizations working to improve care delivery at the community level. The updated approach to improving care will allow for greater efficiencies across the program, eliminate any perceived conflicts of interest and will continue to emphasize the need for greater patient-centered care in support of the needs of Medicare beneficiaries. 

IHI Open School Collaboration on New MOOC

The IHI Open School is collaborating with the University of Florida on a new massive open online course (MOOC) called "Fixing Healthcare Delivery." The free online course starts September 1, and over 8 weeks will cover five areas critical to improving the delivery of care: systems thinking; human factors design; teamwork; leadership; and mobilization.  Watch a video to learn more.

A new interactive tool on commonwealthfund.org shows the health care gains your state could achieve by improving its performance on measures of access, quality, and health outcomes-as well as the potential losses if your state failed to sustain its performance. 

Learn More

New Interactive Tool Looks at Income and Assets Among Medicare Beneficiaries  

The Kaiser Family Foundation recently released a new interactive tool that allows users to explore the differences in Medicare beneficiaries' income and assets, both of which are affected by life experiences such as education, employment history, periods of unemployment and other various financial factors. A video tutorial provides a 3-minute overview on how to best use the interactive tool HERE.

The Emerging Role of the Pharmacist in the Healthcare Ecosystem (Infographic)

Visual representation of the state of the U.S. health system and how pharmacists are working to improve care and coordination.

Healthy Transitions Webinars Available 

Recordings and slides of our monthly webinars are located on the Webinar Archive page of the Healthy Transitions Colorado Website. 

Healthy Transitions Colorado Webinar Archive Page 
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Healthy Transitions Colorado is a collaborative effort, focused on aligning and accelerating existing efforts to improve transitions of care for Coloradans. Our guiding principles are simple - by working together to break down the silos of health care, we can foster true community care coordination across facilities, specialties, and practices. 
 

 

 

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