April 2008 e-Bulletin

Welcome to the Home Health QIOSC monthly e-Bulletin, your source for the latest updates in home health quality improvement. You may either browse the newsletter or use the icons at the top of the page to jump to a specific section.

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The Home Health Quality Improvement (HHQI) National Campaign Best Practice Intervention Packages (BPIPs) can now be accessed at www.medqic.org.

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There are no pending deliverable dates at this time.

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CoP Call/WebEx:  Tuesday, April 15, 2008, 3:00 p.m. (ET)
1.877.260.8899; ID:  898685

• Speaker:  Paul D. Smith, MD, Director of the Wisconsin Research and Education Network, Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Wisconsin
• Topic:  health literacy

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Note: For the remaining HHQIO e-bulletins we will be featuring home health agencies that have put best practices into action. Thanks to all the QIOs and home health agencies that have helped coordinate these tips and applications.

Agencies in Action

Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association is a non-profit home care agency in Ventura, California. The agency has an average daily census of 250-290 patients. It is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year! Leah Hunter, RN, Compliance and Privacy Officer and Suzanne Chenoweth, RN, OBQI Specialist shared with us how they have utilized the patient emergency plan.
 
“The nurses and therapists are enthusiastic about using the patient emergency plan and report that the patients love it because it gives them clear direction in self-management. The form is included in every patient admit packet with a Livingston Memorial VNA magnet so the patient/family is able to readily mount it on the refrigerator door." - Sue Chenoweth

This is an excellent example of an agency incorporating best practice tools and utilizing the patient emergency plan to promote a higher-level intervention — Patient Self-Management. Thank you Sue Chenoweth, Leah Hunter and Livingston Memorial VNA for your commitment to quality patient care!

Tips of the Week

View the March 2008 Tips of the Week.
View the February 2008 Tips of the Week.

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