November 2007 e-Bulletin

e-Bulletin: A Monthly Update of the Home Health QIOSC

November 2007 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.

Following are recent and upcoming educational materials available on MedQIC - www.medqic.org.

Posted

Posted Date	Educational Resource	Content Description	Location
	ACH Profiler Tools	The ACH Profiler Tools provide an agency specific profile of why your patients are currently hospitalized. The tools also provide opportunities for staff education on how to better prevent ACH episodes through timely intervention as well as how to assess implemented best practices effectiveness for patients that went on to have an ACH episode. Submitted by Georgia Foundation for Medical Care.	Publicly Reported Measures/ACH/Tools
	Medicare Advantage Home Health Education Package Must log in as a QIO, go to Home Health, Care Transitions, Tools*	A collaborative working relationship with payers may foster QIO-sponsored initiatives, improve patient outcomes and be valued by your home health care providers. These materials are optional for use should you identify a need for education to managed care payers within your state. See the Tools/Resources section below for more information.	Care Transitions/Tools

Pending

Tentative Posting Date	Educational Resource	Content Description	Location
11/30/07	"Telehealth: Is it the Silver Bullet?" Article	Chronological journey of an agency’s telehealth program, including staff and patient response, hurdles and successes.	Telehealth
11/30/07	SBAR Interdisciplinary Case Conference	This is an interdisciplinary team communication form which follows the SBAR communication format. The form includes areas for treatment goals, diagnoses, barriers encountered and recommendations. This tool was submitted by Middlesex Hospital Home Health in Connecticut.	Quality Improvement and ACH
11/30/07	Case Conference Worksheet	The Case Conference Worksheet is a documentation tool for agency staff to review and discuss patient hospitalization risk and specific interventions to improve oral medication management. This tool was submitted by Health Care Excel, the QIO for Kentucky.	Quality Improvement, ACH and Oral Medication Management

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Medicare Advantage Home Health Education Package

The Medicare Advantage Home Health Education Package is designed for QIOs to educate payers on the Medicare home health benefit and best practices supported by the Home Health Quality Improvement Campaign to reduce avoidable hospitalizations. These two presentations have each been approved for free continuing education (1.0 CNE for Registered Nurses and 1.0 CCM certificate for Certified Case Managers). The flyer and PowerPoint presentation on MedQIC have been updated to include the links to obtain certification. These resources can be found on MedQIC under Home Health/Care Transitions. These are for QIOs only, therefore, you must login as a QIO to access them.

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All IPG substitutes are due to the Help Desk by November 15, 2007.

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The QIO CoP Sharing Call for November is cancelled.

LANE Teleconference Call/WebEx: Monday, November 26, 2007, 3:00 p.m. (EST)
1.800.700.7133; ID: LANE Call
(Instructions for WebEx will be posted closer to date of call.)

National HH QIO Call: Tuesday, November 27th, 2007, 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. (EST)
1.866.861.5389; ID: National Call

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Looking for Resources for Spanish-Speaking Beneficiaries?
QIPRO, Inc., the QIO for Puerto Rico, shares many of the tools and resources its staff has translated to Spanish. The tools are available through QIPRO's QIO sharing Web site or the Communications Clearinghouse under Share-a-Rama and Puerto Rico.

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View the April 2008 e-Bulletin.

View the December 2007 e-Bulletin.

View the February 2008 e-Bulletin.

View the January 2008 e-Bulletin.

View the July 2008 e-Bulletin.

View the August 2007 e-Bulletin.

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