When the Telligen HQIC team started recruiting hospitals, a hospital association they were working with requested the use of a listserv. 

Historically, a listserv, or group email discussion list, has been used to disseminate information quickly to several individuals through a group email. The proposed idea was to create conversation between the HQIC team, their partners, and hospitals. After extensive research, Telligen decided to use Gaggle Mail as their new communication tool. 

COVID-19 has placed many time constraints on health care workers. The adoption of Gaggle Mail has been a successful tool to quickly share information with approximately 200 hospitals and has allowed for Telligen to facilitate peer-to-peer connections with quality improvement leaders and hospital personnel who are at the bedside caring for patients. The group email discussion list has boosted the confidence of some who realize that they are not alone with the challenges they are facing at their hospitals.

“A group email discussion list is a quick way to communicate with providers and an easy format to receive feedback and start a conversation,” stated Ann Loges, RN, a Senior Facilitator for Telligen’s HQIC team. “The group email discussion list has been a good way to encourage hospitals to share not only their struggles but their great stories and successes.”

HQIC quality improvement leaders have used Gaggle Mail to find recommendations for successful Opioid Stewardship training programs ideal for small hospitals and allow hospitals with similar electronic health record (EHR) systems to collaborate on HQIC measure data collection. The group email discussion list also allows for tools to be shared, such as a spreadsheet that one hospital developed to track blood culture results as a part of their Antibiotic Stewardship program.

A hospital provider may ask a question that is of interest to the entire user group. The benefit of using Gaggle Mail is that all users have the opportunity to answer questions and all members benefit from seeing the conversation. This promotes an all ask, all answer, all learn environment.

Interested in adopting a group email discussion list? There are many products available. Gaggle Mail was easy to set up and is cost-effective. There are various options in the program that allow administrative users to moderate messages posted and different ways providers and partners can join and choose when they receive messages. Users can also attach tools and resources when sending messages.

Submitted by the Telligen HQIC team.

This material was prepared by The Bizzell Group (Bizzell), the Data Validation and Administrative (DVA) contractor, under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Views expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the official views or policy of CMS or HHS, and any reference to a specific product or entity herein does not constitute endorsement of that product or entity by CMS or HHS. 12SOW/Bizzell/DVA-1158-07/18/2023