Using Grit to Rebuild a Resilient Workforce
Over the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has stretched many health care professionals to their limits. The pizzas, parties and cheers that were common early in pandemic are no longer enough to ease burnout and address staff shortages. During the 2022 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Conference, Dr. Lee Fleisher, CMS Chief Medical Officer and Director of the Center…
New Hope, New Health: Charting a Path Forward
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 2022 Quality Conference virtually brought together nearly 5,000 health care leaders to share and hear promising practices for advancing health care quality, equity and safety at CMS and within the U.S. health care system. CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure introduced a new National Quality Strategy which emphasizes behavioral health,…
Pharmacy Builds Vaccine Confidence by Spreading Culturally Appropriate Information
The Health Quality Innovation Network (HQIN) team partners with health care providers in Kansas, Missouri, South Carolina and Virginia to support their quality improvement efforts. This includes spreading best practices to help others achieve similar successes. One such partner, NOVA ScriptsCentral in Virginia, was recognized with a 2021 Health Quality Innovator of the Year award for tackling…
Telligen QI Connect™ Shares Strategies to Support Vaccine Champions
The Telligen QI Connect™ team, as a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO), partners with nursing homes in Colorado, Illinois, Iowa and Oklahoma to support their quality improvement efforts. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Telligen has equipped vaccine champions within nursing homes with tools and education so…
Improving COVID-19 Vaccine Access and Uptake
Q&A with Donna Thorson, Shannon Finegood and Linda Griskell at Comagine Health COVID-19 vaccine access and uptake has been identified as a challenge for nursing homes. What was your vision and plan to improve vaccine access and uptake? At Comagine Health, we are aiming to increase access to, uptake of and confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine, including the booster, among long-term…
Collaboration Reduces Hospital Readmissions, Improves Patient Care and Outcomes
The Health Quality Innovation Network team, a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Hospital Quality Improvement Contractor, partners with health care providers in Kansas, Missouri, South Carolina and Virginia to support their quality improvement efforts. This includes spreading best practices to help other facilities achieve similar successes. One such provider, SoutheastHEALTH in…
Improving Vaccine Uptake Among Nursing Home Staff Through Motivational Interviewing Techniques
Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG), the Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) for Arizona and California, started working on Motivational Interviewing in the spring of 2021 as a tool to help nursing homes improve uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine. Slow vaccine uptake at nursing homes has been identified as a key challenge. Given that, how did you choose…
Behind the Scenes of Project Firstline
Q&A with Cheri Fast, RN, BSN, CIC, Project Lead Infection prevention and control is fundamental to safer care, improved health outcomes and a reduction in costs. Great Plains Quality Innovation Network (Great Plains QIN) and Project Firstline Leads in South Dakota are working together to help prevent, mitigate and respond to infections through education, resource sharing and technical…
Nursing Home Staff Retention Pilot Program Soars
With health care provider partners in Kansas, Missouri, South Carolina and Virginia, the Health Quality Innovation Network, has heard many stories of nursing homes struggling with staff retention. However, they also learned of a story of hope about one nursing home's pilot program increasing its staff retention rate to 100 percent in four months. The COVID-19 pandemic introduced a new set of…