Keeping nursing home staff updated on the latest COVID-19 guidelines and directives is critical for continued improvement of resident and staff vaccination rates for the COVID-19 vaccine and booster. Quality Insights, a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) is using a multi-faceted approach to educate its staff and update nursing homes in its two-state region about the latest COVID-19 vaccination and booster guidance.

One of the first nursing homes referred to Mountain-Pacific Quality Health (Mountain-Pacific) in December 2021 for assistance with improving its resident COVID-19 booster rate demonstrated a 44.1 percent increase following frequent and tailored one-on-one assistance.

During the timeframe between January 9 and March 20, 2022, nursing homes participating in an education campaign led by Alliant Health Solutions (Alliant), a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization, demonstrated a 15% or greater increase in resident and/or staff COVID-19 boosters.

Low resident and staff vaccination rates put the most vulnerable at risk.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Great Plains Quality Improvement Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) team worked to promote COVID-19 infection prevention and control best practices. When Great Plains was providing one-on-one technical assistance with nursing homes, the team identified an opportunity to improve how the facilities were using their data to related to COVID-19 infection prevention and control.

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.

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 they can confidently discuss the COVID-19 vaccine with their peers.

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 and post-acute care residents and staff.