HHQIOSC e-Bulletin: A Monthly Update of the Home Health Quality Improvement Organization Support Center (QIOSC)

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

August 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

There are no recently posted items at this time.

Pending

Tentative Post Date**	Educational Resource	Content Description	Location*
8/15/07	Target Outcomes Monitor	This tool enables a home health agency to monitor and trend its interim data for a target outcome following implementation of a plan of action (POA). Submitted by North Dakota Health Care Review, Inc.	ACH
8/31/07	Home Telehealth Vendor Checklist	The Home Telehealth Vendor/Equipment Checklist is intended to provide home health agencies areas to consider when interviewing home telehealth vendors and selecting equipment to meets the needs of staff, targeted patient population and budget. A scoring system is used to evaluate vendors, software and hardware features and peripherals. This resource was provided by the Home Care Association of New York State, Inc.	Telehealth
8/31/07	ACH Dive Poster with Scuba Stickers	ACH poster to monitor progress. This resource was provided by Primaris	ACH

** Please note these dates are tentative and subject to change.

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Highlighted Tools/Resources

Immunizations
Influenza immunization time is fast approaching! The Immunization Toolkit 2007-2008 has been posted on www.medqic.org. This new toolkit is an updated version of the 2006 Toolkit. Primary changes and additions include updated forms and Web links, patient and staff education materials and new pandemic and avian influenza vaccine information. Be sure to download the Toolkit and take advantage of the tools and resources included.

The Immunization Best Practice Intervention Package (BPIP) will be available on September 4, 2007 on www.homehealthquality.org. Both the Toolkit and the BPIP follow the original theme of Assess, Access and Administer for immunization strategies. Immunization BPIP resources, such as the primary tool in the BPIP, will help achieve the home health QIO deliverable due November 1, 2007. Consider an Immunization BPIP timeline for September to include key initiatives and resources in your immunization campaign 2007-2008.

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August 31, 2007 - ACH Strategic Plan Final Report

The ACH Strategic Plan Summary Report Survey has been distributed electronically to the 12 ACH Strategic Plan QIOs. The survey is to be completed and submitted into PARTner via the document storage feature by August 31. The HH QIOSC will compile and analyze the survey results and submit an aggregate report to CMS by October 15.

The ACH Strategic Plan QIOs will have completed the requirement of sharing lessons learned, best practices, etc. three times during the Scope of Work on a national call as of August 28.

November 1, 2007 - Immunization Remeasurement Survey Results

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QIO CoP Sharing Call: Tuesday, August 21, 2007, 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. (EDT)
1.877.260.8899; ID: COP

LANE Teleconference Call: Fourth Monday of each month.
The next call is August 27, 2007, 3:00 p.m. (EDT)
1.800.700.7133, ID: LANE Call

National Call: Tuesday, August 28, 2007, 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. (EDT)
1.866.861.5389, ID: National Call

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Nothing at this time.

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View the July e-Bulletin.

View the June e-Bulletin.

View the May e-Bulletin.

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This material was prepared by Quality Insights of Pennsylvania, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization Support Center for Home Health, under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy. Publication number 8SOW-PA-HHQ07.603. App. 8/14/07.