TIP OF THE WEEK
Join the national campaign to receive monthly acute care hospitalization data reports
Did you know that agencies that register for the Home Health Quality Improvement National Campaign receive detailed progress reports each month for the acute care hospitalization quality measure? Agencies use this report to monitor progress on quality improvement strategies and plan future interventions.
JOINING IS EASY AS 1-2-3
- Go to www.homehealthquality.org
- Click on Home Health Agency Registration
- Complete all required elements on the form and click Submit
BELOW IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT AN AGENCY REPORT MIGHT LOOK LIKE:
Join today: www.homehealthquality.org
RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
REMINDER: Complete the 2007 Ohio Home Health Immunization Survey
Please take five minutes to complete the survey relating to your immunization practices. Ohio KePRO’s Home Health Team is re-measuring the immunization practices at Ohio home health agencies to compare with last year’s survey and we need your help. The results will be compared with last year’s survey to identify trends over time. Your answers are confidential.
IN THE NEWS
June 4, 2007 -- Newsweek -- As the number of patients with pain has grown, so has medicine's understanding of what pain is. Scientists once viewed it as merely a symptom of injury, an intuitive idea that resonated with laymen. "The public understanding of pain has been that it's a stubbed toe or a broken bone," says Will Rowe, executive director of the American Pain Foundation. "But that's just one aspect of it. Now there's a growing awareness that pain is a disease of its own." This is far more than a semantic change, Rowe adds: it's "tectonic." Read more >>
DIABETES COMPLICATIONS FREQUENTLY AFFLICT ELDERLY
May 24, 2007 -- Reuters Health -- People who develop diabetes late in life often suffer from a range of diabetes-related complications, and their life expectancy is shorter than that of nondiabetic individuals of the same age, a new study shows. Read more >>
DOES WHERE YOU LIVE DETERMINE IF YOU'LL LIVE?
May 22, 2007 -- USA Today -- The Internet may be crowded with consumer information, from school report cards to airline safety records, but death rates for most hospitals are still as closely guarded as the formulas for Kentucky Fried Chicken and Coke. That will begin to change in June, when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plans to post the first broad comparison of the death rates for heart attack and heart failure on its website, Hospital Compare. Read more >>
DIABETICS IN NURSING HOMES NEED IMPROVED CARE
May 21, 2007 -- Newswire -- Published today in the American Diabetes Association journal Diabetes Care, a recent study of the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine indicated that care of elderly patients with type 1—insulin dependent—and type 2 diabetes in extended care facilities sometimes fail to meet ADA Standards of Care. Based on their findings, Shubrook and Schwartz are now developing treatment protocols for diabetes in nursing homes. These will be offered to medical directors of these facilities in order to improve the quality and consistency of patient care.
Read more >>
COMING ATTRACTIONS
COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE CONFERENCE CALLS
June 12, 2007, 9:00am -- Pain
June 12, 2007, 3:00pm -- Oral Meds
June 13, 2007, 9:00am -- Telehealth
June 13, 2007, 3:00pm -- Organizational Culture
June 14, 2007, 9:00am -- Transferring
June 14, 2007, 3:00pm -- Acute Care Hospitalizations
Dial in: 1-877-326-2337
Conference ID: 2143198
HOME HEALTH QUALITY AFFAIR: CELEBRATION OF YOUR SUCCESS
June 27, 2007, 9:00am to 3:00pm
Northeast Conference Center, Westerville, Ohio
We will be spotlighting seven agencies that achieved remarkable improvement rates in 2006 in acute care hospitalizations, pain that interferes with activity, transferring, and/or oral medication management. Take this opportunity to renew and maximize your agency’s quality improvement efforts. Learn “what works best” and discuss successful strategies with your peers.
Keynote Speaker: Ronald A. Savrin, M.D., M.B.A., Medical Director, Ohio KePRO will discuss new healthcare transparency initiatives
Download the Event Flyer (PDF)
