- News from CMS
- Partner Educational Events
- Past Learning and Action Network (LAN) Events
- Expert Insights and Resources on:
- Behavioral Health and Opioid Stewardship
- Antibiotic Stewardship
- Patient Safety
- Readmissions/Care Transitions
- Patient and Family Engagement
- Health Equity
- Workplace Violence Prevention
- Best Practices Corner
- Success Stories
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In November 2022, CMS published a final rule effective January 1, 2023, establishing initial policies for Rural Emergency Hospitals as a new Medicare provider type enacted in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. View Final Rule
Rural Emergency Hospital Map and Data
The North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center now provides REH data and a map on its website. Data available for download includes REH name, address, city, state, previous Medicare Payment Type, and REH participation date. The Center will continue to track new REHs and any REH status changes, making updates to the website as they occur. Visit Website
Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program
The Hospital VBP Program is a budget-neutral program funded by reducing participating hospitals’ base operating DRG payments each fiscal year by 2% and redistributing the entire amount back to the hospitals as value-based incentive payments. In the FY 2024 IPPS/LTCH PPS final rule, CMS is finalizing the proposals to:
- Adopt the Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock: Management Bundle measure in the Safety Domain beginning with the FY 2026 program year.
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Partner Educational Events
New Sepsis Core Elements Webinar Series with Free CEDuring each one-hour webinar, sepsis subject matter experts will provide an overview of the Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements, and partners will share real-life examples, strategies, and best practices about how they have successfully implemented specific Sepsis Core Elements at their organization. Each webinar topic is independent, and all webinars will be recorded. Free continuing education will be offered upon successful completion of a post-test. Register Here
Upcoming Sepsis Core Elements Webinars:
The Core Elements for Antibiotic Stewardship in Action
This multi-session series discussed the core elements and featured stories from hospitals that achieved high-performing results.
- August 29: Leadership Commitment + Accountability – Recording and Slide Presentation
- September 19: Pharmacy Expertise + Action – Recording and Slide Presentation
- October 24: Tracking + Reporting + Education – Recording and Slide Presentation
Want to learn how to meet CMS and The Joint Commission (TJC) health equity requirements and improve patient outcomes for your community? This two-part series breaks down what your health equity action plans and next steps should include.
View Session 1 Presentation and Recording | View Session 2 Presentation and Recording
If Yes, Click Below.
Click here if you attended an HQIC LAN event and were able to "use tomorrow" what you heard during the webinar.
CMS hosts CoP calls on the second Thursday of each month at 1 p.m. ET | 12 p.m. CT | 11 a.m. MT | 10 a.m. PT. The calls are open to all Alliant HQIC hospitals.
National Antibiotic Stewardship Updates and Promising Practices
Thursday, November 9
Antibiotic Stewardship (AS) remains a national priority aimed at optimizing antibiotic use to effectively treat infections, protect patients from harms caused by unnecessary use and combat antibiotic resistance. Join this webinar to hear from a CDC physician, a hospitalist lead for a statewide AS medicine safety initiative and a hospital AS pharmacist lead.
Register Here
Alliant's Health Equity Action Planning Office Hours are monthly networking events hosted by Rosa Abraha, Alliant Health Solutions health equity lead, and LeAnn Pritchett, system director of quality and safety at Tift Regional Medical Center-Southwell.
These Office Hours are participant-driven and without slide presentations. Discussions will focus on health equity action planning and other questions from the hospitals, such as CEO engagement. The Office Hours will be held on the third Thursday of the month from 3-3:45 p.m. ET. The next office hours will take place on:
- Oct. 19, 2023 - View slides and recording
- Nov. 16, 2023
- Dec. 21, 2023
Office Hours-IP Chats are quarterly networking events to build knowledge, share experience and provide support for hospital infection preventionists. The Office Hours-IP Chats are hosted by Amy Ward, MS, BSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC.The next Office Hours-IP Chats will take place on:
- Wednesday, January 24, from 2-2:30 p.m. ET
- Wednesday, April 24, 2024, from 2-2:30 p.m. ET
- Wednesday, July 24, 2024, from 2-2:30 p.m. ET
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Access the Alliant HQIC portal to view your assessments and measurement data, and chat with other HQIC-enrolled hospitals to share best practices, barriers and solutions. Download Portal Instructions to Get Started
Updated Patient Safety Coaching Packages
Updated coaching packages with best practice interventions and resources are now available on the HQIC website. View Coaching Packages
Alliant Health Solutions has updated its Quality website to make finding patient-friendly and provider-friendly resources even easier. Website visitors can now use the website’s filter functionality to quickly find patient-friendly or provider-friendly resources, events and blog posts. These resources and events will also be displayed with the unique icons shown below.
Behavioral Health & Opioid Stewardship
New Podcast Addresses OUD Treatment in Hospital Settings
CMS announced a new podcast series that addresses opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment in hospital settings. Emergency departments (EDs) are on the frontlines of the opioid crisis. In this series, nationally recognized experts demonstrate how hospitals and health systems can provide excellent care for their patients with OUD while supporting their clinical teams and exercising fiscal responsibility. Created for hospital leaders and clinicians, Buprenorphine Initiation in the Emergency Department: Why, When, and How?, offers research-backed, actionable advice on the technology tools, clinical evidence and referral networks that support safe and effective treatment in the ED. Each episode in this four-part series is less than 15 minutes. Listen to the podcast: The QIO Program YouTube channel playlist | myCME.com (for no-cost CME credit with free registration)
Trauma-Informed Care
According to the National Council for Behavioral Health, 70% of U.S. adults have experienced some type of traumatic event at least once in their life. A trauma-informed approach to care acknowledges that health care organizations and care teams should have a complete picture of a patient’s life situation in order to provide effective health care services.
Trauma-informed care shifts the focus from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” Trauma-informed care aims to:
- Realize the widespread impact of trauma and understand paths for recovery.
- Recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma in patients, families, and staff.
- Integrate knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices.
- Actively avoid re-traumatization.
Read More | Download Infographic
Antibiotic Stewardship
Study: Describing the Monthly Variability of Hospital-Onset Clostridioides difficile During Early COVID-19 Using Electronic Health Record Data
COVID-19 had a significant impact on hospitalizations over the last two years. Not surprisingly, the CDC reports that healthcare-associated infections were much more common in 2020 than in 2019, with an increase in ventilator-associated pneumonia of 45% and an increase in catheter-associated bloodstream infections of 47%. 1 However, there were significant decreases in hospital-onset Clostridioides difficile infection (HO-CDI) rates compared to 2019. This finding is interesting given the complex factors associated with C. difficile transmission and the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on these factors. Read Study
Adverse Drug Events
Study: Adverse Drug Events Caused by Three High-Risk Drug-Drug Interactions in Patients Admitted to Intensive Care Units
Knowledge about adverse drug events caused by drug-drug interactions (DDI-ADEs) is limited. A study published by the British Pharmacological Society aimed to provide detailed insights about DDI-ADEs related to three frequent, high-risk potential DDIs (pDDIs) in the critical care setting: pDDIs with international normalized ratio increase (INR+) potential, pDDIs with acute kidney injury (AKI) potential, and pDDIs with QTc prolongation potential. Read Study
Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAIs)
Infection Prevention Resources
Check out updated NHSN and IP training resources. View Resources
Public Awareness About Sepsis Is Critical
A blog post published by the CDC describes the case of a 9-month-old girl named Clover, who became sick with a fever. Her mother and doctors thought her illness was just another daycare sickness; however, Clover’s condition continued to worsen. Once sepsis was finally recognized, it was too late. This case highlights the importance of sepsis public awareness so that people can advocate for themselves and their family members. Additionally, the article provides information from the CDC to identify sepsis and treat it earlier. Read Blog
The Hospital Guide To Reducing Medicaid Readmissions
Reducing readmissions is a national priority for payers, providers and policymakers seeking to improve health care and lower costs. Readmissions are a significant issue among patients with Medicaid. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) commissioned a guide to identify ways evidence-based strategies to reduce readmissions can be adapted or expanded to better address the transitional care needs of the adult Medicaid population. Download Guide
More Hospitals To Be Charged Readmission Penalties
According to a Modern Healthcare article citing preliminary CMS data, more hospitals will face readmission penalties in 2024. Next year, 70.1% of hospitals will be charged penalties of less than 1% on their readmissions, compared with 67.1% of hospitals in fiscal 2023. Hospitals will be notified when the official data is released publicly. Read Article
Health Equity Video Series
A series of videos from the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center demonstrate best practices in sexual orientation and gender identity data collection. They address common questions and issues that arise for frontline and clinical staff when asking patients about their sexual orientation and gender identity. View Videos
Patient and Family Engagement
EQIC Checklist of Practice Recommendations
The Eastern US Quality Improvement Collaborative (EQIC) created a checklist of practice recommendations to provide process improvement strategies for consideration as hospitals work to implement a patient and family advisory council. View Checklist
Connecting PFE Best Practices to All-Cause Harm Reduction
The 5 PFE Best Practices resource aims to engage patients as partners with hospital staff and clinicians in reducing the risk of harm while in the hospital. This partnership occurs at the intersection of patient needs, experiences, and perspectives with clinical interventions and practices designed to reduce harm. View Resource
New Workplace Violence Prevention Coaching Package
Alliant's new coaching package includes best practice interventions and resources. Check out the SAVE Act, guides, staff education and case studies. Download Coaching Package
New Survey Sheds Light on Workplace Violence in Health Care Settings
A new survey polled clinical health care workers, health care administrative workers, and health care security personnel and found that 40% of health care workers experienced workplace violence in the past two years. At a time when several states are upping the penalties for assaulting health care workers, and there is currently legislation before Congress that would give health care workers the same legal protections against assault and intimidation as aircraft and airport workers, current data can arm health care leaders in advocating for change on behalf of their employees. Read More
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The national nursing shortage is prompting some states to tap family members to provide home-based care for children with complex health needs. These states are training and licensing family members as paid certified nursing assistants. Read More
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- Antimicrobial Stewardship Certificate Program
- Implementation of Antibiotic Stewardship Core Elements at Small and Critical Access Hospitals
- AHRQ Gap Analysis Tool
- 72-Hour Antibiotic Time-Out Sample Template
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For questions or information about free technical assistance, please contact:
Donna Cohen, Director, Quality Projects
Karen Holtz, Training and Education Lead, Hospital Quality
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This material was prepared by Alliant Health Solutions, a Quality Innovation Network–Quality Improvement Organization (QIN – QIO) 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. Publication Number:12SOW-AHS-QIN-QIO TO3-HQIC--4771-11/01/23