The April 2024 issue of Alliant Health Solutions Cares & Shares: A monthly newsletter highlighting events and resources for those caring for Medicare beneficiaries.

• News from CMS
• Register for Upcoming Events
• Leadership Lesson: Advice from the Frontlines
• Resources and Information on:
  • COVID-19 and Emergency Preparedness 
  • Opioid Utilization and Misuse
  • Patient Safety
  • Training 
  • Chronic Disease
  • Care Coordination and Partnerships for Community Health
  • Immunization 
  • BFAC

Events

Give the Boost a Shot: Education and Office Hours
*CME credit awarded*
Thursday, April 4, 2024, at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT
During this Boost Education and Office Hours event, participants can engage with subject matter experts, ask questions, and get instant, real-time answers. This event offers a unique opportunity to enhance your knowledge and gain insights in a collaborative environment.
Register Here

Nursing Home Readmission Affinity Group: Innovation: Engaging Patients, Residents, Family and Community in QAPI 
*NAB credits awarded* *CE for physicians and nurses available*
Thursday, April 11, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. CT
Join this session of our QAPI series as we discuss meaningful resident and family engagement in QAPI as a way to enhance residents' quality of life, quality of care, and safety.

Learning Objectives: 

• Discuss the roles of resident and family advisors in nursing home quality improvement.
• Learn strategies to engage residents, families, and councils in safety and your QAPI program.
• Assess your organization's inclusion of residents and families in safety using the IHI Self-Assessment tool.
• Describe the role of the LTC ombudsman program

Register Here | View Agenda

Nursing Home Patient Safety Series: Multi-Disciplinary Collaboration Between the Infection Preventionist and the Medical Director: The Key to Preventing and Managing Urinary Tract Infections 
*CME and NAB credits awarded*
Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. CT
This educational event will take us back to the basics of oral anticoagulant medications. Anticoagulants are considered high-risk in the Medicare population, but they are still necessary. In this presentation, we will discuss oral anticoagulant medications, common adverse drug events (ADEs), and tips for preventing ADEs. 
Register Here | View Agenda

Opioid Utilization and Misuse: Overdose Prevention and Training
Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT
*NAB credits awarded* *CE for physicians and nurses available* 
Overdose/Fentanyl poisoning continues to claim lives. Prevention is key! This event will cover prevention strategies and learning to recognize signs and symptoms of opioid overdose and how to respond in this medical emergency.
Register Here | View Agenda

Give the Boost a Shot: Office Hours Follow-Up>
Thursday, April 25, 2024, at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT
*CME credit awarded* 
Join us and invite your clinical colleagues to our Boost educational events. In this session, we'll take a deeper dive into your challenges and questions from our earlier office hours session.
Register Here

Thursday, April 18 at 2 p.m. ET | 1 p.m. CT (60 min.)
 **CME and NAB credit awarded**

Join the monthly Shop Talk sessions hosted by the Alliant patient safety team. Attendees will receive updates on the NHSN database and CMS requirements. This month, we will discuss NHSN changes to the surveillance definition of up-to-date COVID-19 vaccines. 

There will also be a live question-and-answer session to help with your immediate needs. Submitting data accurately into NHSN will help you more confidently plan your risk assessments and quality improvement initiatives.   

Join the Alliant Health Solutions-LTC NHSN Group!
Joining the group and conferring rights to Alliant Health Solutions-LTC to view NHSN data allows for seamless support and technical assistance.
View Step-By-Step Guide

Leadership

Health in Action: Lessons from the Field for National Minority Health Month

In recognition of National Minority Health Month, we celebrate the strides made in advancing health equity and reflect on the lessons learned from real-world experiences. Through the incredible stories and insights from the field through our HQIC, QIN-QIO and Georgia Flex contracts, we glean valuable lessons that inspire us to continue our journey toward health equity for all. 
Here are the three most impactful lessons on health equity from the front lines of healthcare:

• Lesson: Achieving health equity is a collaborative effort requiring active buy-in and participation from clinical, community, and other local, state, and national collaborators. Diversity is our strength, and inclusion is our responsibility. We must recognize that health disparities are not merely the responsibility of singular clinical or community organizations but require flexible and multifaceted approaches of diverse stakeholders working together towards a common goal.
• Action: Develop your health equity taskforce by fostering partnerships with clinical institutions, faith-based organizations, community leaders, policymakers, educators, and social service agencies that value the shared responsibility and collective action needed in designing and implementing interventions to promote health equity. Meet regularly and encourage open communication, mutual respect, and shared decision-making among all stakeholders.
• Alliant Tool: There’s no action without a plan, and much like you plan for quality initiatives, it’s imperative that your health equity taskforce create a plan, at least annually, for your health equity goals. Stuck on where to start? Here’s a health equity strategic planning template I created for you to get started and a filled-out example of how I would complete a health equity strategic plan if I were in your position.

Building Trust Through Cultural Competence is Imperative

• Lesson: Culturally competent care builds trust and fosters positive health outcomes. Take the time to understand the cultural backgrounds, beliefs, and practices of the communities you serve, so you don’t simply treat the condition but provide whole-person-centered care.
• Action: Invest in cultural competency and motivational interview training for healthcare providers and staff to ensure respectful and effective communication with patients from diverse backgrounds.
• Alliant Tool: Here’s our YouTube playlist of bite-sized learning videos we created for you and your team addressing health literacy challenges and providing culturally and linguistically appropriate patient care. You are welcome to upload these videos into your hospital learning systems, such as HealthStream, and offer this training for all current and newly incoming staff and leadership. 

Addressing Social Determinants of Health is Key

• Lesson: 80-90% of health outcomes are influenced by social, economic, and environmental factors beyond the scope of clinical care. Take a holistic approach to healthcare by addressing social determinants of health such as housing instability, food insecurity, and lack of access to transportation.
• Action: Create a transparent list of local, state, and national partners who provide services that address the root causes of health disparities, not merely their symptoms, and make this list available across the organization and to all individuals in need. Some key places to have this list made available are the front desk with registration, the emergency department, and the nursing and case management teams.
• Alliant Tool: Do you need an easy-to-use, fillable referral tool to provide to patients who screen positive for one or more social determinants of health? You’re in luck—we have just the tool. You can download it and add your SDOH partners to it here .

Resources

COVID-19 and Emergency Preparedness

Stay Up to Date and Protect Yourself and Others From Flu, COVID-19 and Rsv
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to provide up-to-date resources for partners and providers and post weekly updates on the respiratory illness season. Download Resource

COVID-19 Vaccine Myth-Busting Resource in English and Spanish 
Alliant Health Solutions has created a resource to debunk COVID-19 vaccine myths and provide facts. Download and share the resource, available in English and Spanish, with everyone you know. Download English Version | Download Spanish Version

Emergency Preparedness: March is #It’s Not Luck Month
In association with St. Patrick’s Day, the #It’s No Luck Month campaign asserts that no one should rely on luck when preparing for disasters and emergencies. Don’t leave disaster prep to chance. Sample social media posts and graphics can be found here.

Emergency Preparedness: SAMHSA Resource for Supervisors of Disaster Responders 
Disaster response work is a unique experience with both stressors and rewards. It can be challenging for responders to return to their regular duties after completing a disaster response assignment. Additionally, co-workers who maintained the office's ongoing operation during the response period may have also experienced stress. To help ease the transition for disaster responders returning to work, supervisors can manage their employees' stress levels and encourage them to gain perspective on their experience. By recognizing and reducing potential difficulties in the workplace, supervisors can enhance positive consequences for all of their staff. Learn More

Emergency Preparedness: TableTop Exercise Examples
As we are making our way through the year, it is essential to remember that you may need to complete a tabletop or full-scale exercise. Sometimes, deciding what to do or creating injects can be a lot of work. To assist, here are some example exercises and scenarios:

• CISA Tabletop Exercise Packages
• For other general exercise templates on disasters: Exercise Program | ASPR TRACIE

You can tailor these samples to fit your facility's needs. 

Opioid Utliziation and Misuse

White House Challenge To Save Lives From Overdose
The Challenge is a nationwide call-to-action to stakeholders across all sectors to save lives by committing to increase training on and access to lifesaving opioid overdose reversal medications. More information

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day – April 27, 2024
The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications. Find a Take Back Site

SAMHSA and HHS: Medications for Treating Opioid Use Disorder
The final rule from the Department of Health and Human Services was published on February 2, 2024, and will become effective on April 2, 2024, with a compliance date of October 2, 2024. View the Final Rule 
 

Patient Safety

Training

Infection Prevention Training: Creating Educational Partnerships with Agencies and Contractual Staff
Many nursing homes face barriers when working with agency and contractual staff as they work to provide and document infection prevention training. Alliant created a bite-sized learning video that focuses on using the PDSA cycle for quality improvement so nursing home administrators, infection preventionists and education or staff development specialists can overcome common barriers. Watch Video  

• For information on infection prevention training, visit quality.allianthealth.org
• Complete your updated nursing home IP training assessment

Chronic Disease

Care Coordination & Partnerships for Community Health

Immunization

Updated Toolkit Includes for All Respiratory Diseases 
The Toolkit for Increasing Vaccination Rates for Respiratory Diseases in Nursing Homes has been updated to include three major respiratory viruses: COVID-19, influenza (flu), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and pneumococcal. Reimbursement is complex, and requirements can change, so a new section was added for Medicare and Medicaid billing guidance for these respiratory vaccines.

Seasonal Immunization Campaign Calendar – READY SET GO
For April milestones on immunizations, collaborate with your team to review your campaign and present your data and findings to your QAPI meeting. Present what you “did well” and what your team could have “done better.” In addition, incorporate any findings into your emergency preparedness planning to prevent outbreaks. Spring ahead, and start preparing for your next respiratory season! 

Beneficiary & Family Advisory Council (BFAC)