- Register for upcoming events
- Leadership Lesson: Advice From the Frontlines
- Resources and information on:
- Health Equity
- COVID-19
- Opioid Utilization and Misuse
- Patient Safety
- Training
- Chronic Disease
- Care Coordination and Partnerships for Community Health
- Immunization
- BFAC
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Events
**ANCC and NAB credits awarded**
Tuesday, July 11, 2023, at 2 p.m. ET
Join us as we hear from one facility’s medical director and nursing team about best practices and processes to enhance communication when a change in condition occurs. We will share strategies for incorporating these best practices into your QAPI program to create a sustainable communication process.
Register Here | View Agenda
**ANCC and NAB credit awarded**
Thursday, July 27, 2023, at 12:30 p.m. ET | 11:30 a.m. CT (30 min.)
The 2023 hurricane season has begun. Learn about the latest changes in weather patterns that can impact emergency planning. We will also discuss integrating Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) principles into emergency preparedness and provide a sneak peek of the AHS online TIC training module for frontline staff.
Register Here
Recorded on May 25, 2023
**ANCC credit awarded until 6/24**
This session discussed strategies for using the AHRQ TAKEheart framework to embed automatic referrals and care coordination into the workflow to improve cardiac rehabilitation participation.
Watch Recording | View Materials
Were You Able to "Use Tomorrow" What You Heard During the LAN Events?
If Yes, Click Below.
Nursing Homes LAN Attendees: Click here
Partnership for Community Health LAN Attendees:Click here
Thursday, July 20 at 2 p.m. ET | 1 p.m. CT (60 min.)
**ANCC 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 COVID-19 updates, definition changes for what is considered up-to-date for COVID-19 vaccination, updates to COVID-19 vaccination modules and reporting, and NHSN updates. 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.
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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
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Leadership
Words of advice from leaders on the front lines.
This month’s leadership lesson is from Tanya Vadala, PharmD, Behavioral Health Aim Lead for Alliant Health Solutions.
Fill Your Cup: The Importance of Self-Care
“Taking care of yourself is the most powerful way to begin to take care of others.” – Bryant McGill, author, activist and social entrepreneur
It's important to prioritize self-care, both now and in the future. As we move beyond the pandemic, let's make sure we're taking care of ourselves as well as we've cared for others. Self-care isn't just about getting enough rest - it's about nourishing our minds, bodies, and spirits. Here are a few examples:
- Making sure we get enough sleep
- Eating nutritious foods
- Staying active through exercise
- Relaxing and unwinding
- Reducing stress
By prioritizing self-care, we're able to be better caregivers to our patients and loved ones. Remember, you can't pour from an empty cup. For additional information on the topic, consider visiting the following websites:
Alliant Health Solutions' health equity lead, Rosa Abraha, curated the following health trainings, events and resources related to health equity. Check out the resources listed below.
CMS Proposes Policies To Improve Patient Safety and Promote Health Equity
CMS released a press release and factsheet on a proposed rule addressing health equity in fiscal year (FY) 2024.
Key points in the proposed rule include:
- CMS is proposing to make health equity adjustments in the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program by providing incentives to hospitals to perform well on existing measures and to those who care for high proportions of underserved individuals, as defined by dual eligibility status.
- CMS is proposing to recognize homelessness as an indicator of increased resource utilization in the acute inpatient hospital setting, which may result in higher payment for certain hospital stays.
- CMS is proposing to change the severity designation of the three ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes describing homelessness (e.g., unspecified, sheltered, and unsheltered) from non-complication or comorbidity (NonCC) to complication or comorbidity (CC) based on the higher average resource costs of cases with these diagnosis codes compared to similar cases without these codes.
- CMS is proposing to add 15 new health equity hospital categorizations for the FY 2024 IPPS payment impacts. Moving forward, one of the priorities of the CMS Framework for Health Equity 2022-2032 is to expand the collection, reporting, and analysis of standardized health equity data.
- CMS is also proposing that rural emergency hospitals could be designated as graduate medical education training sites. As a result, more medical residents would be able to train in rural settings, which can help address workforce shortages in these communities.
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Podcast AHSCAST - Making Health Care Better
 | Everyone deserves quality health care. Tune into the Alliant Health Solutions Making Health Care Better podcast every other Thursday as they interview guests committed to making health care better. If you are a health care consumer, provider, insurer, system or consultant, this is the podcast for you. View All Podcast Episodes |
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Resources
COVID-19
View All COVID-19 News & Resources
CMS Final Rule Removes COVID-19 Testing and Staff Vaccination Requirements
On May 31, 2023, CMS announced a final rule, “Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Policy and Regulatory Changes to the Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Requirements; Additional Policy and Regulatory Changes to the Requirements for Long-Term Care (LTC) Facilities and Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities (ICFs-IID) to Provide COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Offer Vaccinations to Residents, Clients, and Staff; Policy and Regulatory Changes to the Long Term Care Facility COVID-19 Testing Requirements.”
This rule will be effective 60 days after it is published in the federal register on June 5, 2023, and makes three key changes:
- Removes expired language addressing staff and resident COVID-19 testing requirements issued in the interim final rule (IFR) “LTC Facility Testing” on September 2, 2020.
- Withdraws the regulations published in the IFR "COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination" on November 5, 2021.
- Finalizes certain provisions published in the IFR “COVID-19 Vaccine Educate and Offer” on May 13, 2021.
CMS COVID-19 Vaccine Regulatory Changes
CMS is withdrawing all requirements to vaccinate staff for COVID-19 issued in the staff vaccination IFC. This removes section 483.80(i) of the SNF requirements of participation and 483.430(f) of the ICF/IID conditions of participation.
- This means that the requirement to have all staff vaccinated for COVID-19 or receive a medical exemption will be removed.
- Note, COVID-19 vaccination of health care staff and residents will be reported through the SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP).
- Guidance on this rule is available in QSO-21-19-NH .
- CMS is finalizing all elements of this rule except for the language referring to LTC facility staff refusing the COVID-19 vaccine originally set forth at § 483.80(d)(3)(v).
- Note that this rule maintains the requirement to report COVID-19 vaccine status for residents and staff to NHSN.
NCRN Year-End Recap Video
The Alliant Health Solutions NCRN team created a video highlighting our work over the past three years. Alliant Health Solutions is grateful for the opportunity to be a strategic partner in NCRN and thanks everyone who volunteered their time, skills and efforts in mitigating the effects of COVID-19. Watch End-of-Contract Video
Opioid Utliziation and Misuse
Opvee® (nalmefene) is approved to reverse opioid overdose. Read More
Brixadi® (buprenorphine) is approved to treat severe opioid use disorder. Read More
2022 CDC Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain
The 2022 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Clinical Practice Guideline is intended to help clinicians:
- Improve communication with patients about the benefits and risks of pain treatments, including opioid therapy for pain
- Improve the safety and effectiveness of pain treatment
- Mitigate pain
- Improve function and quality of life for patients with pain
- Reduce the risks associated with opioid pain therapy (including opioid use disorder, overdose, and death)
View the Guideline
Prevent Opioid Overdose With Naloxone
Clinicians play an important role in raising awareness about naloxone, a medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose when given in time. Visit the CDC’s naloxone website to learn how to talk with patients about naloxone and reduce their risk of opioid overdose. You can also earn free continuing education credits. Visit Website
Opioid Resources:
Medication Reconciliation Tips for Providers & Staff – Use this resource as a guide to completing med rec. Download Resource
Medication Review Tip Sheet for Patients – Email or print this resource to give to your patients. Download Resource
Medicine Disposal - Use this resource to safely dispose of unused, unwanted and expired medications. Download Resource
Do’s & Don’ts of Pain Medicine - Use this resource to learn how to safely use pain medicine. Download Resource
My Med Bags:
Patient Safety
Please join us for an upcoming webinar in our Healthcare-associated Infections (HAI) Nursing Home Patient Safety Series titled Preventing and Managing Urinary Tract Infections in Nursing Facilities. The webinar will be Wednesday, July 12, from 1:30–2 p.m. ET. This session will review strategies to reduce healthcare-associated urinary tract infections in residents and emphasize clinical, surveillance, and nursing interventions that will reduce the burden of urinary tract infections in nursing facilities. Register Here
COVID-19 Data Reporting to NHSN After Public Health Emergency Ends
Long-term care facilities are required to continue reporting COVID-19 data to NHSN even though the PHE ended on May 11. Changes to the NHSN application may include reduction, simplification or modification of data elements in the LTCF component. The recording with specific details on these updates can be found here.
Training
Infection Prevention Training
CMS seeks to improve nursing home care and provide opportunities to expand training for infection prevention (IP). CMS set a national goal for each nursing home to have, at a minimum, 75% of direct-care staff trained in IP. CMS approved the following list of trainings:
- CMS QSEP Targeted COVID-19 Training for Frontline NH Staff
- CDC Project Firstline
- HealthStream
- Health care Academy
- Relias
Scan the QR code below and complete the assessment to let us know what training you may provide in your facility. We can offer assistance with training program implementation as well. Visit https://bit.ly/NHIPAssessment.
Got questions? Need help? Want more information? Contact Rainmakers Strategic Solutions at 800-950-5636 or email NHIPTraining@rainmakerssolutions.com.
Trauma-Informed Training PPT with Pre- and Post-Assessments for Frontline Staff
Staff competency is one of the key elements of facilities’ trauma-informed culture. Alliant Health Solutions created a ready-to-use learning module with facilitator notes, case scenarios and pre-and post-tests to aid in developing nursing assistant and frontline staff competency in trauma-informed care.
Download the Trauma Informed Care PPT Training for Frontline Staff | Download Trauma Informed Care Pre- and Post-Learning Assessment Guide
Chronic Disease
As we celebrate Men's Health Month this June, it's important to bring attention to the unique health challenges that men face and encourage them to prioritize their overall well-being. This is the perfect time to promote proactive self-care and urge men to undergo regular check-ups and preventative screenings to make healthy lifestyle choices.
For older men, keeping their blood pressure under control is especially vital. According to data from CMS, hypertension affects approximately 64% of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries, with its prevalence increasing with age. Additionally, the latest National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, published in 2020, reports that the prevalence of age-adjusted hypertension was 45.4% among adults and higher among men (51.0%) than women (39.7%).
While hypertension can be effectively managed through lifestyle changes and medication, it's crucial to have regular blood pressure screenings with a doctor. Medicare offers a free annual wellness visit, including blood pressure screening, as part of the Affordable Care Act. Encourag your patients to schedule regular screenings and take advantage of available health care services. For more information on general screening and monitoring, refer to the following resources:
Care Coordination & Partnerships for Community Health
In a QSO released to hospitals on June 6, 2023, CMS reminds state agencies, accrediting organizations, and hospitals of the regulatory requirements for discharges and transfers to post-acute care (PAC) providers. CMS stresses the importance of key information for hospitals to share with PACs, including substance use disorders, behavioral health needs, medications, skin integrity, durable medical equipment needs, patient preferences and goals for care to safeguard patient health and safety during care transitions. Use this memorandum and Alliant Health Solutions Readmissions Circle Back Interview Tool to collaborate across the continuum to plan safe, effective transitions of care.
Addressing and Communicating Social Determinants of Health in Care Transitions
Read this Mount Sinai blog addressing social determinants of health to learn how Esther Moas, RN, vice president of care transitions, works with a dedicated team of nurses whose full-time work is to call patients to prevent avoidable readmissions. Nurses ask patients: “How will you get to your follow-up appointment? Do you need assistance with that?” Download Alliant Health Solution’s Post Discharge Follow-Up Call-Script as a tool to follow up on your discharge patients.
Getting Extra Help with Medicare Drug Costs
Patients who struggle with medication adherence are known to have higher readmission rates. Use the Getting Extra Help with Medicare Drug Costs Partner Social Media Toolkit to share information on how to get help with Part D costs.
Readmission Affinity Group Session #9
Save the date! Join us Tuesday, August 8, 2023, from 2-2:30 p.m. ET for Nursing Home Readmission Affinity Group Session #9. This session will focus on communication and trust-building strategies to enhance performance and patient safety. ANCC Contact Hours and NAB Credits will be awarded. Register Here
Immunization
Seasonal Immunization Campaign Calendar – Ready Set Go
Use this calendar as a planning guide to increase influenza and pneumococcal vaccination rates for your seasonal immunization campaign. The calendar contains targeted activities with a timeline to assist your teams with planning, implementing and evaluating your facility’s seasonal campaign. Download the Guide
We Can Do This – Get Vaccinated
A Spanish version of the “We Can Do This – Get Vaccinated” flyer is now available on the Alliant website. The flyer highlights the importance of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine for older adults. Share this resource with community organizations or places where Spanish-speaking older adults have access to community bulletin boards. Download Flyer
Beneficiary & Family Advisory Council (BFAC)
Browse resources our council has worked on below:
How To Create a My Medicines List
It can be hard to keep track of medicines. A My Medicines List can remind you when, how, and how much medicine to take. Here are step-by-step instructions to create a My Medicines List for yourself, a family member, a friend, or anyone you take care of. View Instructions
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