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

• Register for Upcoming Events
• Leadership Lesson: Advice from the Frontlines
• Health Equity Corner
• 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

Nursing Home Readmission Affinity Group: Leveraging Excel for Effective Data Display in Nursing Home Quality Improvement and Assurance
*NAB credits awarded* *CE for physicians and nurses available*
Thursday, May 9, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. CT
Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned Excel user, this interactive, case-based session will equip you with the skills to leverage Excel’s capabilities to drive improvements in nursing home care.
Learning Objectives: 

• Understand the Excel layout, basic functions, basic formulas, ribbons, and more.
• Understand and apply tables to data and how to choose the most effective visualization method for different types of data and audiences.
• Transform raw and tabled data into graphs and charts that effectively communicate data to different audiences, including staff, residents, families, boards, and band regulators.

Register Here | View Agenda

Nursing Home Patient Safety Series: Infection Prevention and Control Hot Topics for Nursing Facilities
*CME and NAB credits awarded*
Wednesday, May 15, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. CT
In this healthcare-associated infection (HAI) prevention educational event, we will discuss current infection prevention and control topics such as enhanced barrier precautions (EBP) implementation, sepsis and hospital readmissions and regulatory reporting requirements.
Learning Objectives: 

• Discuss how to implement EBP as a strategy to prevent and control multi-drug resistant organism (MDRO) transmission in nursing facilities using clinical scenarios. 
• Address your questions about EBP implementation.
• Examine strategies to reduce sepsis hospitalizations in nursing home residents.
• Review NHSN reporting requirements for nursing facilities.
• Share Alliant Health Solutions resources to support infection prevention and quality improvement initiatives.

Register Here | View Agenda

Oral Anticoagulation 102: Identifying and Managing Risks
Wednesday, May 22, 2024, at 2 p.m. ET | 1 p.m. CT 
 *CE for physicians and nurses available* 
As a follow-up to our Oral Anticoagulation 101 presentation in March, this 30-minute session will review the risks and benefits of anticoagulation, including common drug interactions, ways to mitigate bleeding risk and assess patient cases.
Learning objectives

• Recall common indications for anticoagulation 
• Recognize common drug-drug interactions with oral anticoagulants and the associated risks
• Identify ways to mitigate bleeding risk with oral anticoagulants
• Assess patient scenarios to identify medication-related problems in individuals taking oral anticoagulants

• Understand the impact of the QIN-QIO Program
• Learn about implemented best practices directly from the field
• Identify areas for sustainability 

Thursday, May 16 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. 

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

Four Key Components of Emotional Intelligence Every Leader Should Know 
A traditional definition of good leadership qualities only includes proficiency in technical skills. While that is part of the equation, effective leaders should also excel in emotional intelligence. 

In a Harvard Business School article titled, “Why Emotional Intelligence is Important in Leadership”, emotional intelligence is defined as the ability to understand, manage, recognize and influence the emotions of those around you. According to the article, effective leaders have a high degree of emotional intelligence, and 71% of employers value this attribute more than technical skills when evaluating candidates. 

Here are four key components of emotional intelligence:

1. Self-awareness: The ability to recognize our own strengths and weaknesses. 
2. Self-management: The ability to maintain a positive outlook during stress, rather than react impulsively. 
3. Social awareness: The ability to recognize emotions in others and exhibit empathy. 
4. Relationship management: The ability to coach and mentor others. 

We can take a few simple steps to increase our emotional intelligence. For instance, we can keep promises, show empathy, lift others up, admit to our own mistakes, and show gratitude. As leaders, we pave the way for our organization and our staff. Mastering emotional intelligence can lead to a lower turnover rate, higher job satisfaction, and a happier workplace that encourages the achievement of all established goals.

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. View Resources

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: Hurricane Season is Coming Up! 
Hurricanes, with their potential for storm surges, wind damage, rip currents, and flooding, are a serious threat that can occur along any U.S. coast or in any territory in the Atlantic or Pacific oceans. It's crucial to remember that storm surges have historically been the leading cause of hurricane-related deaths in the United States. Ready.gov shares resources for different topics to help prepare for hurricanes.
During National Hurricane Preparedness Week from May 5-11, 2024, help prepare people to be ready for hurricane season. Follow Alliant Health Solutions on social media for more information about tips during that week. Learn More

Emergency Preparedness: Alliant Health Solutions Ready, Set, Go! Checklist – Armed Assailant Resource
Alliant Health Solutions recently created a resource to assist facilities when developing and utilizing their workplace violence plans and procedures. This resource has tips to consider when there is an armed assailant. View Resource

Opioid Utliziation and Misuse

SAMHSA’s National Prevention Week: May 12-18, 2024 
National Prevention Week is a public education platform showcasing the work of communities and organizations across the country that are preventing substance use and promoting positive mental health. More information

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

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

• What do you want to change or add to next year’s campaign?

• Reviewed your event planning checklist to confirm final details, print handouts, and make signs to direct attendees to the event. 
• Discussed what else this group can accomplish as a coalition of community leaders.

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.

Beneficiary & Family Advisory Council (BFAC)