by Keri McDermott | Jan 6, 2017 | Archived
The aim of Million Hearts® is to reduce heart attacks and strokes by one million in five years. From 2012-2016, based on preliminary calculations, over 500,000 heart events have been prevented. The metrics used were utilizing the ABCs (aspirin, blood pressure and...
by Keri McDermott | Jan 6, 2017 | Archived
Nursing homes across the four-state region are advancing quality improvement efforts and achieving quality composite score success! Great Plains QIN distributes a quarterly composite score report with easy-to-read graphs, trending and comparisons recognized nursing...
by Keri McDermott | Jan 6, 2017 | Archived
Weskota Manor Avera in Wessington Springs, SD, chose implementing consistent assignment between the CNA’s and residents for their 2015/2016 QAPI project. The purpose was to confront several issues such as decreasing falls and increasing activities of daily living for...
by Keri McDermott | Dec 28, 2016 | Archived
On December 9, Health System Management reported that last year, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) withheld $420 million in reimbursements from half of U.S. hospitals because of readmission penalties. Hospitals need to have a solid strategy to not...
by Keri McDermott | Dec 28, 2016 | Archived
Becker’s Hospital Review recently reported there are eight steps patients can take on their own that can lead to better care and outcomes. Becker’s culled the steps from Laura Landro’s “The Informed Patient” column for The Wall Street Journal. Steps include: 1. Do...
by Keri McDermott | Dec 28, 2016 | Archived
Recently, FierceHealthcare reported real-time data use by healthcare organizations can help take their antimicrobial stewardship programs to the next level. Inappropriate use of antibiotics cost as much as $34 billion each year in the U.S., according to the Centers...
by Keri McDermott | Dec 22, 2016 | Archived
Several Great Plains QIN team members joined nearly 2000 members of the healthcare community at the National CMS Quality Conference in Baltimore last week. Our team was honored to receive an award, on behalf of the National Partnership for Patients Initiative, for...
by Keri McDermott | Dec 22, 2016 | Archived
The fourth floor hallway at the Marriott Waterfront Hotel was teeming with over 2000 people during the 2016 CMS Quality Conference in Baltimore, MD, last week. Highlighting the conference theme “Aligning for Innovation and Outcomes”, the Gallery Walk stretching from...
by Keri McDermott | Dec 16, 2016 | Archived
CDC has noted low influenza vaccination rates. A selection from CDC’s press release, Flu vaccine coverage remains low this year, is reprinted below. As of early November, only about 2 out of 5 people in the United States reported having gotten this season’s flu...
by Keri McDermott | Dec 16, 2016 | Archived
CMS releases its Person and Family Engagement Strategy A key strategy to achieving better outcomes is to meaningfully engage patients as partners in decisions about their healthcare. CMS recently announced their Person and Family Engagement Strategy, an effort to...
