Impacting Patient Experience: Positive Impressions for Positive Outcomes
Healthcare is personal. Any individual in need of healthcare services becomes vulnerable. The level of comfort and confidence relayed by healthcare professionals at every stage of care can impact positive health outcomes. Long waits, big words and confusing bills may...
New Medicare Part D Opioid Policies Effective January 2019
As one of the largest payers of healthcare services, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plays a central role in addressing the opioid epidemic. CMS is focusing on three key areas—prevention, treatment and data. To target these key areas, CMS is...
Nebraska Hospital Association Releases New Opioid Toolkit
According to the CDC, the amount of opioids prescribed and sold since 1999 has nearly quadrupled, yet there has not been an overall change in the amount of pain Americans report. We have a genuine and devastating epidemic of opiate abuse in this country, and it is of...
New Medicare Part D Opioid Overutilization Policies for Prescribers Posted
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently finalized new policies for Medicare drug plans to follow starting on January 1, 2019. A Prescriber’s Guide to the New Medicare Part D Opioid Overutilization Policies for 2019 is one tool CMS is utilizing...
Antibiotic Awareness Week Kick-Off with Dr. Maureen Tierney and Dr. M. Salman Ashraf
November 12 | U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week #USAAW18 #BeAntibioticsAware Great Plains Quality Innovation Network – Nebraska kicked off Antibiotic Awareness Week by partnering with Nebraska healthcare leaders, Dr. Maureen Tierney and Dr. M. Salman Ashraf, to...
Opioid Crisis: From Treatment Option to Public Health Emergency
Epidemic is typically used to describe the widespread impact of an infectious disease instead of a medication treatment option. While pharmaceutical companies reassured providers, the growing number of opioid prescriptions was quietly converting patients into addicts....
Care Coordination and Medication Safety Resources Refreshed
Care coordination and medication safety continue to be highly discussed topics across communities and the healthcare continuum. For the past 4+ years, the Great Plains Quality Innovation Network (QIN) has brought communities together throughout the...
Be Antibiotics Aware: Everyone Has a Role to Play
Monday, November 12 kicks-off U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week (USAAW) As you prepare for the week, we encourage you to check out CDC’s Be Antibiotics Aware partner toolkit, which contains key messages, social media content, graphics and more. Below are some...
New Tool to Help Rural Communities Address the Opioid Epidemic Released
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and U.S. Department of Agriculture Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development unveiled a listing of federal programs that can be used to build resilient communities and address opioid misuse in rural...
Recommendations to Reduce Adverse Drug Events from Anticoagulants During Care Transitions Provided by Expert Coalition
In the November 2018 issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, results of an IPRO-convened task force of The New York State Anticoagulation Coalition were published. The article details a list of Requisite Data Elements (RDEs) to adequately...