Joe’s Choice: Manage Diabetes Using Lifestyle Change
Managing diabetes to prevent complications and improve quality of life is a daily reality for 30.3 million Americans. Millions more are unaware they are living with diabetes (7.2 million) or prediabetes (75.6 million). The American Diabetes Association Diabetes Alert...
Faulkton Navigates the Fine Line of Antibiotic Stewardship
With each winter storm the desire for sunshine grows, but too much sun can become an equally difficult problem. There’s a fine line between just enough and too much of even the best things. Healthcare professionals in Faulkton are working to close this gap of...
Beyond BINGO: Nursing Facility Activities Increasing Quality of Life
The recent National Activity Professionals Week (January 20-26, 2019) provided an opportunity to showcase the impact fun and socialization can have on quality of life for residents of a nursing facility or assisted living center. Great Plains Quality Innovation...
Nine Quality Measures, Two Physician Champions, One Successful Team at Madison Regional Health System
Amber Oines, RN, BSN, the quality nurse specialist for Madison Regional Health System in Madison, SD, engaged Great Plains Quality Innovation Network (QIN) to support their healthcare quality team through the transition to the Quality Payment Program (QPP)....
Spreading the Word for a Healthy Community: Huron’s Team Approach to Antibiotic Stewardship
From allergy season to flu season and beyond, the common symptoms of a stuffy nose, cough and sore throat lead many individuals to their local clinic in search of relief. The presence of a fever increases the possibility of a bacterial infection; but often the culprit...
Taking Back Control: Diabetes Management Begins at Home
As one of the most common chronic diseases, diabetes is an everyday reality for an estimated 23.1 million people in the United States. While healthcare professionals provide regular monitoring, the majority of care and disease management is a result of...
North Dakota’s CRC Screening Improvements Featured at National Meeting
Pictured above: Shannon Bacon (American Cancer Society), Jesse Tran and Joyce Sayler (North Dakota Dept. of Health), Judy Beck (Great Plains QIN), and Amanda Houston (lND CRC survivor). Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer...
Implementing Teach-back in a Critical Access Hospital: Updating the EMR
Great Plains QIN facilitated a WebEx on Teach-Back in late October to demonstrate the use of teach-back to support patients and families throughout the healthcare journey. The teach-back method, also called the “show-me” method, is a communication...
Hillcrest Dementia Care Team Awarded 2018 McKnight’s Excellence in Technology Gold Award
Congratulations to the Hillcrest Health Services Dementia Care Team for receipt of the national 2018 McKnight’s Excellence in Technology Gold Award (Quality Category). The award was given for utilization of the Montessori method into the Hillcrest dementia care...
Nebraska Quality Payment Program Coalition: Part of the Solution
The Quality Payment Program (QPP) began in January 2017 under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015.The QPP aims to improve health outcomes, promote smarter spending, minimize burden of participation and provide fairness and transparency in...