Rooks County Health Center Receives 2018 Sepsis Hero Award
Rooks County Health Center (RCHS) in Plainville, Kansas will be accepting a 2018 Sepsis Hero award given out by the Sepsis Alliance, September 13, 2018, in New York City. Rooks County Health Center was nominated for the facility’s great work in improving sepsis...
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Rasmussen College of Nursing Incorporates Teach-Back Methodology
There are many factors that affect retention of health information with a wide range of results, but overall studies indicate that only about 50% of information provided by healthcare providers is retained. Depending on conditions, 40 - 80% can be forgotten...
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A Letter to Doctors from CMS Administrator Seema Verma
Great Plains Quality Innovation Network was asked, via the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), to share this information with healthcare providers and stakeholders throughout the region. Please share this important message with the providers at your...
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Nebraska Leads the Country in Innovative Approach to Medication Reconciliation and Opioid Safety
Like most of the country, Nebraska providers over-prescribe opioids. The CDC Prescription Drug Overdose Web site reports that Nebraska providers are writing 72-82.1 opioid prescriptions for every 100 persons in the state. In addition, an analysis of data gathered by...
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What’s on the GPQIN Calendar?
Check out the Great Plains QIN calendar for upcoming webinar’s and conferences. Click on the event for complete details regarding each WebEx, including registration instructions and presentation details.
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How the Wellness Visit and Chronic Care Management Can Transform Your Pratice [WebEx Opportunity]
National WebEx Opportunity: How the Annual Wellness Visit and Chronic Care Management Can Help Transform Your Practice Wednesday, July 25, 2018 2:00 – 3:30 PM CT Registration Required. Reserve your spot today! Overview: Learn key lessons and strategies from practices...
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Complex Care Patients Focus of Webinar and Coaching Call
Great Plains QIN recently drew a large audience for the webinar, “Improving Care Coordination by Working with Super-Utilizer Patients.” LaraShadwick, MBA, Mountain Pacific Quality Health, shared insights on a collaborative project in Montana to address super-utilizer...
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CMS Announces Updates for Nursing Home Compare
Several updates to Nursing Home Compare are noted below: Long-Stay Hospitalization Quality Measure The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) continues to focus on reducing hospitalizations to improve the health and safety of nursing home residents. Over the...
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Addressing Social Determinants of Health Can Reduce Healthcare Costs
Health starts in our homes, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods and communities. We know that taking care of ourselves by eating well and staying active, not smoking, getting the recommended immunizations and screening tests and seeing a doctor when sick all influence...
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Alternatives to Antibiotics: Home Care for Common Viruses
Whether a skeptic or a fanatic, home remedies and miracle treatments for everything from weight loss to cancer is at our fingertips. Healthcare professionals carry the burden of educating the consumer on fact versus fiction, especially when it comes to managing...
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What’s on the GPQIN Calendar?
Check out the Great Plains QIN calendar for upcoming webinar’s and conferences. Click on the event for complete details regarding each WebEx, including registration instructions and presentation details.
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The Impact of Accurate Blood Pressure Measurement
Proper training and education is key to ensuring accurate results as Kelly Haug, RN, Community Home Health, Onaga, KS, witnessed firsthand when abstracting data for the Home Health Cardiovascular Data Registry (HHCDR). Haug noticed missing and abnormal blood pressure...
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What’s on the GPQIN Calendar?
Check out the Great Plains QIN calendar for upcoming webinar’s and conferences. Click on the event for complete details regarding each WebEx, including registration instructions and presentation details.
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Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates Increase in North Dakota
State-by-state colorectal cancer screening rates for 2016 are now available from CDC. The percentage of adults aged 50 to 75 who reported being up to date with CRC screening in the United States increased from 65.5% in 2012 to 67.3% in 2016. The states having the...
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Endangered Prescriptions: Preventing the Growth of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
Penicillin was the first commercialized antibiotic and was hailed as a “miracle drug.” Antibiotics are now in danger of losing their effectiveness. Along with being the most commonly prescribed drugs in human medicine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...
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Pharmaceutical Companies Decrease Marketing Dollars for Opioid Use
Recent public attention has caused makers of opioids to decrease marketing dollars spent to promote their use to physicians. Pharmaceutical company payments to physicians related to opioid drugs decreased significantly in 2016 from the year before according to...
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Now Available: MIPS Performance Feedback and Final Score
If you submitted 2017 Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) data through the Quality Payment Program website, you can now view your performance feedback and MIPS final score. You can access your performance feedback and final score by: Going to the Quality...
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NEW Medicare Cards Mailed to Beneficiaries in Our Region (Wave 3)
Last week, CMS announced it has begun mailing new Medicare cards to beneficiaries who live in Wave 3 states, including the four states that comprise the Great Plains QIN region: Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. If Medicare beneficiaries say they did...
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What’s on the GPQIN Calendar?
Check out the Great Plains QIN calendar for upcoming webinar’s and conferences. Click on the event for complete details regarding each WebEx, including registration instructions and presentation details.
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Sepsis Alliance Launches ‘It’s About TIME’
Earlier today, the Sepsis Alliance, the nation's leading sepsis patient advocacy non-profit organization, today announced the launch of It's About TIME, a national initiative to create broader awareness of sepsis and the need for urgency in seeking treatment when...
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Study Finds Nurses are the Missing Link in Strengthening Hospital-Wide Antimicrobial Stewardship
On June 13, News Medical reported that Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASPs) are more effective when nurses are educated about antimicrobial stewardship and buy in to the cause, according to a recent study conducted at Jefferson Health in New Jersey. “Our findings...
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Improving Care Coordination by Working with Super-Utilizer Patients
A WebEx Opportunity You Won't Want to Miss June 27, 2018 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. (CT) Attend this WebEx to learn more about improving care for people with multiple chronic conditions that are often complicated by patients’ limited ability to care for themselves...
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Addressing the Opioid Crisis – The REACH OUT Act
On June 19, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5796, the REACH OUT Act by unanimous consent. This bipartisan legislation introduced by Congressmen Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Mike Thompson (D-CA), and Carlos Curbelo (R-FL), accesses the nation’s Quality...
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EHR Hardship Exception Application
Medicare eligible hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) may be considered exempt from Medicare penalties and avoid a payment adjustment. This consideration is being made if a hospital can show that demonstrating 'meaningful use' would result in a significant...
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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 most often the...
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Report Affirms Effectiveness of Some Non-Opioid Alternatives for Managing Chronic Pain
A new AHRQ evidence review concludes that exercise, cognitive behavioral therapy, chiropractic care and acupuncture are among non-drug treatments that can effectively manage some chronic pain conditions for more than one month after treatment. The report follows an...
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CMS Opioids Roadmap Released
Although some progress has been made in efforts to combat the opioid epidemic, the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate the crisis is not slowing down. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently published a...
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QHA Opens Registration for 2018 Quality Forum
Building a Healthier North Dakota Together! Quality Health Associates of North Dakota will be hosting their annual Quality Forum on Thursday, August 23, 2018, at the Ramkota Hotel and Conference Center in Bismarck, ND. This year’s Forum—Healthy People, Healthy...
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What’s on the GPQIN Calendar?
The Great Plains Quality Innovation Network offers several educational opportunities for healthcare partners. The topics are diverse; there is something for everyone! We hope you are able to join us. Check out the Great Plains QIN calendar for upcoming webinar’s and...
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Celebrating the 41st Annual National Nursing Assistants’ Week
June 14 - 21, 2018 is National Nursing Assistant's Week Nursing assistants are key players in the lives of the people in their care and each nursing assistant is called to create an environment of caring for the elder and the worker as well. This week provides an...
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