According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in three adults aged 65+ falls each year. These falls are the leading cause of fatal and non-fatal injuries among older adults. Preventing falls is especially a challenge in every nursing home. We would...

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) opioid-related hospital stays increased nationwide by 64 percent from 2005 to 2014. To access the AHRQ report, click here. The United States is facing an opioid epidemic, which costs $78 billion due to...

Two weeks into January and many New Year’s Resolutions are already being reconsidered or dismissed entirely. For those with chronic diseases, adopting new habits can be a matter of life or death. Despite potentially high stakes, change is still hard and providing...

Heart disease is the number one killer of women, surpassing every form of cancer according to 2010 data from the National Institutes of Health. The Heart Truth® education program was formed by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute with the goal to raise...

If you’re like many Americans, getting healthy is at the top of your list of New Year resolutions. But also like many Americans, you may not know you’re at risk for—or already have—prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. A new broadcast mini-series, “Your Health with Joan...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...