QIO News Posts
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...