QIO News Posts
Electronic Health Records Empowering Patients to Make Treatment Decisions
On January 9, NPR reported the uses of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are moving beyond coordinating patient care and becoming an important resource for medical studies and using facts that help individualize care. Dr. Tracy Lieu, head of Kaiser’s research division...
Strategies and Tools for Preventing Falls
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...
The Battle Against the Opioid Use Epidemic
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...
Take the First Step to Resolution Success
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...
Stop the Number One Killer of Women
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...
Your Health with Joan Lunden and CDC
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...
Million Hearts® 2022 Unveiled
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...
Tools Support Nursing Home Composite Score Advances
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...
QAPI in Action: Consistent Assignment Project Increases Quality
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...
Important Strategies for Reducing Readmissions
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...