Qualis Health Selected to Serve on PCA Demonstration
Qualis Health—along with the National Association of Community Health Centers' Patient Centered Medical Home Institute and the MacColl Center for Health Care Innovation—has been subcontracted by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) to serve on a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)-appointed contract to help Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) make investments in patient care and infrastructure. The contract is part of a National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) grant that will award $1.3 million a year for three years to Primary Care Association (PCA) clusters to support the 500 FQHC sites in achieving the goals of the CMS Demonstration.
Read the NACHC press release.
Model VBP Worksheets for Idaho and Washington Hospitals Available
Qualis Health has created model value-based purchasing (VBP) worksheets for both FY2013 and FY2014. Hospitals in Idaho and Washington can use these to track their progress, set goals and estimate their total performance score (TPS) within Medicare's VBP program.
Learn more.
Qualis Health's Medicare Website Wins Aster Award
Qualis Health's Medicare website—which is focused on our work as a Medicare Quality Improvement Organization—was recognized with a Gold-level Aster Award in the 2012 competition. Redesigned in August 2011, the website serves Medicare beneficiaries, healthcare providers and community partners across Idaho and Washington. Visit
qualishealthmedicare.org. Learn more about the
Aster Awards.
Have You Seen the Latest WIREC Insider?
This edition explains the answers to five burning Meaningful Use (MU) issues, how eligible professionals can create MU audit files and more.
Read the April edition of the WIREC Insider.
Care Transitions Monthly Briefing Distributed
The April edition of Qualis Health's
Communities for Safer Transitions of Care was distributed last week. The monthly briefing features the "Going Home from the Hospital" video, which aims to help patients avoid rehospitalization.
March Medical Home Digest Discusses Evidence-Based Care
This issue of the
Safety Net Medical Home Initiative's newsletter features articles on Organized, Evidence-based Care, including risk-stratifying patients to enable targeted care. It also provides reflections on transformation from participants in the Safety Net Medical Home Initiative, and a case study on reducing avoidable ED visits among newly-diagnosed diabetic patients.
Read the March 2012 Medical Home Digest.
Selena Bolotin Speaks About Medicare Care Transitions
Selena Bolotin, LICSW, MSW, Qualis Health's Care Transitions Project Manager, presented at the April meeting of the Seattle-King County Advisory Council for Aging & Disability Services. This volunteer citizens group represents older adults and individuals with disabilities within the community.
View the slides for What Are Care Transitions? (And Why It Matters).
Safety-Net Clinics Try Out the PCMH Concept: Lessons from Kansas City
Brenda Sharpe, President and CEO of the REACH Healthcare Foundation, authored an article for
Health Affairs GrantWatch Blog, sharing her organization’s experience with the Patient-Centered Medical Home Model (PCMH). With support from Qualis Health’s PCMH consulting team, the REACH Healthcare Foundation has worked to transform their systems of care and has seen a positive return on investment.
WIREC Insider Goes Monthly with New March Edition
Going from quarterly to monthly, the new edition of the Washington & Idaho Regional Extension Center's (WIREC) newsletter,
WIREC Insider, is now available online. This issue includes information about Qualis Health's new Cardiac Learning & Action Network (LAN), helpful tips on successfully attesting to Meaningful Use for Medicare Eligible Professionals, “Clinical Summaries on the Patient Portal” by Trudy Bearden, PA-C, MPAS, CPHIT -- plus the latest health IT news and more.
Nebraska's Qualis Health Quarterly Out Now
The
Qualis Health Quarterly contains news and information for Nebraska healthcare providers. The
March 2012 issue includes information on potential quality of care letters, home health review updates, Gold Card Provider & Long Term Care Client process reviews and more.
Care Transitions Newsletter Debuts This Month
The Communities for Safer Transitions of Care project, part of Qualis Health’s Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) work, has introduced
Monthly Briefing--a newsletter dedicated to care transitions and reducing readmissions. This monthly newsletter is targeted to providers and community partners across Idaho and Washington. It is intended to spread the news about local care transitions efforts.
Read an excerpt from the first issue. Or you can
subscribe and have the full edition emailed to you each month.
Qualis Health Workshop Helps Centralia Practice Solve Long-Standing Challenge
A workshop in Lean workflow helped Washington Park Medical Center greatly reduce the amount of time and hassle previously required to ensure that childhood immunizations are administered during office visits.
Learn how they did it.
The Commonwealth Fund Publishes PCMH Paper Co-Authored by SNMHI Staff
A new report posted on The Commonwealth Fund's website,
Guiding Transformation: How Medical Practices Can Become Patient-Centered Medical Homes, "outlines and describes the changes that most medical practices would need to make to become patient-centered medical homes." The report includes co-authors from the Safety Net Medical Home Initiative (SNMHI): the MacColl Institute for Healthcare Innovation at the Group Health Research Institute's Edward Wagner, MD, MPH, and Katie Coleman, MSPH; Robert Reid, MD, PhD, MPH, from the Group Health Research Institute; and Qualis Health's Jonathan Sugarman, MD, MPH, President & CEO, and Kathryn Phillips, MPH, Director, SNMHI.
Qualis Health a Finalist for 2012 Case In Point Platinum Awards
Qualis Health's workers' compensation utilization management program has been named a finalist in the "Managed Care: Utilization Management Program" category for a 2012 Case In Point Platinum Award. This awards competition recognizes successful and innovative case management programs across the country. Category winners will be announced on May 9, 2012.
Learn more about this honor.
Consultants Share Their Experiences in the WIREC Insider
January's
WIREC Insider includes lessons learned by WIREC Health IT Consultants Helen Strobel, RN, MPH, CPHIT, and Trudy Bearden, PA-C, MPAS, CPHIT, in "Pitfalls on the Road to Meaningful Use," while WIREC Consultant Kelley Carnwath, MPH, provides tips on "Meaningful Use of Electronic Medical Records and Race/Ethnicity Data Collection."
Neighborcare Presents Optimizing the Role of the Front Desk Staff
In a December 15 webinar, Katie Bell and Prathiba Pinnamaneni of Seattle's Neighborcare Health presented a webinar for the
Safety Net Medical Home Initiative. In it, they discussed why and how their clinics organized and optimized the role of the front desk staff.
View Optimizing the Role of the Front Desk Staff online or
download the slides;
download the Neighborcare Tasking Guidelines.
Read the December Qualis Health Quarterly
A regular newsletter for Nebraska healthcare providers, the
December edition of the Qualis Health Quarterly includes tips for home health and private duty nursing review, as well as information about providing hospital medical records.
Idaho 2012 Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Conference Call for Presentations
The 2012 Idaho Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Conference will be held April 5-6 in Boise. This year's conference will focus on effective coordination to enhance patient care quality and safety when transferring from one setting of care to another. We are looking for speakers with innovative and informative messages based on the theme "Safety in Transitions" to share with the healthcare industry. Presentation proposals must be postmarked by Friday, January 20, 2012.
Learn more about the conference or
download an application.
New from SNMHI: Patient-Centered Interactions and Quality Improvement Webinars
The
Safety Net Medical Home Initiative recently hosted webinars on Patient-Centered Interactions and Quality Improvement.
View the presentation or
download the slides for "Establishing Patient and Family Advisory Councils in the Medical Home."
View the presentation or
download the slides for "Using Data for Quality Improvement."
Read WIREC Insider October Issue
Want to learn more about the WIREC Best Practices Forum, read a story from the front lines about meaningful use attestation or get tips on conducting an EHR system go-live dress rehearsal? All of this—and more—is in the
October edition of WIREC Insider, the Washington & Idaho Regional Extension Center's monthly newsletter.
Nebraska's Qualis Health Quarterly Out Now
The
Qualis Health Quarterly contains information for Nebraska healthcare providers. The
September 2011 issue covers such topics as diagnosis codes for home health authorizations, home health clients with dual eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid, nursing services provided in school settings and more.
Building and Sustaining Momentum for PCMH Transformation
Did you miss the Safety Net Medical Home Initiative's most recent Quality Improvement Strategy webinar? Now you can download the
slides for
Building and Sustaining Momentum for PCMH Transformation or view the
presentation online.
September's WIREC Insider a Patient Engagement Special Edition
Unlike previous Washington & Idaho Regional Extension Center (WIREC) newsletters, the September 2011 edition of
WIREC Insider is devoted to a single—and vital—topic patient engagement. With the help of Daniel Lessler, MD, MHA, who consults with WIREC and is Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine and Associate Medical Director for Ambulatory Care Services at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, the
WIREC Insider delves into this important subject.
Get the Inside Scoop from WIREC
WIREC Insider, the stakeholder newsletter for the Washington & Idaho Regional Extension Center, has released its August edition. Hear from the first WIREC enrollee to attest to meaningful use, find out about important dates in the EHR Incentive Program and get tips on attestation from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
New Organized, Evidence-based Care Resources Available
"Change Concepts" are general ideas used to stimulate specific, actionable steps that lead to improvement. "Organized, Evidence-based Care" is one of eight Change Concepts employed by the Safety Net Medical Home Initiative (SNMHI). Materials from two recent Organized, Evidence-based Care webinars are now available from the SNMHI. Download slides from the June 7 webinar,
Organized, Evidence-based Care, or slides and audio/video from the July 11 webinar,
Implementing Effective Clinical Care Management.
Two New WIREC Publications Released
The Washington & Idaho Regional Extension Center (WIREC) released two publications this past week.
WIREC Quarterly Stakeholder Newsletter was released Tuesday, July 5, 2011, and
WIREC Insider was released July 11, 2011. Both pieces include news on meaningful use, health information technology and more.
Nebraska Newsletter Now Online
Nebraska Medicaid providers can now download the June edition of the
Qualis Health Quarterly to get updated information on electronic data transfer for home health and private duty nursing services, as well as learn how hospitals may submit medical records to Qualis Health via CD instead of paper.
Qualis Health Takes Two Asters
Qualis Health was recently honored with two
2011 Aster Awards—a gold for their new
corporate website and a silver for their
2009-2010 Report to the Community. Recognizing healthcare organizations for excellence in their advertising and marketing efforts during 2010, the 2011 Aster Awards garnered approximately 3,000 entries from across the United States, as well as Canada and South America. Judging criteria included creativity, layout and design, functionality, message effectiveness, production quality and overall appeal.
Empanelment Part 2 is SNMHI's Latest Implementation Guide
Created by the Safety Net Medical Home Initiative (SNMHI),
Empanelment Part 2: Assigning and Managing Panels in a Patient-Centered Medical Home offers instructions that will allow practices to assign panels, make job assignments to support empanelment and sustain the effort over time. Also included in this implementation guide are interactive tools to help practices understand patient acuity and balance provider panels accordingly.
Read the Spring Issue of Patient Safety Advance
The Spring issue of Qualis Health's Patient Safety Advance newsletter is now available. Topics include sustaining quality improvement gains, a case study on reducing restraints, alarms and falls, CMS' Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program, Washington State MDRO prevention collaboratives and Qualis Health's Awards of Excellence in Healthcare Quality.
The Value of Shared Learning: Patient-Centered Medical Home Transformation in the Safety Net
Safety Net Medical Home Initiative Director Kathryn Phillips, MPH, was published in the May edition of
Medical Home Bulletin. Kathryn's article, "The Value of Shared Learning: Patient-Centered Medical Home Transformation in the Safety Net," is available via subscription at
www.MedicalHomeNews.com.
WIREC Insider May Edition Out Now
The latest edition of the Washington & Idaho Regional Extension Center's (WIREC) newsletter,
WIREC Insider, is available online. Read about the connections Qualis Health's Medical Director for Health Informatics Dr. Jeff Hummel makes between performance art and healthcare workflow, WIREC's group purchase EHR program and late-breaking EHR and privacy and security in the context of meaningful use.
Get the Latest Medical Home Resources
Silver City Health Center Attains NCQA PCMH Recognition
Outlook Associates, a division of Qualis Health, directs the
REACH Medical Home Initiative, a bi-state project in the Kansas City metro area designed to guide nine safety net clinics toward patient-centered medical home (PCMH) transformation. Participating clinic
Silver City Health Center (SCHS) was recently awarded Level 3 PCMH recognition by
National Committee of Quality Assurance (NCQA) for their achievements in practice transformation. SCHC's award marks two distinguished firsts: the first practice to gain NCQA PCMH recognition in the state of Kansas, and the first clinic in the REACH Medical Home Initiative to attain this recognition.
Peggy Evans Answers HIMSS Questions About WIREC
Peggy Evans, PhD, CPHIT, Director of the Washington & Idaho Regional Extension Center (WIREC) was recently interviewed by Healthcare Information and Management Systems' (HIMSS) Digital Office Task Force Member Tony Khuu.
Read the interview.
New Partnership Aims to Improve Healthcare Quality, Safety and Affordability
On April 12, 2011,
The Partnership for Patients: Better Care, Lower Costs was announced. This program of the Obama Administration brings together leaders of major hospitals, employers, physicians, nurses and patient advocates along with state and federal governments in a shared effort to make hospital care safer, more reliable and less costly. To help achieve these goals, public and private partners will develop models to deliver better care for patients that can be shared widely. Qualis Health has proudly taken the pledge of participation.
WIREC Insider Talks Workflow Redesign
The March edition of the Washington & Idaho Regional Extension Center's (WIREC) quarterly newsletter,
WIREC Insider, was recently released.
Read it now to learn about WIREC workflow redesign workshops, test your meaningful use knowledge and more.
SNMHI Releases New Implementation Guide
Many important features of the patient-centered medical home model are difficult to implement without state-of-the-art information management tools. The Safety Net Medical Home Initiative's (SNMHI)
Quality Improvement Strategy Implementation Guide Part 2: Optimizing the Use of Health Information Technology for Patient-Centered Medical Homes describes how clinics can optimize health information technology to power medical home workflows.
Read the guide.
Qualis Health Publishes Report to the Community
Qualis Health's 2009-2010
Report to the Community is now available. Learn more about our efforts to improve healthcare over the past two years by
reading the Report.
Jeff Hummel Blogs on Clinic Workflow Design
Qualis Health's Medical Director for Health Informatics, Jeff Hummel, MD, MPH, recently wrote a blog entry for the HITRC portal, a secure website for Regional Extension Centers. In his article about workflow redesign, he shares an analogy between workflows in primary care clinics and set changes in stage shows. The HITRC portal is a secure site, but
you can read Dr. Hummel's blog entry, My Daughter is an Aerialist, on our WIREC website.
Qualis Health Welcomes New Board Members
Steven Burgon, JD, and Margaret T. Stanley, MHA, recently joined Qualis Health's board of directors. Mr. Burgon, the President and Founder of Burgon Law Office, has 20 years of experience working with nonprofit and charitable entities. Ms. Stanley has an extensive background leading public and private sector healthcare organizations, including positions in public policy, administration of health benefits programs and management of healthcare delivery organizations. View
Mr. Burgon's bio or
Ms. Stanley's bio.
Jonathan Sugarman Interviewed for Medical Home News
The January 2011 edition of Medical Home News includes an interview with Qualis Health President and CEO Jonathan Sugarman, MD, MPH.
Read the interview.
"Going Home from the Hospital" Video Presents Steps to Safer Care Transitions
One in five Medicare patients is readmitted to the hospital within 30 days after discharge. This new video from the Stepping Stones Project of Whatcom County shows patients and caregivers how taking just four steps can help with a safer transition from hospital to home.
Watch the video.
WIREC Enrolls 1,000 Primary Care Providers
The Washington & Idaho Regional Extension Center (WIREC) has now enrolled 1,000 primary care providers in its program to assist with adoption and meaningful use of electronic health records. Led by Qualis Health, WIREC is among the first of the 62 regional extension centers to reach this milestone.
Read the press release.
Visit the WIREC website.
Quality Improvement Report Examines ED Medication Management Workflow
Published online in June, "Medication reconciliation in the emergency department: opportunities for workflow redesign" by Peggy Evans, PhD, CPHIT, Jeff Hummel, MD, MPH, and Helan Lee-Garrard is in the December 2010 edition of the journal Quality and Safety in Health Care.
Read the abstract.
Qualis Health, WIREC on Facebook
Qualis Health and WIREC now have their own official Facebook pages. Become a fan to stay up-to-date on the latest news and information about Qualis Health, the Washington & Idaho Regional Extension Center and the work we do. Join the conversation now!
Visit Qualis Health on Facebook.
Visit WIREC on Facebook.
L.A. Care Taps Qualis Health for New Pilot Program
L.A. Care Health Care Plan, the nation’s largest public health plan, announced a two-year pilot program to help transform 11 health care practices into patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs). Qualis Health will contribute its expertise in PCMH transformation consulting to the program.
Read the press release.
Healthcare Excellence Award for Qualis Health Leadership
Cara Robinson, RN, BSN, CCM, Qualis Health's Vice President of Medicaid Services, and Eric Wall, MD, MPH, Senior Medical Director, were selected as 2010 honorees at the Dorland Health People Awards. Ms. Robinson was the winner in the "Case/Care Manager-Leadership" category and Dr. Wall received Honorable Mention in the "Medical Director-Provider" category.
Read the press release.
ACP Hospitalist Article Discusses Stepping Stones Project
"
Reducing Readmissions by Empowering Patients" in the September issue of ACP Hospitalist discusses Qualis Health's work in Whatcom County, Washington aimed at eliminating unnecessary readmissions to St. Joseph Hospital. Selena Bolotin, LICSW, MSW, Project Manager for Care Transitions, and Evan Stults, Executive Director of QSI Communications, were interviewed for the article.
Learn more about the Stepping Stones Project.
Dr. Mabel Ezeonwu Joins Qualis Health Board
Qualis Health recently welcomed Mabel Ezeonwu, PhD, RN, BSN, to its board of directors. Dr. Ezeonwu is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at the University of Washington Bothell and has practiced for over a decade as a Registered Nurse at several Seattle-area hospitals and medical centers.
View Dr. Ezeonwu's bio.
Dr. Michels Honored
Dale Michels, MD, D-ABFM, F-AAFP, Nebraska Medical Director, was selected to receive the 2010 Nebraska Medical Association’s Distinguished Service to Medicine Award. This award recognizes his excellent service, both to his patients and to Nebraska’s medical community. Dr. Michels was nominated for the award by the Lancaster County Medical Society, and he was honored at a luncheon given by the Nebraska Medical Association on October 1.
Qualis Health Honored for WIREC Logo
Qualis Health has been awarded a Certificate of Excellence for the WIREC logo from the national American Graphic Design Awards. Graphic Designer Amy Sanders created the winning logo. The
Washington & Idaho Regional Extension Center helps participating healthcare providers achieve meaningful use of EHRs.
WIREC Awarded Additional HHS Funds
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced on September 10, 2010 that nearly $20 million has been released to help critical access and rural hospitals' outpatient facilities convert from paper-based medical records to certified EHR technology. Qualis Health's share of the awards is $564,000 for its WIREC program.
Read the press release.
Palina Louangketh Co-authors Stroke Journal Article
QI Consultant Palina Louangketh, MHS, contributed to an article in the journal Stroke. The article, "Striking Rural-Urban Disparities Observed in Acute Stroke Care Capacity and Services in the Pacific Northwest: Implications and Recommendations,"
can be read here.
Michael Garrett Helps Shape CCMC Brief
Michael Garrett, MS, CCM, Vice President of Business Development, made extensive contributions to the latest Commission for Case Manager Certification Issue Brief, titled "Care Coordination: Case managers 'Connect the Dots' in New Delivery Models."
Read the issue brief.
WIREC Director Testifies Before House Subcommittee at HITECH Act Hearing
Peggy Evans, PhD, CPHIT, Director of the Washington & Idaho Regional Extension Center (WIREC) testified before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee of Health, on July 27, 2010, in Washington, DC.
Read the press release or
view video of the proceedings.
HHS Announces Final Rules to Support Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records
On July 13, 2010, US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced final rules for meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs). Led by Qualis Health, WIREC is one of 60 Regional Extension Centers around the country designated to support provider efforts to become meaningful users of EHRs. Providers who meet meaningful use objectives can qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments.
Read the press release.
Life Science Discovery Article Published
Qualis Health's Peggy Evans, PhD, CPHIT, Jeff Hummel, MD, MPH, and Helan Lee-Gerrard submitted an article entitled Medication reconciliation in the emergency department: opportunities for workflow redesign to the journal
Quality and Safety in Health Care. Written as part of the Life Science Discovery Fund award, the article was accepted in November 2009 and posted to the journal's website in June.
Read the abstract.
Evan Stults Presents at National Medicare Readmissions Summit
Qualis Health's Executive Director of QSI Communications, Evan Stults, gave a presentation titled "Stepping Stones: Community Engagement to Reduce Unnecessary Rehospitalizations" at the National Medicare Readmissions Summit on June 8, 2010 in Washington, DC.
Visit the Stepping Stones website.
SNMHI Issue Brief Released by The Commonwealth Fund
The Commonwealth Fund has formally released the 2009 Safety Net Medical Home Initiative Issue Brief, "Providing Underserved Patients with Medical Homes: Assessing the Readiness of Safety-Net Health Centers," authored by Katie Coleman, MSPH, and Kathryn Phillips, MPH.
Read the Issue Brief.
Qualis Health Honors Washington Healthcare Providers
Qualis Health presented the Awards of Excellence in Healthcare Quality to five Washington healthcare providers at the Northwest Patient Safety Conference on May 4 in Seattle.
Read the press release.
Qualis Health Receives Two Case In Point Platinum Awards
Qualis Health was named as a Case In Point Platinum Award winner in both the Medicaid Case Management Program and Utilization Management Program categories during a ceremony on April 20, 2010 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
See our feature in the April/May issue of Case In Point.
Qualis Health Honors Idaho Healthcare Providers
Selected from healthcare providers across Idaho, five Award of Excellence in Healthcare Quality recipients were honored during a luncheon ceremony at the annual Idaho Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Conference.
Read the press release.
Michael Garrett Speaks at Wichita Business Coalition on Health Care
Michael B. Garrett, MS, CCM, Vice President of Business Development at Qualis Health presented on best practices in care management to the Wichita Business Coalition on Health Care on Friday, April 16, 2010.
View an executive biography for Michael B. Garrett.
WIREC - The Washington & Idaho Regional Extension Center
Qualis Health has been awarded funding to provide Washington and Idaho healthcare organizations with technical assistance related to the adoption and meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs).
Visit the WIREC project website.
The Safety Net Medical Home Initiative Is Now on Facebook
Qualis Health's patient-centered medical home project has launched a Facebook page to help participants stay up to date on the latest news, announcements, events, publications and releases from the Initiative.
Become a Facebook Fan.
Qualis Health Awarded Recovery Act Funds to Assist Healthcare Providers Using Health IT
The center at Qualis Health is among the first to be funded, and it will provide an integrated, comprehensive suite of services to priority providers across Idaho and Washington.
Read the press release.
Short Films on Successful Care Transitions Released
Qualis Health has produced two short films about facilitating safe transitions of care from hospital to home as part of Stepping Stones - The Care Transitions Project of Whatcom County, WA.
Watch the video.
