HHQI e-Bulletin: A Monthly Update of the Home Health Quality Improvement Organization

February 2007 e-Bulletin

Welcome to the first Home Health Quality Improvement (HHQI) National Campaign
e-Bulletin!

This electronic bulletin serves to communicate information and announcements about the HHQI National Campaign. The e-Bulletin will be e-mailed monthly to:

The HHQIOSC Steering Committee
LANEs
National and state associations
Summit attendees.

The e-Bulletin will contain:

Links to the current monthly best practice intervention package (beginning with the March e-Bulletin)

An archive to all previous months’ best practice intervention packages (beginning with the April e-Bulletin)

An update for the LANEs

A highlight of successes - both cooperative efforts between LANEs as well as creative ideas from LANEs

An archive of Tips of the Week for the HHQI National Campaign

An archive of all previous HHQI National Campaign e-Bulletins (beginning with the March e-Bulletin).

Participating Home Health Agencies

The current number of participating home health agencies in the National Campaign is over 3,700.

HHQI Campaign Steering Committee Commitment

Members of the HHQIOSC Steering Committee announced their commitment and resources for the HHQI National Campaign at the Summit, January 11 at CMS. To read a summary of the organizations’ commitments for the campaign, or to listen to the presentations, visit the Web site and click on “Summit.” All individual audio presentations and PowerPoints for several of the speakers are available. Visit the HHQI National Campaign Web site at www.homehealthquality.org.

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The best practice intervention packages have been designed for all levels of staff at an agency. This includes leadership, SN, PT, OT, ST, MSW, and HHA. The packages are designed to use awareness and education to assist in reducing avoidable acute care hospitalizations (ACH). The agency can pick and choose which components may effectively support their ACH reduction efforts. Use of the package may vary each month. Home health agencies may choose to use most of the best practice intervention package one month and only a few parts another month.

The first best practice package will be available on March 1 on the HHQI Web site – www.homehealthquality.org.

To see a schedule of the Best Practice Intervention Package topics, visit the Web site, and look under “Interventions.”

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None at this time

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Local Area Network of Excellence

Registered HHA List

At the end of January, the HHQIOSC sent a list of registered HHAs to the LANEs, indicating the HHA’s name, MC number, e-mail contacts (primary and secondary), premier or participating status, etc. An updated list will be sent every two weeks for February and March, then once a month thereafter.

There will be a teleconference for LANEs ONLY on February 14, 3 – 4 p.m. (ET). The call-in number is 1.866.222.7056; the access code is 2782083 (only one line per organization). The first Best Practice Intervention Package – Hospitalization Risk Assessment - will be introduced to the LANEs in preparation for the posting of the final package on March 1. This teleconference call is NOT for the home health agencies - just for the LANEs.

LANEs will receive a modifiable flyer announcing the Best Practice Intervention Package – Risk Assessment to be sent to participating HHAs a week prior to the posting.

LANE Group E-Mail

Only state associations that are LANEs will receive routine updates related to their state campaign participants and LANE activities.

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New York: IPRO, the QIO for NY, is collaborating with the Home Care Association of New York State, Inc., New York State Association of Health Care Providers, Inc., Health Care Associations of New York State, and Continuing Care Leadership Coalition.

The NY LANE has been meeting weekly and developing strategies for recruitment and for sustaining momentum.
One benefit of collaboration with state associations is gaining access to senior leadership.
The LANE has been holding joint collaborative teleconferences sharing “What’s in it for them” and why HHAs should join the campaign, sharing stories from the NY summit participants, preparing the HHAs for the first best practice intervention package (education on data), and addressing additional topics of P4P, senior leadership and Quality 101.
The LANE has also planned monthly joint teleconferences to showcase how to use the best practice intervention packages and how to apply the information.
Their PowerPoint presentation (and audio) from the LANE's January 16 recruitment call is posted to IPRO’s Web site, www.ipro.org, and other LANEs are welcome to use all or part of the presentation.

South Carolina: The Carolinas Center for Medical Care, the QIO for NC and SC, is collaborating with the Association for Home Care and Hospice of North Carolina and the South Carolina Home Care Association.

The LANE's goal is to recruit 100 percent of the state’s HHAs.
The state associations offered a reward of discounted registration for its upcoming annual convention to the first premier agencies in North and South Carolina.
The South Carolina Home Care Association is creating press releases for its state partners, including the hospital and medical associations.
The LANE planned immediate interventions, including promoting the use of the Best Practice Monitoring Tool now to enhance monitoring practices, before the Best Practice Intervention Packages releases begin.

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This will be a feature of future HHQI National Campaign e-Bulletins.

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None at this time

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If you have technical problems with the e-Bulletin, please e-mail Russell Hartman.

This material was prepared by Quality Insights of Pennsylvania, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization Support Center for Home Health, under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy. Publication number 8SOW-PA-HHQ07.342.