Right Now in Quality Health
August 2021 – Issue 4
Newsletter Content Menu (click to jump to any section)
- A Message from the CEO: National Immunization Awareness Month
- Regional Chronic Disease Collaborative Resources
- Understanding How to Be Trauma-Informed and Resiliency-Focused
- Behavioral Health and Opioid Utilization and Misuse On-Demand Learning
- Patient Safety: Create a Culture of Safety with Partnering to Heal
- Connected Care Toolkit: A Chronic Care Management Resource from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration Approves First COVID-19 Vaccine
- COVID-19 Booster Shots for Americans
- Staff COVID-19 Vaccinations Required in 15,000 Medicare and Medicaid-Participating Nursing Homes
- New On-Demand Training from CMS Regarding COVID/Infection Prevention
- Upcoming Conferences
- Seeking Wyoming Community Volunteers
A Message from the CEO: National Immunization Awareness Month
Greetings!
August is National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM), a national health observance meant to highlight the importance of vaccination for people of all ages.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all aspects of life, including our ability to attend important appointments and receive routine vaccinations. Many of us had to postpone or cancel appointments and may not have had the opportunity to catch up on needed preventative or other health care services.
During NIAM, encourage everyone you know to schedule appointments to ensure they are up-to-date on annual exams and recommended vaccines. Research has consistently shown that health care professionals are the most trusted source of vaccine information for parents and patients. If you are a health care professional, it is especially important that you encourage immunizations for all your patients.
For those patients who are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination, practitioners play a critical role in helping community members the importance of vaccination and that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective.
Earlier this year, I shared on social media why it was important to me to get the COVID-19 vaccine and I want to take this chance to share it here with you:
First and foremost, I got vaccinated for my family – my husband, my kids and my precious “grandies.” However, the “all about me” side wanted to be vaccinated for a number of reasons: to have the option to return to the office; to interact with coworkers and laugh around a conference table; to travel without the stress of getting sick or giving COVID to my loved ones; to socialize at a coffee shop, a restaurant or a watering hole; to attend church instead of participating virtually; to sleep more and worry less about the repercussions of COVID. Being vaccinated contributes to my peace of mind.
Share your own reasons for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine or any other vaccine on your social media platforms using the hashtag #Ivax2protect.
Regional Chronic Disease Collaborative Resources
Mountain-Pacific and partners have established a Regional Chronic Disease Collaborative to create a cooperative approach, leveraging the combined resources and expertise of participating members to prevent the development and progression of chronic disease.
The regional collaborative will use a learning and action network (LAN) to deliver content to health care systems and communities throughout our region. The latest webinar (June 24, 2021) focuses on ways to effectively use community, state and national resources to support the management and treatment of chronic disease, help address social determinants of health and improve health equity.
Understanding How to Be Trauma-Informed and Resiliency-Focused
What is trauma, and how can health care facilities promote trauma-informed care and resiliency? This overview video explains the different types of trauma; how it impacts all people, and specifically indigenous populations; and the key elements of developing a trauma-informed approach while providing care. Watch now.
Behavioral Health and Opioid Utilization and Misuse On-Demand Learning
Front Line Forces: Substance Use Disorder Series
Stigma continues to be one of the strongest negative influences on how we see and treat people with addiction. This four-part learning series from Superior Health Quality Alliance describes addiction as a chronic medical condition, offers strategies for combatting stigma, describes resources for treatment and discusses prevention strategies. While the intended audience is nursing assistants and caregivers for patients and residents in nursing homes, the material is relevant to everyone.
- What is Substance Use Disorder? (3:06)
- Combatting Stigma (6:01)
- Finding Help (4:03)
- Prevention (7:54)
Patient Safety: Create a Culture of Safety with Partnering to Heal
Designed for clinicians, health professional students and patient advocates, Partnering to Heal is a computer-based, video-simulation training program on infection control practices. Users assume the identity of five main characters and make decisions about preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).
Objectives focus on the following prevention topics:
- Surgical site infections
- Central line-associated bloodstream infections
- Ventilator-associated pneumonia
The training program also includes information on basic protocols for universal precautions and isolation precautions to protect patients, visitors and practitioners, creating a “culture of safety.” This site is coordinated by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Access the training.
Connected Care Toolkit: A Chronic Care Management Resource from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Developed by CMS, the Connected Care Toolkit equips health care providers with resources to raise awareness about the importance of chronic care management (CCM) services for Medicare and dual-eligible patients managing multiple chronic conditions. By offering these services, health care professionals can deliver the coordinated care their patients need and help patients stay on track by getting support between visits. Access toolkit.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration Approves First COVID-19 Vaccine
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been known as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, and will now be marketed as Comirnaty (koe-mir’-na-tee), for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in individuals 16 years of age and older. The vaccine also continues to be available under emergency use authorization (EUA), including for individuals 12 through 15 years of age and for the administration of a third dose in certain immunocompromised individuals.
COVID-19 Booster Shots for Americans
On Wednesday, August 18, 2021, public health and medical experts from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a statement on the Administration’s plan for COVID-19 booster shots. Booster shots for all Americans will be available beginning the week of September 20, and starting eight months after an individual’s second dose. At that time, the individuals who were fully vaccinated earliest in the vaccination rollout, including many health care providers, nursing home residents, and other seniors, will likely be eligible for a booster. Read the full statement.
Staff COVID-19 Vaccinations Required in 15,000 Medicare and Medicaid-Participating Nursing Homes
The CMS, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is developing an emergency regulation requiring staff vaccinations within the nation’s more than 15,000 Medicare and Medicaid-participating nursing homes.
This new requirement is a key component of protecting the health and safety of nursing home residents and staff by ensuring that all nursing home staff receive COVID-19 vaccinations. Read the full statement. View the White House fact sheet.
New On-Demand Training from CMS Regarding COVID/Infection Prevention
The CMS Standards, Approaches and Tactics for Infection Control and Prevention (StAT) learning series for hospital clinical staff and leaders offers self-paced learning modules intended for frontline staff with responsibility for hospital infection prevention and control programs and facility leadership, including members of governing boards and staff engaged in quality improvement and compliance programs.
Each interactive, self-paced learning module will share a new perspective on a topic you “need to know” for infection prevention mastery. You’ll receive actionable information and resources from hospital quality improvement and infection control experts to help your teams
- explore different aspects of infection prevention and control;
- save or print certificates of participation after each learning module;
- track your learning progress.
Upcoming Conferences
Wyoming Hospital Association Annual Meeting and Convention in Casper, Wyoming | September 8-9 (In-person) – Learn more
Mountain-Pacific Quality Health Coalition Summit in Casper, Wyoming | September 9, 1:30 to 3:30 PM (Virtual format) – Learn more
Montana’s 52nd Annual Governor’s Conference on Aging | September 14, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Virtual format) – Learn more
2021 Montana Healthcare Conference in Billings, Montana | September 21-24 (In-person) – Learn more
Mountain-Pacific Quality Health Coalition Summit in Billings, Montana | September 21, 5:00 to 7:00 PM – Learn more
Wyoming Conference on Aging | September 22-24 (Virtual format) – Learn more
Alaska’s Virtual Health Fair (Virtual format) | Learn more
Seeking Wyoming Community Volunteers
Mountain-Pacific is seeking four or five community volunteers in Wyoming to serve as panel speakers for the Mountain-Pacific Wyoming Coalition Summit taking place on September 9. This panel of speakers will address the following topics:
- The importance of addressing opioid misuse and ideas on how to find solutions
- What factors can help improve chronic disease management
- What clinicians can do to help prevent unnecessary emergency department visits and hospital admissions
If you are interested in participating on this panel, please contact Crystal Morse at cmorse@mpqhf.org.