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Colorectal Cancer Screening Toolkit availableColorectal cancer (CRC) is the #2 cancer killer in Oregon. Most CRC deaths and many colorectal cancers are preventable through early screening for precancerous lesions—yet only about half of Oregonians over age 50 receive recommended screening. A new Colorectal Cancer Screening Toolkit has been released by the Oregon Partnership for Cancer Control (OPCC) in support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) goal of an 80% national screening by 2014. The toolkit helps clinic teams communicate with patients and community groups about CRC risks and motivate patients to complete the potentially life-saving screening. Acumentra Health developed the toolkit for the Oregon Department of Human Services, under a grant from the CDC. It includes modules for three distinct audiences:
The clinic staff materials, called the Colorectal Cancer Screening Promotion Program, support two learning sessions that prepare staff to play a larger role in promoting CRC screening and encouraging patient follow-through. The program trains staff to discuss the value of CRC screening to patients; explain screening options (colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, and fecal occult blood testing); and increase the number of patients in their practice who complete screening. The Colorectal Cancer Screening Promotion Program’s teaching tools and techniques for influencing patients draw on best practice approaches identified by the National Colorectal Cancer Round Table and incorporate recommendations of the United States Preventive Services Task Force. Presentations and materials were field tested with practice teams at a Portland-area medical group. The OPCC welcomes additional user feedback on the toolkit. For more information and to download the toolkit, visit www.acumentra.org/CRC. H2H initiative seeks to reduce readmissions for CV patientsNearly 20 percent of Medicare patients are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge, with heart failure listed as the most common reason for readmission. In an effort to reduce unnecessary readmissions, the American College of Cardiology and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement plan to launch a national QI initiative called Hospital to Home (H2H): Excellence in Transitions. The H2H initiative focuses on improving the transition from inpatient to outpatient status for patients hospitalized with cardiovascular (CV) conditions. The goal is to reduce all-cause readmission rates among patients discharged with heart failure or heart attack by 20 percent by December 2012. H2H will create a web-based community of hospitals, clinical practices, and other care providers in the community to share tactics, resource toolkits, and best practices. Improvement teams will focus on three main domains that provide opportunities for improvement:
Acumentra Health is a strategic partner in the H2H initiative. The organizers seek to enroll at least 1,500 hospitals, along with collaborating entities such as hospital and nursing associations, specialty societies, integrated health systems, payers, and patient and family caregivers. Formal launch is scheduled via a webinar on October 22, 2009, followed by four more webinars by year-end. For more information and to enroll in H2H, visit www.h2hquality.org or email hospital2home@acc.org. MDRO Safe Table meetings, toolkit address hospital infectionsThe Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems is collaborating with Acumentra Health, the Oregon Patient Safety Commission, and the Oregon & Southern Washington Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology on a two-part program aimed at adopting and promoting best practice for control of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in Oregon hospitals. The MDRO Safe Table meetings bring together hospital infectious disease, safety, and quality staff to establish consensus for standardized practice in Oregon and to develop a best practice toolkit for hospitals. Built on a foundation of hand hygiene compliance, the toolkit now includes best practice around seven other topics. Part I of the Safe Table meetings was held on September 30, with a focus on the toolkit topics of risk assessment, environmental cleaning, antibiotic stewardship, and staff/provider education. Part II, on November 16, will cover patient education, hand hygiene, contact precautions, and active surveillance. In addition to codeveloping elements of the toolkit, Acumentra Health is actively involved in MDRO control through its Medicare-funded MRSA initiative. The five hospitals participating in the initiative are voluntarily reporting MRSA data to the CDC’s new MDRO module. For more about the MDRO Safe Table, visit www.oahhs.org. For additional MRSA resources, visit www.acumentra.org/MRSA. Oregon hospitals achieve 100 percent Medicare validationAcumentra Health recognizes three Oregon hospitals for achieving a 100 percent score on validation of medical records submitted for Medicare quality assurance and reporting for 4th quarter 2008:
Validation is part of a process that qualifies hospitals to receive full payment from Medicare (called the Annual Payment Update, or APU). The 33 Oregon hospitals participating in Medicare's Prospective Payment System must meet specific data reporting and validation criteria:
Acumentra Health commends these hospitals for the diligence and accuracy represented by this achievement. |
In This Issue:www.acumentra.org October is MRSA Awareness Month |
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Q-News, Issue 20 This material was prepared by Acumentra Health, Oregon’s Medicare Quality Improvement Organization, 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. 9SOW-OR-GEN-09-04 |
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