The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Surveys on Patient Safety Culture™ polls staff for their opinions every two years. That is an eternity inside facilities where big changes can happen fast: from patient referral trends to quality improvement focus to workforce turnover. With all these demands, it’s easy for safety and culture to become just words and the importance of the SOPS® to lapse over time — among those who administer it and those who complete it (or don’t). With creative ideas and proven response rate tactics , hospitals can use the SOPS® survey to reinforce positive awareness and participation, support more patient safety activities and promote efforts that celebrate wins and build on successes.  1. Raise patient safety and survey awareness among staff Relevant, fresh communications are important, so frame each survey as a new opportunity to elevate patient safety. Awareness campaigns can promote time blocks to complete the survey and quick survey wi...

CMS’ new Enhancing Oncology Model seeks to improve cancer care coordination, drive practice transformation and reduce Medicare fee-for-service spending through episode-based payment. Launched July 1, EOM replaces the Oncology Care Model as CMS seeks to build on lessons learned and challenges of cancer care cost management. In this blog, we explore five best practices your oncology practice can use to kick-start EOM. How to operationalize your Enhancing Oncology Model 1. Lay the foundation with core value-based care principles While CMS models change, many value-based care elements are evergreen and can benefit from practices that: identify physician champions; inform and align practice leadership; define success markers to track progress; identify core team member roles and goals; and establish quality measure reporting. The latter may require EOM practices to add metrics to their electronic health records, such as depression screening and pain management. While this example is model-...

First off, congratulations to you and your practice for achieving National Committee for Quality Assurance Patient-Centered Medical Home recognition! Gaining NCQA PCMH status is a big accomplishment for which you should be very proud. Now that you’ve completed the necessary steps to implement changes and earn recognition, you may be wondering what’s next. In this guide, we’ll navigate what to do next, PCMH standards and guidelines to follow and 2024 annual reporting requirements to focus on. Let’s get into it! What to do after earning NCQA PCMH recognition Before you’re ready to start earning the great benefits of PCMH recognition , you need to plan what actions you’ll take to maintain your status. Remember, PCMH is not a project, but a continual progression of the way care is delivered to patients, meeting them where they are. So, if you’re a practice that wishes to keep its PCMH, you’ll need to be accountable for each criterion you achieved when initially receiving PCMH recognition. ...

  Authorized by the Affordable Care Act and established in 2012, the Medicare Shared Savings Program is one of CMS’ first accountable care organization models. For the first time in MSSP’s history, the agency will offer payments upfront to encourage more providers to participate. The new Advance Investment Payments option for MSSP participants will begin with performance year 2024. Who is eligible for Advance Investment Payments and what do they receive? Per the CMS AIP guidance , Advance Investment Payments delivers a one-time $250,000 payment upfront to eligible providers who might not otherwise participate in value-based care. These models require substantial infrastructure investments (e.g., technology, staffing, data and analytics partners). CMS will also offer additional quarterly payments per beneficiary per quarter for the first two performance years if the ACO has met MSSP eligibility and compliance requirements. AIP is only available for ACOs who: have never participated ...

What are the hallmarks of an effective public health department? Public health accreditation may not be the first answer that comes to mind. But the  Public Health Accreditation Board  created a framework that can help health departments transform their quality, accountability and performance. The  Community Health Assessment  anchors the PHAB framework, which includes 10 Essential Public Health Services aligned to 10 domains and eight key public health capabilities. To improve your application process, it’s essential to see how your CHA affects your public health accreditation. These are the five things you need to know now.  1.     Accreditation is prevalent but takes time Per the  CDC , 80% of state public health departments are PHAB accredited, as are hundreds of  local and tribal agencies . These achievements didn’t happen overnight. Public health departments may lack the time, staff, data and partnerships to refine their CHAs,...

The National Committee for Quality Assurance’s Patient-Centered Medical Home model advances high-quality, cost-effective care, but practices must be vigilant to earn and maintain their PCMH Recognition. Staff members, technology tools and workflows can change, and practices need to adopt criteria from new standards and guidelines. Mandi Diamond, PCMH CCE, senior advisor of Practice Advancement Strategies at DataGen, offers five key capabilities to support PCMH Recognition. 1. Build a true team culture. Does everyone in the practice understand what they do and why? Is that understanding clear, and is it reinforced? Practice leadership may assume yes when the answer is often no. Diamond terms this “doing things TO a team versus WITH a team.” To avoid this: Share knowledge. A lone individual cannot be the sole source of expertise, and single points of failure create crises in teams. Disrupt silos. Ongoing communication delivered in multiple formats that bridge clinical and clerical team...