News, tools and resources from PATH - SAFER Guide measure support, medication management during discharge and more!

May 2024 | Issue 38

IHS PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

Improving Patient Safety with CEHRT and SAFER Guides

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is requiring eligible hospitals and clinicians participating in the Medicare Promoting Interoperability (PI) Program or the Quality Payment Program to attest to whether they have completed the Safety Assurance Factors for Electronic Health Record (EHR) Resilience (SAFER) Guides measure.

Learn how the Partnership to Advance Tribal Health (PATH) has helped one Indian Health Service (IHS) Area Office and its facilities prepare to meet this requirement this year - and how you can get support and guidance, too!

TAKE 5 FOR SAFETY

Reducing Hospital Readmissions and Post-hospital ED Visits with

Patient-Centered Medication Discharge Instructions

For every five people readmitted to the hospital within 30 days after discharge, at least one of them is back due to a medication issue -- and the vast majority of those issues are preventable.

Take five minutes for safety this month and check out our latest article. Learn about medication-related hospitalizations and and emergency department (ED) visits and strategies to better prepare a patient for success when they go home with prescription medications.

PATH EVENTS

Pulling Reports: Top Ways to Use NHSN | Register now

Tuesday, June 18

12-1:30 p.m. EDT | 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. CDT

10-11:30 a.m. MDT | 9-10:30 a.m. PDT

Experts from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), IHS and PATH come together to discuss the best ways to use National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) reports, dashboards and processes.

We encourage staff who have reporting and quality improvement (QI) program responsibilities to join us. This may include infection preventionists, quality managers, information technology, nursing and supervisors, employee health, clinical application coordinators and more. This event is free, but registration is required. More information can be found on the event flyer. Please contact PATH@Comagine.org with any questions.

Office Hours: IHS Opioid Surveillance Dashboard | Register now

Thursday, June 20 | Wednesday, July 17 | Wednesday, August 21

2-3 p.m. EDT | 1-2 p.m. CDT | 12-1 p.m. MDT | 11 a.m.-12 p.m. PDT

The IHS National Committee on Heroin Opioids and Pain Efforts (HOPE Committee) is hosting these open office hours sessions on the use of the IHS Opioid Dashboard. Join us to

Ask questions about the dashboard
Understand dashboard capability
Address real-world scenarios in dashboard use
Teach new techniques
Offer dashboard requests, recommendations or enhancements

This call is open to any area and local IHS staff who use or are interested in learning more about this data tool.

IN THE KNOW

CMS Health Equity Conference | May 29-30

Registration is closed for the 2024 CMS Health Equity Conference, which is being held both in-person and virtually May 29 and 30. However, the live plenary sessions can still be viewed each morning - even without registration! Visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Live Streaming webpage, and find and click on the event. The plenary session both mornings is 9-10:30 AM EDT.

Recordings of the plenary and breakout sessions will be shared on the CMS YouTube channel in the coming months.

JUNE OBSERVANCES: TOOLS AND RESOURCES

June 13-19 is National Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Week! We know CNAs play a

crucial role in direct patient care across health care settings. We wanted to say

THANK YOU

to all the CNAs and former CNAs out there - you are a health care hero!

Men's Health Month/Week (June 10-16)

Men's health is a community and family issue. As quoted in a National Institutes of Health article, "An Intersectional Mixed Methods Approach to Understand American Indian Men's Health":

"We need a reason to feel like what we’re doing for ourselves has a greater purpose other than

just ourselves. We need to feel that what we do benefits our community and each other."

Help men prioritize their health with this CMS Men's Health Checklist, which is focused on Native health. Did you know CMS also created a series of 30-second videos in different Native languages?

Find men's health videos like this one on the CMS YouTube channel, and find past videos on their Native Language PSA Archive. Share these videos on your website or play them in your waiting room.

Health Care Risk Management Week (June 17-21)

Health Care Risk Management Week celebrates health care professionals who help ensure safe,

trusted patient care and who work to safeguard the well-being of their staff.

We know you are among these professionals!

IHS offers program resources for overall risk and safety, including quality assurance, credentialing,

IHS Safety Tracking and Response (I-STAR) Adverse Events System, patient safety,

life and environmental safety, infection prevention and control and more.

IHS also has a risk management program to help IHS facilities and Tribal health care providers familiarize themselves with the IHS Risk Management Manual.

PATH also offers risk management and patient safety resources and support, including the following:

Risks to Patient and Staff Safety (6 minutes, 23 seconds)
Speaking Up for Safety (4 minutes, 3 seconds)
Reporting Safety Risks and Events (4 minutes, 54 seconds)
How Our Human Nature Impacts Safety (7 minutes, 8 seconds)
Tips for Using I-STAR (PDF)

PARTNERSHIP TO ADVANCE TRIBAL HEALTH (PATH) | Visit the PATH website

This material was prepared by Comagine Health for the American Indian Alaska Native Healthcare Quality Initiative under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Views expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the official views or policy of CMS or HHS, and any reference to a specific product or entity herein does not constitute endorsement of that product or entity by CMS or HHS. NQIIC-AIHQI-570-05/15/2024