The Direct Dispatch
A Newsletter For Healthcare Providers

July 2018
Greetings!

From all of us at Direct Difference, Inc - have a happy and safe Fourth of July!
Proposal Would End Reporting of Infections
A proposed CMS rule would end public reporting of certain patient infections by hospitals, along with data on types of accidents and patient injury. The Leapfrog Group protested the plan and on Wednesday released a report showing the percentage of hospitals reporting to its hospital survey that achieve zero infections has significantly decreased since 2015.

Source: USA Toda y
Clinical Quality: How Do I Get Scored?
In the  latest episode   of the Practice Made Perfect podcast, Richard J. Kovacs, MD, FACC, ACC vice president, and Frederick A. Masoudi, MD, MSPH, FACC, NCDR chief science officer and chair of the NCDR Management Board, discuss the various  tools and programs used to measure the quality of care   provided by clinicians and hospital systems. Get up to speed on federal and payer programs that measure clinician performance, public-facing rating programs, and NCDR's role in measuring and reporting. Aiming to bolster the nonclinical skills and competencies of early career providers,  Practice Made Perfect  features expert discussions on career and leadership development topics. Listen to this episode and previous episodes such as  Coding & Documentation Finding a Job After Fellowship  and  Contracts 101  at  ACC.org/PracticeMadePerfect , or find them on  iTunes  or  Google Play .

Quality Reporting News 2019 IQR Proposed Rule
The webinar, titled  IPFQR Program: Keys to Successful FY 2019 Reporting , will summarize the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 IPFQR Program requirements, provide keys to successful data submission, and offer guidance to verify data accuracy.

The webinar slides will be available for download from  www.QualityReportingCenter.com  under Upcoming Events the day before the presentation.

The webinar will be presented on Wednesday, July 11, 2018, at 1 p.m. ET.  This presentation has been approved for one continuing education credit.

You may register for the webinar at the following link:  https://cc.readytalk.com/r/d662kuut0peo&eom .


The webinar, titled  SEP-1 Early Management Bundle, Severe Sepsis/Septic Shock: Providence Tarzana Medical Center’s Sepsis Journey and v5.4 Frequently Asked Questions , presents an understanding of the clinician experience with the SEP-1 measure at Providence Tarzana Medical Center from 2005 to the present. Additionally, this presentation will clarify frequently asked questions for the SEP-1 measure and provide guidance for v5.4 of the specifications manual.

The webinar slides will be available for download from  www.QualityReportingCenter.com  under Upcoming Events the day before the presentation.

The webinar will be presented on Tuesday, July 17, 2018, at 2 p.m. ET.

You may register for the webinar at the following link:  https://cc.readytalk.com/r/25v1cgdee5pw&eom .

Drowning In Data Collection? Call Us - We Can Help!
Measuring quality is necessary for improving healthcare. We understand that when providers are overly consumed with measuring and reporting quality metrics, it is difficult to actually apply results and focus on actions that lead to real improvements.

Why not smart source all of your data abstraction needs so that it is done better, faster, more consistently, and at lower cost and with less risk?

Did you know we provide abstraction services for core measures, non-core measures, registry, OPPE-FPPE, NHSN, peer review, pharmaceutical studies and others? If you have any data abstraction needs please contact us for more information. All you have to do is respond to this email to get started.

You can also visit our website for more information!
Top US Hospitals
Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix, Ariz., Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in West Hollywood, Calif., and St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, are among the hospitals included in Healthgrades' list of America's 50 and 100 Best Hospitals for this year, and they were chosen for demonstrating "superior clinical outcomes across the majority of common inpatient conditions and procedures." IBM Watson Health released its list of the 100 Top Hospitals for 2018, which includes 13 Everest Award winners.

Healthcare Finance News  (2/28),    HealthLeaders Media  (3/5)  
EHR Interoperability Is Top Value-Based Care Challenge
Forty-two percent of respondents cited EHR interoperability as the top challenge they face in transitioning to value-based care, followed by social determinants of health, patient engagement, coordinating stakeholders and data analytics to support risk-based contracts, according to a study by Sage Growth Partners. Researchers polled 100 health care executives and found that 76% of respondents said EHRs failed to lower costs, while almost 60% and 64% cited EHRs' failure to deliver promised clinician or patient satisfaction, respectively.

Source: Becker's Hospital Review  (3/2) 
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