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The Network is committed to assisting facilities to increase patient engagement in their care at the facility level.

Our goal is to help patients be more active in their own care for themselves and to help the facility to improve the care for all.

Each month the Network will share ideas based upon the "topic of the month" and an action step in conjunction with the “Be Active in Your Care” 2019 Patient Engagement Calendar. 
January Action Step:
Set a Goal to Thrive!
This month we encourage all facilities to conduct a patient engagement activity with information on how patients can improve their health by adopting positive habits and to discuss and set SMART goals with them. 

Check out the January “ Topic of the Month ” for a listing of resources and patient engagement activity ideas, including a “ Set a Goal to Thrive ” worksheet.

You can also check out the Patient Engagement Showcase to see the creative ideas shared by dialysis facility staff from throughout the Network.
To prepare for February, review the resources and activities on the topic “My Network: Speak Up and Get Involved” in this month’s "Topic of the Month" sheet. It has resources to educate patients and staff on the grievance process and for patient engagement.  

As facilities are working to meet the requirement to ensure all patients and staff are aware of the definition of grievance, this is a great opportunity to work with your Network Patient Representative (NPR) to discuss the best way to get the information out to all your patients.
If you don’t have a Network Patient Representative, you’ll find information for your team on the program and how to identify someone for the role at your facility.

The Network recognizes that facilities are always working hard to develop and implement creative and engaging activities for their patients, including bulletin boards, games and lobby days.

Please share the great work you are doing through the reporting link offered with the topic sheet
2019 NPR Kick-Off Webinar:
Partnering Together
Please join the webinar to learn more about the NPR program and to hear from several NPRs and their clinic team to share how they have partnered together to improve care at their clinics. 

Date: Thursday, Jan. 24
Time: 1 p.m. CT
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

You can also join the webinar by calling 1-888-537-7715 and use passcode 885-90-323# .
ESRD Network Grievance and Access to Care Overview
Register and attend a webinar to discuss the definition of grievance and best practices for addressing grievances and ensuring appropriate access to dialysis care.

Heartland Kidney Network (Network 12) will be co-hosting this session with The Renal Network (Network 10).

Date: Thursday, Jan. 31
Time: 1 p.m. CT
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Annual Grievance Definition Notification
As we begin the New Year, the Network would like to provide all facilities with a review of the Network’s and Dialysis Facilities’ roles regarding grievances, the definition of grievance provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), as well as several actions steps to take in order to assist facilities in meeting the CMS requirements of an annual notification of the grievance definition .

Quality Improvement Toolkit Available
Heartland Kidney Network has developed Quality Improvement resources for you to utilize as you move toward process improvements in your facility. 

This Toolkit contains tools and videos to walk you through the Quality Improvement process in order to address any challenge your facility faces, not only the Quality Improvement Activities lead by the network.
Toolkit Resources include:

Root Cause Analysis
Resources to help you identify the source of challenging situations you face.

Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycle
Resources to walk you through the process to identify a problem, planning for a change, evaluation of your results.

Sustainability Planning
Resources to help you identify a sustainable process change and setting a standard to change culture in your facility.
Social Work A-Z:
A Conference for Renal Social Workers
Missouri Social Workers! Make sure you Save the Date to attend the April 11 "Social Work A-Z: A Conference for Renal Social Workers" in Columbia, Missouri.

The event is sponsored by the Missouri Kidney Program in partnership with Heartland Kidney Network.
5-Diamond Patient Safety Program 2019
Quality Insights Renal Network 5 is pleased to invite dialysis providers to participate in the 2019 5-Diamond Patient Safety Program.

Now in its 12th year, the program is designed to assist dialysis facilities in improving both staff and patient awareness of specific patient safety topics, using web-based educational modules to address all aspects of patient safety.

NHSN Reminders

NHSN is the nation’s most widely used healthcare-associated infection tracking system.

NHSN provides facilities, states, regions, and the nation with data needed to identify problem areas, measure progress of prevention efforts, and ultimately eliminate healthcare-associated infections.

Want more information? Questions?

Click on these links: 
Patient Safety Component Protocols

NHSN is happy to announce that the 2019 Patient Safety Component (PSC) protocols have been posted to the NHSN website, including the protocol for the new PedVAE module and a PedVAE calculator.

Please remember that these protocols are for use beginning Jan. 1, 2019. Until that time, please continue to use your 2018 PSC protocols, which can be found in the Additional Resources section in the left-hand corner of the NHSN homepage . 

The related data collection forms and Tables of Instructions are still undergoing clearance for posting which is anticipated within the next few weeks. Notification will be sent when that occurs.
REMEMBER: NHSN Data Deadlines
Facilities should:

Contact the NHSN Helpdesk ( [email protected] , subject line ‘Dialysis’) with any questions.
ALERTS
This resource was developed while under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Contract #HHSM-500-2016-00012C. The contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy. 19.Q-ESRD12.01.006