April 2021 | Issue 1
HELLO, PARTNERS TO ADVANCE TRIBAL HEALTH!
Anne Timmins, BChD, MPH
PATH Task Order Director
Welcome!

I am Anne Timmins, and I oversee the Partnership to Advance Tribal Health (PATH) project. I am honored to lead a team of experienced, knowledgeable and dedicated people who are passionate about partnering in health care communities to improve health and delivery of care. This team will be working alongside you, the 24 Indian Health Service partner hospitals and their area offices—and many of you have probably started to get to know them already!

As we enter into the spring season and revel in the warming weather and budding flowers, we continue with this spirit of new growth and launch some new items for you:
The PATH website is now up and running and an available resource for you. Here you will be able to  access tools and resources relevant to your work and learn about opportunities to virtually meet partners across the country to teach, learn from and grow with.

We are also getting ready to launch a set of learning opportunities. These are varied in type and will cover a lot of different topics. Get ready to select these events for your calendar. They include the learning and action network series you should have been notified of, as well as huddles and recorded sessions.

Along with these new endeavors, we offer this newsletter, which you will receive each month. In this bulletin, we will share news, tools and other information and resources we hope will be of value to you, and—perhaps most importantly—we will share your good work and successes.

Thank you for joining us on our PATH to improvement. We look forward to working with you and supporting you and your community with respect, collaboration and good health.
PATH MISSION AND CORE VALUES
Collaborate with IHS hospitals to transform patient care and improve the health of American Indian Alaskan Native people using patient-centered, evidence-based, culturally appropriate resources, while addressing the unique health care quality challenges and leveraging the local trusted relationships across our regions.​
PATH Focus Areas
1. Improve patient safety and reduce risk

2. Improve behavioral health

3. Increase quality of care transitions

4. Respond to public health emergencies
IHS Strategic Priorities and Goals
1. Implement a comprehensive patient safety and risk management program ​

2. Sustain compliance with federal regulations and accreditations and professional organization standards  ​

3. Ensure transitions of care across the continuum ​

4. Put protocols in place to respond to public health emergencies​

5. Decrease opioid use and adverse events and related deaths​
TRENDING RESOURCES
Consent and Capacity in Indian Country: Elder Abuse and the Connection to Consent, Capacity and Undue Influence | Learn more
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Healing Tool: Pocket Guide for Addressing Behavioral Health Goals | Access tool
WHAT'S NEW
Rural Health Information Hub: Looking at the Rural Homelessness Experience | Read article
IN THE KNOW
Device Request Form for Rural Hospitals
COVID Tech Connect and the National Rural Health Association are working together to provide donated devices to its rural hospital network to connect COVID-19 patients with loved ones.
Might be worth a try! | Learn more
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Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health Online Scholarship Applications | Read more
UPCOMING EVENTS
PATH Learning and Action Network (LAN) | Register
Every month, a new topic specific to the ongoing work at IHS facilities will be presented and peer-to-peer discussion will take place to learn what others across the country are doing on similar issues. Here are our first few topics:
  • April 29: LAN Kickoff and the Partnership to Advance Tribal Health
  • May 27: Impacting Readmissions (part 1)
  • June 24: Impacting Readmissions (part 2)
PATH HUDDLES are multi-week learning sessions focused on a single topic area. Huddle calls are meant to be short with a single series lasting a few weeks. Upcoming huddles:

Accreditation and Certification | Registration and session information coming soon! Watch your email!
  • When: Wednesdays, May 19 - July 7
  • Time: 12:00 PM PDT | 1:00 PM MDT | 2:00 PM CDT
  • Length: 30 minutes
  • Optional: Office hours with subject matter experts following each huddle session! (Length: 15 minutes)

Culture of Safety | Registration and session information coming soon!
  • When: Tuesdays, July 20 - September 7
  • Time: 8:00 AM PDT | 9:00 AM MDT | 10:00 AM CDT
  • Length: 30 minutes
Partnership to Advance Tribal Health (PATH)
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. The contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy. NQIIC-AIHQI-38-04/19/2021