Alabama | Indiana | Kentucky | Mississippi | Tennessee
June 2018
CMS announces name change for MIPS performance category from
"Advancing Care Information" to "Promoting Interoperability"
Best Practices:
Team Develops Tool to Help Reduce Unnecessary Medications
Approximately 20 percent of Americans have occasional to chronic acid reflux and heartburn. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) lower the amount of acid the stomach makes and can heal the esophageal lining in most people with acid reflux. 

However, the long-term use of PPIs is associated with an increased risk of pneumonia and  C. difficile  infections. Warnings have been issued that PPIs are associated with low magnesium, vitamin B12, iron, and muscle or kidney problems.

atom Alliance’s Team for Innovation in Medication Safety, or TIMES, developed a tool to help healthcare providers take their patients off of acid-reducers when they are not necessary.
Featured Resource
Self-Measured Blood Pressure Training Video
This educational video helps train care teams and patients on how to properly self-measure blood pressure.

Upcoming Events
June 12
Changing Guidelines, Changing Practices?
During the session, we will review the revised guidelines for hypertension management, the responses from physician and quality organizations, and the implications for patient care in primary care offices.

June 12
and
June 14
Using Data and Strategy to Succeed in MIPS Year 2: Advice for Solo and Small Group Practices
This event will help all understand how to use available data and strategies for enhancing their MIPS scores in each of the four performance areas.

View our  upcoming atom webinars  page and our  calendar  page for more details.
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Hospital Reduces Patient Falls by 25 Percent
Anderson Regional Medical Center, a 260-bed hospital in Meridian, Mississippi, reduced patient falls by 25 percent after implementing AHRQ’s  Preventing Falls in Hospitals  Training Program in 2015. The reduction in patient falls resulted in an estimated $238,000 savings in medical costs.

2018 MIPS Playbook Ready for Download
A new resource is now available to help family physicians get engaged with -- and succeed in -- the Merit-based Incentive Payment Program (MIPS), one track of CMS' Quality Payment Program (QPP). This playbook is a step-by-step recipe for success for practices of all sizes that begins with a list of major QPP changes in 2018.
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Personal Story: Determined to be a Quitter
Carolyn Rucker started smoking almost 60 years ago at the age of 13. One day Carolyn decided enough was enough. She picked up the phone, called the Tennessee Tobacco QuitLine and spoke to a counselor. Two weeks later, she received a package in the mail that included a QuitKit.


Featured On-Demand Learning Opportunity
Behavioral Health and End Stage Renal Disease:
Understanding Depression, Uremia and Care Transition
Discover how clinicians from all settings can help transition patients from one care pattern to another by easily identifying behavioral health issues that may present as other conditions.

Connect with atom Alliance
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This material was prepared by atom Alliance, the Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO), coordinated by Qsource for Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Mississippi and Alabama, under a contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Content presented does not necessarily reflect CMS policy. 18.A1.04.022