The SMP Newsletter encourages readers to get involved with the “Everyone with Diabetes Counts” project. HQSI, as part of the Quality Insights Quality Innovation Network, will deliver free Chronic Disease Self-Management and Diabetes Self-Management Workshops. Those interested in becoming peer leaders will also receive free training to be able to facilitate workshops themselves.
Read the story, HQSI Project to Increase Depression Screening for Sandy Impacted Residents, on page nine to learn about the data-driven approach we took to develop profiles for 10 FEMA-declared disaster counties and a subset of 10 communities in New Jersey.
It takes a village to reduce hospital readmissions, reports Susan Bloom for The Star-Ledger. No one provider or health care system can do it alone. In New Jersey, HQSI helped reduce the state’s readmission rate by 22.5%. Read NJ.com article Transitional care programs help keep patients home after procedures to learn more about the formation of transitional care programs.
The physical damage wrought by Superstorm Sandy was visible for anyone to see, reports NJBIZ. Towns flooded, homes and businesses destroyed and billions of dollars in rebuilding costs, but the 2012 storm also took an invisible toll: increased rates of depression, post-traumatic stress and alcohol and substance.
Even on a good day, when their lives are not overwhelmed by events that they cannot control, senior citizens and the disabled are often confronted by the threat of depression. So when disasters strike, such as Superstorm Sandy did in late 2012, the impact is even worse.
This NJ.com article details the seven medical practices in central and northern New Jersey that are recipients of a $1.1 million grant to redesign staffing in physician’s offices with the goal of improving patient services. HQSI was awarded an $800,000 grant to support the practices and will conduct site visits, and customize and monitor redesign plans.
This Readmission News article featuring authors from HQSI outlines how the state as a whole is reducing readmissions as well as the significant variations in the readmission rates and improvements in communities across the state.
Clinical pharmacist consultations and patient care coordination are keys to success at Ocean Health Initiatives (OHI), a medical home based in Lakewood, NJ. Read the Pharmacy TodayArticle to learn how OHI’s medical team worked with one patient, “Mr. B,” to help lower his high blood pressure. By getting to know Mr. B better, including his likes and dislikes, the team assisted him in making a simple change that reduced his blood pressure.
HQSI’s joint conference with the New Jersey Hospital Association highlighted how new programs to keep patients home following a hospital discharge are reducing the rate of avoidable hospital in readmissions across the state.