Interested in Continuing Medical Education Changes? Read On...

The majority of people travelling to Traverse City this time of year are seeking pleasure in one of the “Pure Michigan” premier destinations on Grand Traverse Bay. Practice Transformation Institute staff were in Traverse City recently but not for sun and sand. Instead we were at the newly renovated Park Place Hotel for the annual Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS) conference on Continuing Medical Education (CME) for accredited organizations held August 8.

Why should this interest you as a reader? You’d probably like to hear more about the hotel and its amenities or the great restaurants and wineries in the Traverse City area than the latest updates regarding accreditation changes that accredited providers must undergo. It would be more enjoyable to write about travel than CME, too.

As an accredited provider of CME for Michigan physicians, Practice Transformation Institute (PTI) is responsible for validating that CME activities meet MSMS accreditation requirements.  We take that role seriously. So we opted for business over fun, at least for one day. After the event we knew we would have time to enjoy Traverse City.

The planning committee at MSMS crafted an informative event with a stellar line-up of speakers and topics. Steve Singer, PhD, the Director of Education and Outreach at the Accreditation Council of Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), was the keynote speaker. ACCME is the national organization that oversees the states’ accredited providers. In Michigan this takes place through its affiliation with MSMS.

Dr. Singer presented an overview on CME at the national and state level, upcoming simplification of requirements and processes, and conflict of interest and disclosure management. Were you aware that there are 677 organizations nationally accredited by the ACCME and 1273 organizations, such as PTI, accredited at the state level? Neither did we. In Michigan alone, there are 12 ACCME organizations and 46 accredited organizations through MSMS, making Michigan one of the largest in the United States. These organizations provided more than 7900 hours of CME instruction in 2012! That’s pretty impressive news for Michigan physicians.

There are new parameters to measure when designing CME which will affect both the accredited providers when they evaluate requests, and the producers when designing a CME program. With the changes in health care and a move toward patient-centeredness, medical education must keep pace with it. Learning must be designed to change competence, performance and patient outcomes, and physicians must be able to analyze those objectives as a result of the program. The goal is to raise the bar in critical thinking after a CME event so that what is learned can result in a change in practice patterns to improve the delivery of care, increase patient satisfaction and/or improve patient outcomes.

The class performed group exercises on completing a CME application and navigating the gray zone of Conflict of Interest. Other updates included:
• Applying faculty credits to learning from teaching medical students and residents;
• 2015 PARS changes;
• Maintenance of Certification; and
• Trends in online learning.

Online learning is considered the fastest growing area in achieving CME’s. In 2012 50% of CME was done online compared to 30% in ‘live’ events. A few of the conveniences to online learning are accessibility, enhanced technology and no expenses with travelling. Stay tuned for these type of programs from PTI.

In response to participant feedback, the ACCME began serious deliberation to streamline the accreditation process which will affect state organizations, such as MSMS. The new changes will align state and national requirements for consistency across accreditors, rules, processes and interpretation.

A lot of information was packed into a few hours. However, the entire day was not all business. Lunch was a great surprise, served on the 10th floor of Park Place with a magnificent view of Grand Traverse Bay. It is equally stunning at night with panoramic views of the region. Along with the other attendees, PTI looks forward to next year’s conference, wherever that may be.

Interested in Online Learning?

Technology has become an integral part of learning in today’s society. In addition to our live training programs, Practice Transformation Institute has embraced technology and now offers online courses. When taking one of these courses from PTI, you have the ability to ask questions to the instructors and interact with other students. Our courses are lecture format with interactive quizzes designed to enhance knowledge. The biggest benefit of online learning is accessibility! A busy health care professional can take our courses at a time that fits their schedule. Our courses are also available for the iPhone, iPad and Android mobile devices.

Currently we offer an online “On Demand” course for our Adult Oncology Care Management Program and a blended live and online course for our Moderate Care Manager Program. Below is a clip from the lecture “Health Literacy, Cultural Competency in Care Planning: Incorporating End of Life Care, POLST and ECOG” taught by Frances Jackson, PhD , RN, from those programs.

Interested in online, live or a blend of these training opportunities? Please visit www.transformcoach.org. Let us help!

Take the PATH to better health. Right now.

Question: If a patient has a chronic or long-term health condition that is getting them down due to pain, fatigue and difficult emotions, what can you do to help?

Answer: Refer them to a PATH workshop so they can learn strategies and techniques to deal with those problems. Information gleaned at a workshop includes problem solving, goal setting, decision making, relaxation techniques and the importance of taking care of themselves. They’ll learn about other topics such as managing symptoms and medications, healthy eating, physical activity and communicating with family, friends and health care providers. Does this sound good? Then read on.

PATH stands for Personal Action Toward Health and is Michigan's version of the award winning Stanford Chronic Disease Self-Management Program out of Stanford University’s School of Medicine, Division of Family and Community Medicine. There is also a Diabetes Self-Management Program. Although other states have different names for their programs, one thing stays the same: the fidelity of Stanford’s program and the license required to run it. Practice Transformation Institute has one of those licenses.

The PATH workshop is:

• two and a half hours
• once a week
• for six weeks
• in a convenient, easily accessible community setting
• free or at a very low cost
• conducted by two trained leaders
• highly participative, supportive, encouraging, educational
• a way to help patients become better self-managers
• confidence building
• fun

People with a chronic or long-term health condition attend together and, as a result, are better able to face the daily challenges of living with an ongoing health condition. One of the main concepts of the workshop is action planning and setting realistic, achievable goals that the patient is accountable for. The action plan has to be something the attendee wants to do, be achievable, action-specific, and answer the questions of what, when, how much and how often, and they must have a confidence level of seven or higher. Each week attendees and the leaders develop their own action plan and report back the following week. Suggestions and help are given depending on the outcome of the action plan.

We need YOUR help. This program has been proven to be effective, but only if participants are there. Health care professionals must spread the word to patients, friends and family. Recommend it, write it as a referral, have brochures in the office, talk it up.

Did you know that in NCQA’s Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition Program, there are four factors where a PATH class referral can be used to help garner points? Two of PTI’s PATH leaders are also NCQA PCMH Certified Content Experts who can perform NCQA PCMH readiness assessments, document reviews, application/survey tool assistance, practice team coaching and phone consultation as needed. See PTI’s website for more details.

If you are in Michigan, see our PTI calendar for PATH programs already scheduled and dates for future workshops. Please keep PTI in mind if you’d like a class held in a community near you. We can provide the leaders and the promotional materials. Remember that a PATH class can be held almost anywhere. Places such as physician offices, senior centers, churches, libraries, hospitals and other community settings are great choices. We believe in this. We’re fired up and we want you to be fired up, too! PATH works!

Next workshop currently scheduled at:

The Physician Training Center (Practice Transformation Institute)

26550 John R
Madison Heights, MI 48071

Type: PATH Chronic Disease Self-Management Program

Begins: Thursday, June 12, 2014

Ends: Thursday, July 24, 2014

*Workshop will not be held Thursday, July 3 due to the July 4th holiday. Class will resume the following week.

To register:

Contact: Mike Mellor at 248.475.4867 

Email: mmellor@transformcoach.org 

To find a PATH workshop near you:

Visit:  www.MiHealthyPrograms.org

Email: MichiganPATH@gmail.com

Phone: 517.335.1236

To learn more about the Stanford Chronic Disease Self-Management Program:

Visit: http://patienteducation.stanford.edu/programs/cdsmp.html 

National Nurses Week Recognizes Nurses’ Leadership, May 6-12

Reprinted with permission from the American Nurses Association

Patients often recognize that a nurse is the health care professional with whom they and their families have the most direct contact. But they might not realize that nurses also are leaders in improving the quality of care and expanding access to care. That’s why May 6-12 is celebrated as National Nurses Week, an annual opportunity for communities to recognize the full range of nurses’ contributions.

This year’s theme, “Nurses: Leading the Way,” recognizes nurses as leaders at the bedside, in the boardroom, throughout communities and in the halls of government. The public holds nurses in high regard and trusts them to advocate for patients.    For the past 12 years, the public has ranked nursing as the top profession for honesty and ethics in an annual Gallup survey.  

Beginning with National Nurses Day on May 6, nurses are being honored as leaders who improve the quality of health care. Nurses practice in diverse roles, such as clinicians, administrators, researchers, educators and policymakers.

“All nurses are leaders, whether they are in direct patient care, administrative roles, or meeting consumers’ needs in new roles such as care coordinators or wellness coaches,” said ANA President Karen A. Daley, PhD, RN, FAAN. “This week, we acknowledge nurses’ vast contributions and how they are leading the way in improving health care and ultimately, the health of the nation.”

Nurses are leading initiatives to increase access to care and improve outcomes by focusing on primary care, prevention, wellness, chronic disease management and the coordination of care among health care providers and settings.  These are areas in which nurses excel given their education and experience.

As the Affordable Care Act is fully implemented, nurses will be more crucial than ever, leading efforts to expand primary care at community-based clinics and deliver more efficient and cost-effective care as members of collaborative health care teams. Consider that:

• Nursing is the nation’s largest health care profession, with nearly three million employed professionals.
• Nursing is projected to grow faster than all other occupations: The federal government projects more than one million new RNs will be needed by 2022 to fill new jobs and replace RNs who leave the profession.   
• Demand for nursing care will grow rapidly as Baby Boomers swell Medicare enrollment by 50 percent by 2025 and millions of individuals obtain new or better access to care under the health care reform law.
• Nurses are rapidly creating and expanding new job roles – such as nurse navigators, care coordinator specialists, and nurse wellness coaches -- to help patients secure resources, obtain seamless comprehensive care, and develop healthy lifestyle practices.

Wherever health care is provided, a nurse is likely to be there -- hospitals, ambulatory care centers, private practices, retail and urgent care clinics, nurse-managed health centers, homes, schools, nursing homes, and public and nonprofit agencies.

Increasingly, nurses with advanced degrees, such as nurse practitioners, are providing primary care services and managing chronic illnesses. Studies show patients are highly satisfied with their services and are experiencing outcomes comparable to those of physician services.

The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the interests of the nation's 3.1 million registered nurses through its constituent and state nurses associations and its organizational affiliates. ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the rights of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public

April is Alcohol Awareness Month

Drinking too much alcohol increases the risk of injuries, violence, drowning, liver disease, and some types of cancer. This April during Alcohol Awareness Month, Practice Transformation Institute encourages you to educate yourself and your loved ones about the dangers of drinking too much.

You can improve your health by cutting back on alcohol or quitting. Federal Dietary Guidelines on alcohol consumption say that if alcohol is consumed, it should be consumed in moderation. This means:

• No more than 1 drink a day for women
• No more than 2 drinks a day for men

One drink is considered:

• Bottle of beer (12 ounces)
• Glass of wine (5 ounces)
• Shot of liquor (1.5 ounces)

Here are some strategies to help if you think you’re drinking too much:

• Keep track of how much you drink.
• Don’t drink when you’re upset.
• Avoid places where people drink a lot.
• Make a list of reasons not to drink.
• If you are concerned about someone else’s drinking, offer to help.

More than 18 million individuals or 8.5 percent of Americans suffer from alcohol-use disorders. Here in Michigan, the Michigan State Police 2012 Drunk Driving Audit showed that alcohol and/or drug related fatal crashes remained a significant traffic safety issue with approximately 36.1 percent of the total fatal crashes involving alcohol and/or drugs.

For April 2014, the focus of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD) is underage drinking which can have devastating individual, family and community consequences. Alcohol has always been the number one drug for teenagers and it is still true today.  Reducing underage drinking is important to assure a healthy future for America’s youth. It requires a cooperative effort from parents, schools, community organizations, business leaders, government agencies, the entertainment industry, alcohol manufacturers/retailers and young people.

With this year's theme called, "Help for Today, Hope for Tomorrow," the month of April will have local, state, and national events aimed at educating people about the treatment and prevention of alcoholism. NCADD Affiliates as well as schools, colleges, churches, and other community organizations will sponsor a host of activities that create awareness and encourage individuals and families to get help for alcohol-related problems. Click on the link above to find the affiliate in your state. People can also call the NCADD’s HOPE LINE for Affiliate Referral at 800-NCA-CALL (800-622-2255) for 24-hour help.

 An important part of Alcohol Awareness Month is the Alcohol-Free Weekend (April 4-6, 2014), which hopes to raise public awareness about the use of alcohol and how it affects individuals, families and the community. During this seventy-two-hour period, NCADD extends an open invitation to all Americans to participate in three alcohol-free days and to use this time to contact local NCADD Affiliates and other alcoholism agencies to learn more about alcoholism and its early symptoms. Anyone who finds it difficult to get through the seventy-two hour period is urged to contact their local NCADD Affiliates, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Al-Anon Family Groups.

For more information about NCADD, underage drinking, NCADD Alcohol Awareness Month and the NCADD Alcohol-Free Weekend, visit the NCADD website at: www.ncadd.org.

Get the Most Nutrition for your Calories

Guest Blogger: Rachel Brown, RD, MBA, Care Manager at MedNetOne

March is National Nutrition Month, and this year’s theme is, "Enjoy the Taste of Eating Right." This idea encourages personalized healthy eating styles and recognizes that food preferences, lifestyle, cultural and ethnic traditions, and health concerns all impact individual food choices.

We know that taste tops nutrition as the main reason why consumers choose one food over another. Social, emotional, and health factors play a role as well, but the fact remains that the foods that taste the best are the ones we eat the most. This year’s goal is to combine taste and nutrition to create healthy meals that follow the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines and still taste great.

The best way to enjoy the taste of eating right is to eat nutrient rich foods that provide the most nutrition for your calories. But a calorie is not only a calorie. Consider white bread and wheat bread; both have the same calories. However, wheat bread is rich in fiber, which will keep you feeling full for longer. Now think about 1 ounce of potato chips and one ounce of almonds. Both are around 160 calories but almonds have more than double the Vitamin E, and protein while having only ½ of the saturated fat of potato chips! Nutrient rich foods and beverages provide vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates, and other essentials that offer health benefits with relatively few calories.

You can add nutrient rich foods into your diet by making some small adjustments. Try adding fruit or nuts to your morning oatmeal or cereal. Make your sandwiches on whole grain wheat bread and add avocado slices, sliced cucumber, sprouts, or tomato. Drink low sugar beverages, or learn to create your own flavored water. Cut and bag fruits and veggies so they are ready for you to grab when you are really hungry and need something quick. Enjoy fruit based desserts like blended frozen fruits, or low fat yogurt parfaits.

The healthiest approach to planning a balanced diet is to start with the foods we should be adding to our plates not the ones we need to take away! So, follow the healthy eating plate, (http://www.choosemyplate.gov/) and include fruits, vegetables, lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, whole grains, low fat dairy, beans, seed, and nuts. When we eat this way we get all the nutrients our bodies need, thus improving our energy, mood, and overall health. Believe it or not you will even feel more satisfied! And trust me, your body will thank you.  

You should enjoy the foods you eat. Healthy eating should be balanced, simple, and stress free. A registered dietitian can help you with this. RD’s play a critical role in helping people eat right, their way, everyday. You don’t have to give up everything you love. But you will find by making an effort to eat nutrient dense foods you will be limiting added sugars and reducing the major sources of solid fat in your diet.

Remember to read nutrition labels, check serving sizes, and read ingredient lists. You could easily use up your whole day’s worth of calories on a few high calorie low nutrient items, but you won’t get the full range of vitamins and nutrients your body needs. And chances are you will actually feel hungrier. Food should fuel your body not slow it down! Learn how to love the foods you need for good health, and savor your flavors, and enjoy the taste (and feeling) of eating right!

Goal Attainment Sure Feels Good!

In September’s blog, PTI wrote about Carla Irvin and Lisa Allen’s travels to Austin, Texas for NCQA PCMH Recognition program training. Our January blog was about setting and attaining goals. How do these two blogs tie together? One is on education and the other on attaining goals. Carla and Lisa set a goal, accomplished it, and are starting 2014 as NCQA PCMH Certified Content Experts. Attainment of this credential was no easy task. It required completing two NCQA educational seminars and then studying for and passing a rigorous exam. A commitment to continuous learning and recertification to maintain the credential is also required.

NCQA offers the most widely known patient-centered medical home (PCMH) program in the country, the NCQA PCMH Recognition program. In an effort to help practices and other interested parties identify experts with a demonstrated understanding of the NCQA PCMH Recognition program and to provide professionals with a way to validate their knowledge base, NCQA developed the PCMH Content Expert Certification (CEC) program. 

“Certified NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home Content Experts receive thorough training and demonstrate in-depth knowledge to assist organizations applying for NCQA PCMH Recognition,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane.  

With the comprehensive knowledge Irvin and Allen gained about the requirements, application process and documentation of the NCQA PCMH Recognition Program, they can now help practices reach their goal of attaining this important national achievement. PTI can assist individual offices or organizations pursue transformation to a patient-centered medical home through group classes, one-on-one practice coaching or readiness evaluations.  


NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality.

New Year, New Goals

It’s January, the first month of the New Year, 2014! There are many sayings that relate to starting afresh, or anew, at this time of year. If New Year cards were sent out like holiday cards, some would most likely read with the following quotes:

“You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.” C.S. Lewis

“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.”  Eleanor Roosevelt

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”  Oliver Wendell Holmes

Practice Transformation Institute is starting 2014 with new goals and is looking forward to assisting physician practices and organizations attain their new goals as well. Today more than ever, it is important to set goals to keep up with all the changes occurring in health care. The landscape shifts beneath our feet with every step. The ACA, electronic medical records, Stage 2 Meaningful Use, CMS reimbursement strategies, Medicaid expansion, ICD-10, and the PCMH model spreading from primary care to the medical neighborhood – all these strategies and many more are effecting the business of health care.

All change is hard. But how we approach the changes in today’s medical environment holds the key to its success or failure.

PTI is excited about the changes and eager to embrace them. In 2014 our goal is to help providers navigate the shifting landscape in health care to achieve meaningful, sustainable change and positive, measurable movement towards established goals and objectives. Whether undertaking small goals such as developing a patient registry or a larger goal such as transforming to a PCMH model of care, PTI can provide learning opportunities and coaching to help organizations attain and sustain goals.

When looking down the road of 2014, consider the words of Walt Disney, “We keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” 

What new paths will you head down in 2014? PTI would like to know. 

November: National Diabetes Month

Guest Blogger: Laurie Smith, LMSW, CDE MedNetOne

Happy Fall! We've just passed Halloween, Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and the Christmas season is upon us. It is also National Diabetes Month, a time to reflect on a disease that (by CDC estimates) is projected to affect one in three U.S. adults by the year 2050. 

While the American Diabetes Association (ADA) estimates that nearly 26 million Americans are living with diabetes, it also estimates that nearly 25% of those persons remain undiagnosed. The ADA also estimates that another 79 million people are now pre-diabetic. Therefore, the danger (and perhaps opportunity) of this disease lies at the intersection of early detection and treatment.

The concept of a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) provides an ideal framework in which to transform the way in which providers and patients engage in the prevention and treatment of chronic illnesses such as diabetes. Through this physician-led team-based approach to healthcare, patients are now receiving increased access to providers (RelayHealth online patient portal, extended hours access, etc.) and their team. Evidence-based care (annual depression screenings, preventative testing, etc.) is being delivered in more coordinated and effective ways at reduced costs and information technology is being used to better manage the health of PCMH patient populations.

Are you using Wellcentive to alert you to place reminder calls to your diabetic population to obtain their yearly foot exam? 6mth A1c? Other lab values? This is a tool available to us that can both increase our HEDIS scores and improve patient health and outcomes, not to mention patient satisfaction.

Another key feature of the Patient-Centered Medical Home is the use of a Care Manager. A Care Manager can assist the PCMH team with diabetes management in a number of ways: a coaching call between visits to address potential barriers to adherence; further disease education and/or clarification of PCP’s orders; goal-setting and problem-solving related to diet and exercise; closer tracking of referrals to specialty providers; brief intervention for depression and/or anxiety; etc. 

With the costs of treatment for diabetes in the US estimated at $245 billion in 2012, one of the most important strategies to combat this disease is prevention. The Patient-Centered Medical Home and use of a Care Manager are essential tools in this approach. Through targeted population-based health management, PCMH teams can utilize patient registries for early detection of this disease through identifying patients exhibiting other risk factors (such as family history, ethnicity, obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, etc.) and screening them earlier and at regular interval. Beginning to identify and treat pre-diabetes is key to reducing costs and improving overall treatment outcomes.

Finally, it is important to remember that the most beneficial prevention and treatment for diabetes can be seen through lifestyle change. Increasing our steps per day and reducing our portions are small steps that each of us can make on a daily basis to prevent diabetes. Sharing knowledge and encouraging our patients to set small, achievable goals can result in improved patient satisfaction. Reaching out to families and caregivers and getting involved in our community to promote healthy lifestyle intervention sends a message to our patients that we are as committed to combating this disease as they are.

For further information see the links below:

·       Visit the National Diabetes Education Program at www.YourDiabetesInfo.org for more information.

·       Small Steps. Big Rewards. Your GAME PLAN to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes helps people assess their risk for developing type 2 diabetes and implement a program to prevent or delay the onset of the disease. This resource includes an activity tracker and a fat and calorie counter.

·       Practice Transformation for Physicians and Health Care Teams is designed for health care professionals and administrators who want to change systems of health care delivery around diabetes.

MedNetOne – PCMH information: http://www3.mednetone.net/Providers/PCMHN.aspx

Are You Ready for 2015?

It’s that time of year again. Here in Michigan, autumn is in the air, the leaves are changing, the weather is turning colder and we are readying our homes and cars for winter. As our lives change with the seasons, so does health care. The title of this blog, “Are you ready for 2015?” is not a typographical error. In order to be ready for the future, we have to prepare in the present.

In July of this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule that would update current payment policies and rates for services furnished under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule on or after January 1, 2014. The proposed rule in its entirety can be found at www.federalregister.gov. If the proposed rule becomes a final rule, physicians will be able to bill for managing select Medicare patients’ complex chronic care management needs. This is a positive step toward rewarding physician practices that provide chronic care services, especially those patients with multiple conditions and needs requiring additional resources. CMS is delaying payment till January 2015 because it knows physician practices will need the extra time to develop, manage and put the systems and processes in place to meet the standards.

The scope of services in the proposed rule may include some of the following:
§  Patient access to a health care provider  24/7 for urgent chronic care needs with access to the patient’s full electronic medical record even after the office closes;
§  Creation of a comprehensive care plan to address all aspects of a person’s health, congruent with the patient’s choices and values;
§  Management of care transitions including  referrals to other clinicians and timely follow up care after discharge from an ER visit, inpatient stay or skilled nursing facility, including the electronic exchange of  information;
§  Coordination of community based referrals; and
§  Utilizing secure messaging or other non face-to-face consultation methods with the patient.

Many of the proposed standards for providing complex chronic care management services are tied to the most recent Health and Human Services regulatory standards for Meaningful Use. The EHR must be integrated into the practice to support access to care, care coordination, care management and communication. For physician practices that are operating as patient centered medical homes (PCMH), there are suggestions to consider a nationally recognized PCMH practice as one means of meeting the care coordination standards for complex chronic care management services.  

Practice Transformation Institute (PTI) is a southeast Michigan leader in helping primary care practice teams transform to a patient centered model of care. PTI has classes available to help your practice attain the proposed changes coming in 2015. To meet the needs of national PCMH programs, PTI has trained coaches for NCQA’s PCMH Recognition program and URAC PCMH Certified Auditors for their Achievement program.

PTI is ready. Are you?  

Health Literacy

By Ginny Hosbach, RN, MSN

Health literacy is the ability to read, understand and act on health information. About 90 million Americans (nearly 1 in 2 adults) do not understand basic health information, according to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report.  By some IOM estimates, low literacy levels cost the healthcare system more than $58 billion annually.  The Partnership for Clear Health Communication is the first national coalition of organizations who are working together to promote awareness and solutions around the issue of low health literacy and its effect on health outcomes. This organization supports the findings in the IOM report, “Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion.”

The organization’s first initiative is “Ask Me 3”, a quick and effective tool designed to improve communication between patients and providers. “Ask Me 3” promotes three simple but essential questions that patients should ask their providers in every health care interaction: What is my main problem? What do I need to do? And Why is it important for me to do this?

“Ask Me 3” provides tips for clearer health communication.  Some of these tips include having the patient commit to asking these 3 questions, bring a friend or family member to help at their doctor visit, make a list of health concerns to tell their doctor or nurse, bring a list of all medicines, and ask their pharmacist for help when they have questions about my medicines.

Is your patient able to read their prescription drug bottles, appointment slips, medical education brochures, doctor's directions and consent forms? What is their numerical or computational ability to calculate or reason numerically? With the development of the Internet as a source of health information, health literacy may also include the ability to search the Internet and evaluate websites.

There are three tools that were designed to specifically measure health literacy, The Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (TOFHLA), The Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM) and the Newest Vital Sign (NVS). Check these out for use in your situation.

Offer help confidentially, provide privacy and be non-judgmental. Offer assistance and get feedback from the patients to identify what they know.  Use the teach-back and show-back strategies to identify the patient’s understanding of the information provided. 

PTI and NCQA in Austin, Texas!

Austin, TX

Practice Transformation Institute’s Lisa Allen, RN, BSN, and Carla Irvin, RN, BSN, braved the hot, humid weather of Austin, Texas to attend training on NCQA’s Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition Program. With the comprehensive knowledge they gained about the requirements, application process and documentation of the NCQA PCMH Recognition Program, they can now help practices work toward this important national achievement.

With over 6000 recognized practices in nearly every state, NCQA’s PCMH Recognition Program is the most sought after and widely accepted PCMH program in the nation. Becoming NCQA recognized requires deliberate strategies and efforts in transforming a practice into a medical home.

NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality located in Washington, D.C. They are committed to providing health care quality information for consumers, purchasers, health care providers and researchers.

URAC Patient Centered Health Care Home Practice Achievement Program

Practice transformation realigns an office to become patient-centric. This is a tough job for a practice to accomplish as it takes a lot of time, effort and patience. All team members need to be engaged in the transformation process to make it a success. If a practice wanted to be formally recognized for their efforts, there are many PCMH recognition programs at the state and national levels.

One of the reasons that PTI recommends URAC’s Patient Centered Health Care Home (PCHCH) Practice Achievement Program is because it requires a comprehensive onsite review. Only through a physical onsite can a true culture change and transformation to a PCMH model of care be determined. This cannot be done by uploading paperwork to a website.

An onsite review:

·      Determines behavior change

·      Reveals adaptation to the PCMH philosophy

·      Shows how your team has transformed

·      Validates how your policies, procedures, processes and documents support 
 URAC PCHCH Standards and Elements

·      Establishes how the practice monitors quality improvement activities

The objectives of practice transformation are to become a better practice, a better team and a cheerleader for your empowered and engaged patients. Don’t just go through the motions. Improving quality of care is the primary goal. Let that be your inspiration.

Prepare, Transform, Improve: Website Makeover

Practice Transformation Institute underwent its own transforming process recently as we undertook a total redesign of our website. As in any change process, we had to start where we were and ask ourselves numerous questions to lay the groundwork: What information to keep? What type graphics would we like to use? What keywords or phrases will people use to search for our services? What do we want it to look like and what DON’T we want it to look like? What company do we choose for designing it? What is our budget? How long will it take? Will the web company’s deadlines mesh with our internal workload? Who will maintain it once it is done? These and many other questions were discussed and bantered about. Once completed and we were testing it, more questions came up: Is the website easy to read?  Is it easy to navigate? How consistent are the graphics, typeface and content throughout the site? It took a team effort to make these decisions and more as every department was affected.

Was it work? Yes!

Was it fun? Yes!

And the new site was worth the effort. It looks fresh, is easy to navigate and allows PTI staff to update it as our program offerings change. We invite you to visit the site at www.transformcoach.org.  While perusing our new site, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Linked-in.  We’d love to hear what you have to say. 

San Francisco Quality Summit

Q: What do cable cars, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Fisherman’s Wharf have in common with PTI?

A: The URAC Quality Summit conference with Carla Irvin and Lisa Allen attending!

Carla and Lisa spent 4 wonderful days in San Francisco attending URAC’s Quality Summit and Best Practices Awards conference. The theme of this years’ conference was “Framing the Future of Health Care and Health Insurance Exchanges: Quality, Value and Innovation.” Much of the joint sessions of the conference were dedicated to discussing the exchanges and preparing health care organizations, health plans, physicians and patients on navigating the upcoming health care challenges. One speaker said it best when he referred to our current progress in building a new health care system as “the ground zero” point. The hardest work is occurring now because it hasn’t been done before.

J.D.Kleinke, medical economist, author and Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, delivered the keynote address, “Countdown to Meltdown? Preparing Your Organization for the Affordable Care Act, Market Reform and the Brave New Healthcare World.” This dynamic session was followed by a federal and state level health policy panel discussion with a lively debate between Joel Ario (Manatt Health Solutions), Christopher Koller (state of Rhode Island Health Insurance Commissioner), Brent Barnhart, (Director, California Department of Managed Care), and The Honorable Greg Wren (Alabama House of Representatives). Carla and Lisa participated in several break-out sessions on patient centered medical homes, radiation calculator tracking, patient wellness programs, medication management, and behavioral health. All breakout sessions were facilitated by the finalists for the Best Practices awards. The Best Practices are based on those health care organizations that actively pursue practices to advance consumer empowerment and protection in an exceptional, measurable and reproducible way.

The second keynote speaker, Carolyn M. Clancy, MD, Director, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, delivered enlightening comments with her speech on “Improving Health Care Quality through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Care.” Rounding out the conference was updates from URAC on new products and revisions to current programs. All in all, it was a great opportunity to network with colleagues and enjoy the sights and sounds of the little city on the bay-San Francisco.