Local healthcare initiative aims to save lives; improve adult immunization rates

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - May 5, 2015 - PRLog -- Qsource (http://www.qsource.org), a regional non-profit healthcare consultancy based in Tennessee, announced today it will lead the atom Alliance's 9http://www.atomAlliance.org) immunization effort as a healthcare Quality Innovation Network – Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO), under a newly added $5.7 million task assignment to their contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The atom Alliance initiative, formed as a partnership between three leading healthcare consultancies, works to achieve better outcomes in patient health, better healthcare delivery systems, and lower healthcare costs for patients and communities. Atom Alliance partners, AQAF (Alabama), IQH (MS), Qsource and (IN, KY, TN), will work together to improve adult immunization rates.

Cori Grant, Qsource’s Vice President of Operations and Director for the 5-state atom Alliance, underscores the importance of getting recommended flu and pneumonia vaccines and the significant impact it can have on both personal and population health. “As many as 70,000 American adults die each year from vaccine-preventable diseases or their complications and more than 200,000 are hospitalized each year unnecessarily. Yet millions go without getting routine and recommended vaccinations, simply because they don’t know they should, or they think it’s unnecessary if they were fully vaccinated as a child,” she said. “We’ll be working with healthcare providers locally to help change that and working to inform patients in our region about the importance of these vaccines to their health and quality of life.”

Long-term illnesses and lengthy hospitalizations due to vaccine-preventable disease is costly too for our nation’s healthcare systems, where saving an estimated $35 billion a year could be as simple as U.S. adults rolling up their shirtsleeves and getting a flu or pneumonia shot.

According to Rebel McKnight, the initiative’s Immunization Task Lead, atom Alliance will begin its work by recruiting healthcare providers serving populations with low immunization rates and partnering with physician offices/clinics, home health agencies, and other healthcare facilities to train and assist providers with following immunization guidelines and documenting when patients get their shots.

“Historically, this has been very difficult,” said McKnight. “However, with the introduction and increasing adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) in physician offices, patient documentation is becoming more consistent.”

Participating physicians will receive free support from the Alliance and assistance in submitting vaccination rates electronically to Medicare through their EHRs, which also corresponds with Medicare’s national Meaningful Use Incentive Program. “We’re focused on working with our providers and their EHR systems to help them achieve and document improvement goals. We’re aiming to increase immunization rates in our region by ensuring at least 22,000 new adult patients are immunized over the next 5 years,” she said.

In addition to technical assistance within participating provider organizations, atom Alliance’s work will extend beyond the physician offices to provide both clinicians and their patients with materials, tools, resources and information to help bolster immunization awareness and patients’ understanding of the benefits and health risks. “For many patients and their caregivers, the reasons they provide for not staying up to date on flu or pneumonia shots, include not fully understanding when or how often they should be immunized, and lack of information about the related costs Medicare covers,” said Grant. “A big part of our work in this area will be to accomplish broader education for patients and their families, so immunization becomes a priority.”

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atom Alliance is a 5-year, 5-state initiative to ignite powerful change in our region’s healthcare quality throughout Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Indiana, Mississippi.

Learn more:

http://www.atomAlliance.org


Current healthcare quality improvment initiatives, include:

Healthy People, Healthy Communities:

Healthy People, Healthy Communities: Through the prevention and treatment of chronic disease

Diabetes Care – Reducing disparities in diabetes care by partnering with providers to empower persons with diabetes through Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME)

Cardiac Health - Helping home health agencies, physician offices and clinics spread the use of evidence-based practices and prevent cardiac disease through support of the Million Hearts initiative

Immunizations – Preventing incidents of influenza, pneumonia and shingles throughout communities by improving immunization rates

Better Health Care for Communities:

By improving outcomes in patient safety

HAIs and HACs – Working with hospitals to reduce Healthcare-Associated Infections and with Nursing Homes to improve care for residents by reducing Healthcare-Acquired Conditions

Care Coordination – Convening communities to reduce unnecessary readmissions and promote seamless coordination of care across all healthcare settings

Medication Safety – Working with healthcare providers, communities and patients to improve medication safety and reduce adverse drug events

Better Care at Lower Costs to Communities:

Through HIT and value-based programs

Health Information Technology – Reducing healthcare costs to communities by supporting clinical practices using electronic health records to improve care management and coordination

Quality Reporting & Incentive Programs – Assisting providers with CMS quality reporting and value-based payment programs