The Quality Measurement Workgroup of the Long-Term Quality Alliance is please to announce the release of their first report on measurement opportunities and gaps in transitional care.  Click here to download the report.

We’re live!  A full brochure is available and registration is now live for LTQA’s 2012 Annual Meeting:

Measure Applications Partnership (MAP) is a public-private partnership convened by the National Quality Forum (an LTQA member). MAP was created for the explicit purpose of providing input to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the selection of performance measures for public reporting and performance-based payment programs. The draft Performance Measurement Coordination Strategy for Post-Acute Care and Long-Term Care report and its appendices are available for review and comment.  The report aims to enhance alignment across public and private initiatives by defining priorities and core measure concepts to harmonize measures and promote common goals across initiatives, highlighting the need for common data sources and health IT, and determining a pathway for improving measure application. All comments must be submitted by Wednesday, November 23, at 6:00 pm, ET.

LTQA’s 2nd Innovative Communities Summit gathered a variety of leaders to explore how the alliance can support Innovative Communities and how these communities can work together to improve care transitions and reduce unnecessary rehospitalizations. The wealth of knowledge and experience in evidence during this gathering was truly impressive. Summit participants represented 20 Innovative Communities, 20 federal agencies and 15 state and local governments. Five participants represented the philanthropic community. Seven consumers joined the summit, as did 32 providers of health care, long-term services and supports, and home and community-based services. We also welcomed 14 organizations representing health-care purchasers and payers, and 16 academicians whose area of expertise includes health policy.

In addition to these expert participants, LTQA was honored to introduce 11 presenters who interacted with one another and with summit participants during facilitated panels and small-group discussions.  The Summit was made possible by support from The Commonwealth Fund.  The final report from the Summit is now available and can be found by clicking here.

The ongoing debate over the federal budget and deficit reduction presents a balancing act for policy makers, as many compelling interests compete for scarce dollars. But for 10 million older adults and people with disabilities who need long-term services and supports, there is a “rebalancing act” in progress. The aim is to serve more people at home and in the community, and fewer people in institutions.

States grappling with constrained budgets, at a time when the aging and disability populations are growing rapidly, are actively engaged in this “rebalancing” between institution and home in the hope of delivering high quality long-term services and supports at lower cost.

Are there sufficient home- and community-based programs in all states to address the aging population? To help the growing number of adults with disabilities? How can incentives in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act be used to develop new approaches in home- and community-based services? How effective are existing federal initiatives to promote care in home- and community-based settings, such as the “Money Follows the Person” program? What can ongoing state efforts to promote community-based options tell us about the impact on costs, on promoting greater choice of settings and providers, and on adequate support for family caregivers?

To address these and related questions, the Alliance for Health Reform and The Commonwealth Fund sponsored an October 3 luncheon briefing.  The podcast of the briefing is now available online courtesy of Kaiser Family Foundation.  Click here to download the podcast and supporting materials.

Speakers:
Bob Hornyak, Administration on Aging
Cynthia Woodcock, Impaq and formerly Hilltop Institute
Carol Raphael, Visiting Nurse Service of New York

Moderators:
Mary Jane Koren, The Commonwealth Fund
Ed Howard, Alliance for Health Reform

AARP, The Commonwealth Fund and The SCAN Foundation invite you for lunch and discussion of a new report being released on September 8, 2011 from 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM: “Raising Expectations: A State Scorecard on Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) for Older Adults, People with Physical Disabilities and Family Caregivers.”

Developed by AARP’s Public Policy Institute with support from The Commonwealth Fund and The SCAN Foundation, the State LTSS Scorecard presents the first broad evaluation of how well states provide assistance to millions of adults who need help with daily activities.

States play a critical role in the care many people receive. The Scorecard ranks states by performance, identifies specific areas where each state can improve and highlights state policies that result in better performance. Speakers who will discuss Scorecard findings and address policy options include:

• Jennifer Burnett, Director, CMS Division of Community Systems Transformation
• Bruce Chernof, M.D., President and CEO, The SCAN Foundation
• Henry Claypool, Director, HHS Office on Disability
• Robert Hornyak, Acting Director, Center for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Administration on Aging
• Bonnie Kantor-Burman, Director, Ohio Department of Aging
• Kathleen A. Kelly, Executive Director, Family Caregiver Alliance
• Mary Jane Koren, M.D., VP, The Commonwealth Fund
• Dawn Lambert, Connecticut Money Follows the Person Program Director
• Susan Reinhard, AARP SVP for Public Policy
• Martha Roherty, Executive Director, NASUAD
• Herb Sanderson, Associate State Director, AARP Arkansas

Dr. Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, claims hospital leaders need five skills to tackle the cost and quality issue: they need to “collect data to recognize failure and success; develop solutions to problems based on that data; implement solutions effectively; identify the most important projects; and lead the organization through the process.” The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) has worked with a small number of organizations to develop these skills that reduce costs while improving quality. After a one-year collaboration, these organizations are on track to save a collective $30 million.

How can your hospital emulate this success? Join the year-long Impacting Cost + Quality initiative, starting in September and benefit from three live meetings, monthly webinars, personalized coaching, and collective learning. During the year, your organization will be immersed in this content and will build the capability to: Identify cost reduction and quality improvement opportunities that will reduce operating expenses by at least 1% per year, Craft a disciplined performance improvement cycle and a financial model to quantify savings, Create a leadership plan to achieve strategic results, and build an effective engagement strategy for front-line staff and physicians.

To learn more about the IHI Leadership Initiative Impacting Cost and Quality, click here.

Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched the Partnership for Patients initiative to dramatically improve patient safety across the country. This initiative will engage stakeholders from the private and public sectors to reduce healthcare acquired conditions and hospital readmissions. In an effort to assist and facilitate learning among hospital leaders, clinicians, healthcare providers, consumers, purchasers, health plans and states, HHS has requested the National Priorities Partnership (NPP), convened by the National Quality Forum, to launch the “Partnership for Patients – National Priorities Partnership Patient Safety Webinar Series.” 

 On Wednesday, June 6^th, 2011 will host its 2^nd Webinar, “Reducing Readmissions through Care Transitions.”  This webinar will discuss the goal of decreasing preventable complications, during a transition from one care setting to another, thereby reducing hospital readmissions by 20%.  Speakers for this webinar will be Mary Naylor, Professor in Gerontology, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and Eric Coleman, Chief Medical Officer, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.  

To register for this webinar visit the NQF website.

The National Quality Forum has announced a Call for Nominations for its Board of Directors.  Individuals drawn from many different backgrounds and perspectives will be considered, including consumers, purchasers, employers, payers, healthcare providers, and other critical stakeholders. Desirable candidates are individuals who:  are recognized leaders in the healthcare sector; have demonstrated expertise and experience in healthcare quality measurement and management; and are willing to serve, if appointed, and willing to commit the necessary time, energy, and effort to participating in NQF activities.  All nominations must be submitted by Friday, July 15, at 5:00 pm ET.

For more infomation or to nominate/apply, go to the NQF Call for Nominations webpage.

 The Direct Care Alliance will host a Congressional briefing this Thursday, June 16, 2011 from 10:00-11:12 AM in 2103 Rayburn.  The topic of this briefing is Supporting America’s Home Care Workers.  The featured speakers for this briefing include:

• Rep. Linda Sanchez, Co- Chair, House Labor & Working Families Caucus
• Rep. Michael Michaud, Co-Chair, House Labor & Working Families Caucus (Invited)
•  Rep. Stephen Lynch, Co-Chair, House Labor & Working Families Caucus (Invited)
• Linda Davis, Direct Care Worker, Kenosha, Wisconsin
• Katherine Cox, American Federation of State, Municipal and County Employees
• Dennis Fitzgibbons, Executive Director, Alpha One, Maine’s Center for Independent Living

If you wish to attend, please RSVP to jkent@rabengroup.com or 202.587.2860.

 View the official invitation here.