Administrative Memos

200702

FROM: Theodore O. Will, Chief Executive Officer
DATE: Jan 05, 2007
SUBJECT: CMS Home Health Quality Improvement National Campaign
IPRO CONTACTS:

Sara Butterfield, RN, BSN, CPHQ, CCM, Director, Upstate Healthcare Quality Improvement, 1-800-233-0360, Ext. 104

IPRO, in partnership with the Continuing Care Leadership Coalition (CCLC), the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS), the Home Care Association of New York State (HCA) and the New York State Association of Health Care Providers (HCP) is inviting home care providers in New York State to participate in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Home Health Quality Improvement (HHQI) National Campaign.

The HHQI National Campaign will be launched by CMS on January 11, 2007 in Baltimore, Maryland. This one year Campaign seeks to unite the home care community and key stakeholders under the shared vision of reducing avoidable hospitalizations to improve the quality of care for patient's receiving home health care services. Home Health Agencies who register to participate in the Campaign will have access to monthly intervention packages that include free educational tools and resources that can be used for information sharing and best-practice education along with individual agency reports to assist with reduction of avoidable hospitalizations.

Enclosed please find more specific information regarding the Campaign, including instructions for registration, benefits of registration and a sample of the risk-adjusted reports that will be forwarded to registrants on a monthly basis.

IPRO will host an informational teleconference call on January 16, 2007 from 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM to provide further details and to answer any questions you might have about participation in this initiative. There is no registration fee for the teleconference call or the Campaign. We strongly encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about the Campaign, and we suggest that you also invite the administrative and senior management representatives of your organization to join the call.

To access the call, dial 1-800-263-8506 and provide the operator with the Confirmation Access Code 6495091. This call will be taped and posted to our Web site for future reference.

If you have questions or wish additional information please contact Sara Butterfield at 1-800-233-0360 ext. 104 or Christine Stegel at 1-800-233-0360 ext. 113.