October 2016
 
Emergency Preparedness: New Federal Rule
Is Your Facility Compliant?

On September 8, 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services (CMS)  finalized a rule to

  1. establish consistent emergency preparedness requirements for health care providers participating in Medicare and Medicaid,
  2. increase patient safety during emergencies, and
  3. establish a more coordinated response to natural and man-made disasters.

After reviewing the current Medicare emergency preparedness regulations for both providers and suppliers, CMS found that regulatory requirements were not comprehensive enough to address the complexities of emergency preparedness. This final rule requires Medicare and Medicaid participating providers and suppliers to have in place the following key elements, which are known to be  industry best practice standards for emergency preparedness:

  • Emergency plan
  • Policies and procedures
  • Communication plan
  • Training and testing program
These standards are adjusted to reflect the characteristics of each type of provider and supplier.
These regulations are effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. Health care providers and suppliers affected by this rule must comply with and implement all regulations within one year of the effective date.
For more information:

 
How Are We Doing?
Please Complete the 2016 ESRD Network Needs Assessment
"Plan, Do, Study, Act."  Please take the time to complete our 15 question, 2016 Needs Assessment and help us understand how we can better meet the needs of your facility. Your responses will help us develop activities and materials that will best support your needs. We welcome your candid feedback to help us improve.

                         Click here: 2016 Needs Assessment Form
 
Making Dialysis Safer for Patients Coalition
Dialysis Organizations Team Up with CDC to Protect Patients
In the U.S., more than 400,000 people rely on hemodialysis care. These patients are at risk of getting serious infections. The Centers for disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed a set of  core interventions designed to prevent dialysis bloodstream infections. These interventions have been proven to reduce the number of infections  by half and be sustainable. CDC also makes available a set of audit tools, checklists, and other resources to help facilitate adoption of these critical core interventions.
Making Dialysis Safer For Patients CoalitionCDC recently issued a press release announcing the launch of the Making Dialysis Safer for Patients Coalition.   The Coalition includes a group of diverse dialysis organizations that have joined forces with a common goal to promote the use of CDC's core interventions and resources, which have been proven to prevent bloodstream infections among hemodialysis patients.

The Making Dialysis Safer for Patients Coalition aims to:
  • Facilitate implementation and adoption of core interventions through promotion, dissemination, and use of audit tools, checklists, and other resources;
  • Increase awareness about the core interventions for dialysis bloodstream infection prevention through educational efforts; and
  • Share experiences and findings through collaboration with other Coalition members.
We encourage everyone to:
  1. Help raise awareness about the importance of dialysis bloodstream infection prevention using the hashtag #DialysisPatientsFirst
  2. Visit the Coalition website to download or order infection prevention resources.
  3. Tell us how you are helping to put #DialysisPatientsFirst
Join us to help promote #DialysisPatientsFirst and help prevent bloodstream infections

CDC: Preventing Infection Clinical Education

It's important for physicians, nurses, dialysis technicians, and all healthcare workers to understand the basics of infection control and follow proper infection control procedures.

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintain a clinical education webpage that provides free resources tailored for the dialysis community.  Resources include information on:

 
 
AKF Free CE: Cornerstones in Care 

The American Kidney Fund (AKF) offers free recorded CE courses in its Cornerstones of Care series, on:
*  Building Relationships, https://akf.lms.ethosce.com/health-care-professionals/node/2631  
*  Professionalism, https://akf.lms.ethosce.com/health-care-professionals/node/2625  

For the many other free AKF webinars, see http://www.kidneyfund.org/training/webinars/
 

Social Security Number Removal Initiative

Is your facility prepared?  Are your patients aware?

Over the next three years, CMS will replace its traditional Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) patient identifiers with new Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers (MBI).  Starting in April 2018, new Medicare cards will be sent to all Medicare beneficiaries, and all providers will be expected to have modified their software to accept MBIs.  
 
Between April 2018 and December 2019, both the HICN and the MBI will be accepted by CMS.  After December 2019, the HICN will no longer be accepted.  The MBI will have eleven characters, numbers and upper-case letters only.  A 2015 law (MACRA) requires CMS to remove Social Security Numbers (SSN) from Medicare identifiers.  You may encounter the new acronym SSNRI, for the CMS SSN Removal Initiative.  For more information see https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/SSNRI/Index.html and https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/SSNRI/Providers/Providers.html .
 
Prepare for this change by visiting the new overview and provider webpages, which include:
  • Transition period
  • Characteristics of the MBI
  • How to obtain the MBI
It's time to look at your practice management systems and business processes and determine what changes you need to make to use the new MBI.

 
Alerts and Recalls: Visit the KCER Website

The KCER program provides resources to save lives, improve outcomes, empower patients and families, educate healthcare workers, build partnerships with stakeholders, promote awareness in the community, and support the ESRD Networks in disaster coordination efforts.

Visit the KCER website on a regular basis for Alerts and Recalls, as well as information on Emergency Preparedness specifically for the ESRD community.
Emergency Awareness Campaign: What If...
Tools to Prepare Patients
The  KCER program is sponsoring a "What If...Emergency Awareness Campaign," encouraging dialysis patients to assess their level of preparedness, improve their ability to remain safe in an emergency, and engage with their care team to learn more about disaster preparedness in the facility.  Participation is easy, and facilities can select the best way to share campaign resources and provide education to patients.
The campaign will address situations in which patient have no transportation, no phones, no power, and no dialysis facility. Find information at: http://www.kcercoalition.com/contentassets/9b8fdc32e44c4fbe9e78dc7dde37cd42/kcer_what-if_campaign-overview-flyer_final_508.pdf

 
The PAC Speaks: Patient Written Newsletter
  Patients are an essential part of the Healthcare Team, and sharing patient stories can resonate with people who are struggling with kidney disease.  Our PAC members share their stories in The PAC Speaks - single topic newsletters written by patients, care partners and family members for all who are affected by ESRD.
This month, we are highlighting Laverne  Washington's article on why he does not miss dialysis treatments.
Please share this article with anyone who may be struggling with missing treatments, and visit our website to see more patient written articles on subjects ranging from anemia to transplant.
If you have a patient who would like to write an article for PAC Speaks please see our Guidelines and contact the Network.
 
Patient Experience of Care: Beyond ICH CAHPS
Three Part Webinar Series with FREE CE
"The Experience of Care: Patients & Providers as Partners."
The National Forum of ESRD Networks is hosting a 3-Part webinar series (overview) focusing on improving patient experience of care. 

October 19, 2016 - 2:00 pm ET  Register
The Provider Perspective: What do we learn from experience of care surveys? Can we do better?
*Interpreting and Using ICH CAHPS Results
*Patient Experience of Care Surveys...beyond ICH CAHPS
*Practical Approaches to Improve Communication and Acting on Patient Feedback
 
November 9, 2016 - 2:00 pm ET  Register
Patient and Provider Engagement: Forging true partnerships and changing the culture.
*Patient Provider Collaboration: Findings of the UNC ESRD Patient Engagement Study & Practical Applications Using Peer to Peer Mentoring
*Practical Approaches to Identifying Patient Goals & Values

PAST Webinar:
The Patient Perspective: What is the experience of care? Are we asking the right questions?
Patient Engagement, Patient Satisfaction, Patient Experience of Care...What's the difference?  Slides, Recording and Q&A Document 
 
More information available on the Forum's website.
 
CROWNWeb Training and Town Halls

CROWNWeb has released their October Newsletter, which you can find at http://mycrownweb.org/news/newsletters/ .

 

 They provide their Town Hall and New User Training schedules for the rest of the year:
* October 11, 2016 - New User Training
* October 27, 2016 - Town Hall webinar
* November 8, 2016 - New User Training
* November 17, 2016 - Town Hall webinar
* December 13, 2016 - New User Training
* December 15, 2016 - Town Hall webinar

The Newsletter also includes notes on changes to the CROWNWeb website, and a short essay on transient patients.
 
Upcoming Meetings and Events
Wednesday, October 26, 2016  Long Island Chapter of ANNA
Fall Conference 2016 Nephrology News and Updates (CE) Agenda 

Chateau Briand 440 Old Country Road Carle Place, NY

MUST Pre Register  Registration Form   Register on-line      

Sunday, October 30, 2016
KUFA's 22nd Annual NYC Walk the Walk  Website
72nd Street Band shell in Central Park
  
 

IPRO End-Stage Renal Disease Network of New York, the ESRD Organization for New York state, prepared this material under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy. CMS Contract Number: HHSM-500-2016-00020C.

IPRO ESRD Network of New York
1979 Marcus Avenue, Lake Success, NY 11042