Celebrating 14 years of leading innovations across the Ryan White community.

 

NQC e-Newsletter | Your expert guide to resources and technical assistance focusing on improving HIV care.

 

The end+disparities Learning Exchange is now in its third month after a successful kick-off webinar in October 2016 . We are excited to focus our improvement efforts on reducing HIV disparities in HIV care. Join our next webinar on December 15 to learn more how we can work together as a community to select interventions relevant to your sub-population of focus and to learn from each other. Check out our end+disparities website at www.enddisparitiesExchange.org to learn more about this initiative.
     

Regards,  

Clemens Steinbock
Director, National Quality Center

> This Issue
In This Issue...
> NQC Offering | end+disparities Learning Exchange: Available Resources
> NQC Update | HIV Cross-Part Care Continuum Collaborative (H4C)
> Provider Profile | St. Louis TGA
> National TA Webinar | Evaluating your QI Projects: Part II
>  NQC Offering | Upcoming end+disparities Learning Exchange Activities 
 
Join our next Exchange webinar on December 15 at 1pm ET, called Working Together as a Community to End Disparities, on how to work as a team to address disparities in HIV care and to hear about examples from your peer providers.
 
 
Check out the NQC's end+disparities Learning Exchange  if you have not already. There are a wide variety of events but you will want to mark your schedule for our monthly webinars, which usually happen every third Thursday of the month, as well as for our weekly office hours, which happen between 1:00 - 2:00 pm ET on most Fridays (note that schedule is variable). Office hours address a range of topics and provide tailored feedback based on RWHAP community discussion. Consider it a one-on-one opportunity to get advice from an expert.
 
 
Learn more about upcoming end+disparities Webinars | For more information, click the links below
 
Learn more about upcoming end+disparities Office Hours | For more information, click the links below
 
Visit our end+disparities website to learn more about our initiative and how to join | www.enddisparitiesExchange.org
>   NQC Update | 2017 NQC Advanced Trainings
 
2017 is just around the corner. What improvements will you make in the coming year? Consider building your quality-related skills. In 2017, NQC will be offering Training-of-Trainers (TOT) and Training of Quality Leaders (TQL) training sessions.
 
The TOT Program is designed for those individuals with a strong experiential background in quality management and provides participants exposure to adult learning theories and training resources. TOT graduates are prepared to plan engaging and effective workshops. They also connect with other quality improvement experts and peers facing similar challenges. Since the purpose of the TOT program is capacity building, participants are asked to lead at least three trainings within 120 days of completing the session. This helps participants reinforce the knowledge they gained at the TOT as well as expands opportunities for local providers of clinical and non-clinical services to gain quality management knowledge and expertise.
 
The TQL Program provides the opportunity for participants to build their capacity to enhance their own expertise in quality management and also build the skills needed to work as facilitators to guide the development of sound quality management programs and/or quality improvement projects.
 
Make 2017 the year to build your quality management skills. Stay tuned for more details on NQC's trainings. NQC plans to hold the TOT on March 14-16, 2017, and the TQL on April 11-13, 2017.
 
For more information about these trainings | http://nationalqualitycenter.org/nqc-activities/advanced-trainings/
>  Provider Profile | Infectious Disease Clinic, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
 
Building on success is a key aspect of quality improvement work. After implementing a campaign to increase syphilis screening rates among people living with HIV, the infectious diseases clinic at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill expanded their efforts to include gonorrhea and chlamydia.
 
Talking about sexual activity can be a challenge for both providers and patients.
 
"Physicians are focused on the entire patient and all medical needs, however patients may not feel entirely comfortable discussing their risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs)," says Anita Holt, RN. "Patients may be uncomfortable disclosing their sexual habits."
 
Using Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles starting in January 2016, the nursing staff implemented the following interventions:
  • Patient education/risk reduction counseling in nursing visits and triage, including STI acquisition and importance of routine screening;
  • Developed and distributed brochures on risky behaviors and methods for STI risk reduction;
  • Offered condoms/lubrication;
  • Drafted new policies related to nursing collection of samples in nurse only visits or when symptoms are reported;
  • Flagged charts and provided verbal provider prompts to screen for STIs at the time of each patient appointment; and
  • Set up STI testing kits on mayo trays in exam rooms to serve as a visual prompt to complete STI tests at routine clinic appointments.
 
The flagged charts and the mayo trays in the exam rooms serve as reminders to providers to conduct the screenings. To make patients more comfortable, they are offered the option of conducting their own swabs, with nurses then collecting the samples. Medical case managers also play an important role. While patients may see a different physician at each visit, they have a much closer relationship with their medical case manager and feel more comfortable discussing sensitive topics with them.
 
Another important component of the program is follow up by a social worker with the patients that test positive for an STI. The social worker conducts a behavioral intervention designed to educate patients about barrier methods and other risk-reduction techniques.
 
When the project began in January 2016, the screening rates for gonorrhea and chlamydia were 34 percent. Now, the screening rates are over 50 percent.
 
"While we have a standardized process, the medical case managers know the patients and can take and individualized approach to how we address screening with each patient," says Anita. "We emphasize to them that screenings for STIs is a regular part of their care."

>Dec. 2016 | Issue 102 | Vol 7
Quick Links

end+disparities Learning Exchange
  


 Join the Leaders!  Take the QI Challenge and find out your QI IQ
> Upcoming  Events |  Dec.


Dec. 1  l  TA Webinar   l   Evaluating your quality improvement projects Part II

Dec. 2  l  end+disparities Office Hours

Dec. 8  l  Partners in care webinar

Dec. 9  l  end+disparities Office Hours

Dec. 15  l  end+disparities webinar

Dec. 16  l  end+disparities Office Hours

Dec. 22  l  TA Webinar  l  Quality 101 from the Perspective of Your Peers

National Quality Center

New York State Department of Health

AIDS Institute

90 Church Street, 13th floor

New York, NY 10007-2919

Phone | 212.417.4730

Fax | 212.417.4684

Info@NationalQualityCenter.org

 

Improving HIV Care.
>  Quality Question of the Month | Are Teams More Successful than Individuals?

Often times, quality-related technical assistance will recommend a team approach. Is this really an effective way to get things done or just a way to get staff buy-in? Are teams a good way to approach workplace challenges?
 
Research indicates that teams generally outperform individuals. Peter Scholtes, the author of the Team Handbook,is a leading expert on this topic. He emphasizes that teams outperform individuals when creativity is needed, the task is complex, and the task is cross-functional.
 
NQC has utilized the power of teams coming together to improve HIV care in various sessions. Here are a short list of resources and links you might find helpful:
       -    Check out Quality Academy Tutorial 11: Using Teams to Improve Quality | http://nationalqualitycenter.org/resources/nqc-quality-academy-using-teams-to-improve-quality/
       -    Learn more about past NQC collaboratives | http://nationalqualitycenter.org/nqc-activities/collaboratives/
         -   Review several NQC guides to learn more about setting up teams to make a regional impact | Cross-Part Guide ( http://nationalqualitycenter.org/resources/cross-part-quality-management-guide/ ) and HIVQUAL Workbook ( http://nationalqualitycenter.org/files/hivqual-workbook-chapters/05-develop-a-project-team/ )
> National TA Webinar - Quality 101 from the Perspective of Your Peers

This month the National Quality Center is once again presenting our year-end close-out webinar Quality 101.  This year however, your peers will be presenting on various topics in quality improvement.

We will briefly go over:
  >  The principles and practice of quality improvement
  >  How to make sense of your data 
  >  How to use your data to improve
  >  Why its important to evaluate your efforts

This has been a very well attended webinar for the past three years and this year we will have even newer information and it will be brought to you by the folks - like you - that have been working in Ryan White HIV/AIDS Programs like yours to achieve the best possible services to people living with HIV/AIDS.  Please join us!

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Meeting information
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Topic: Quality 101
Date: Thursday, December 22, 2016
Time: 3:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00)
Meeting Number: 649 276 396
Meeting Password: nqctawebinar123

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To start or join the online meeting
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Go to  https://meetny.webex.com/meetny/j.php?MTID=ma4ccb6b647f33c71122ba85f2ca8749c 

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Audio conference information
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1. Provide your number when you join the meeting to receive a call back. 
2. Alternatively, you can call one of the following numbers: Local: 1-518-549-0500, or Toll Free: 1-844-633-8697, or Alternate Toll Free - (For callers not able to call the 844 Toll Free Number): 1-866-776-3553
3. Follow the instructions that you hear on the phone. The Cisco Unified MeetingPlace meeting ID: 649 276 396   

To add this meeting to your calendar program (for example Microsoft Outlook), click this link:
https://meetny.webex.com/meetny/j.php?MTID=m07e01c9781b75b26c4390a63136e1b38 

> About Us

 

We provide no-cost, state-of-the-art technical assistance to all Ryan White Program-funded grantees to improve the quality of HIV care nationwide.  

 

Send questions, comments, or suggestions | Info@NationalQualityCenter.org   

 

This document is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number U28HA041321200. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.