Alabama | Indiana | Kentucky | Mississippi | Tennessee
July 2019
Recipe for Success: Alabama Spreads Community-Based Diabetes Education
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in 2014 that the rate of diabetes among adults was 9.0 percent. Alabama’s rate was significantly higher. Alabama had the third highest rate of diabetes in the nation, at 11.1 percent (CDC, 2014). The majority of Alabama is classified as rural or underserved, or both (CDC, 2014). Access to diabetes education was also a problem because only 28 percent of the counties in Alabama had official diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) programs, and most of these were in urban counties.

Read more to find out how atom Alliance team members in Alabama spread diabetes education to a majority of the state.
Featured On-Demand Opportunity
Making the Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) Work for You
Why use the annual wellness visit? It improves the use of preventive screenings and services. It has been shown to reduce spending on acute hospital and outpatient services, and it can help you to be proactive rather than reactive with your patients.
Creative Ways to Teach Infection Prevention in Nursing Homes
All staff members in a nursing home play an important role in keeping residents safe from infections. They should know some basics about the germs (like bacteria and viruses) which cause infections. They should also know steps they can take to prevent the spread of germs when giving care to residents.

Quality Improvement Advisor Julie Clark, LPTA brought a unique approach to infection prevention training that was well received by the participants in Tennessee.
Free Infection Control Training Courses
Two new infection control training courses have been released as a part of the new States Targeting Reduction in Infections via Engagement (STRIVE) curriculum. Additional courses will be launched over the summer. 

They were developed by national infection prevention experts led by the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). All courses are free and offer continuing education (CE).
Featured Podcast
Treating Sickle Cell Disease in the ED with Dr. Caroline Freiermuth
On ACEP Frontline, host Dr. Ryan Stanton and his guest Dr. Caroline Freiermuth discuss treating the Sickle Cell patient when they present to the ED. June 19 was Sickle Cell awareness day, so it’s the perfect time to refresh your understanding of this rare but significant disease and get some pearls for the management of the patient.
Featured Video
PhotoVoice Project
We are urging healthcare providers to learn more about Sickle Cell disease and the challenges experienced by patients. In this powerful new video, patients tell their own story. 
Upcoming Events
July 10
CMS Primary Care First Seriously Ill Population Webinar
Learn about how eligible practices can participate in the SIP payment model option of Primary Care First. Topics will include eligibility requirements, quality measures, and payment. Attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions during the webcast.
July 24
July 25
Patient-Centered Quality Measurement: What It Is and How to Get Involved
The webinars will provide engaging and informative overviews about quality measures, with an emphasis on how these measures are impacting healthcare and how the public can get involved in the development of quality measures. (Offered twice)
Aug 20
Aug 22
Maximizing Your Quality Score: Beyond the Basics for Solo and Small Group Practices
This upcoming event will focus on techniques and advice for maximizing your quality score, taking into account options that include using claims, EHRs, and registries to submit your quality data. (Offered twice)
View our  calendar  page for more details.
Featured On-Demand Opportunity
Human Centered Design for Healthcare Improvement and Innovation
HCD is an agile, future-oriented problem framing and solving framework, well suited to navigate complex and ill-defined challenges (the types of challenges those in healthcare are very familiar with). This on-demand learning session outlines the most relevant principles and tools of HCD in healthcare and health promotion. It describes what design thinking is and is not and how it relates to other improvement and innovation practices.
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This material was prepared by atom Alliance, the Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO), coordinated by Qsource for Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Mississippi and Alabama, under a contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Content presented does not necessarily reflect CMS policy. 19.A1.01.007