Improving Hypertension _ Diabetes Control and Prevention
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webinar highlights two successful examples of how care huddles can improve patient outcomes  

huddle Health care organizations are successfully using case conferences or huddles - gathering members of a care team to discuss a plan of action for a patient - to improve care coordination. 

A webinar presented by the California Health Care Foundation, Huddles and Case Conferences to Coordinate Complex Care, focuses on two successful examples of care huddles. The first is t he Veterans Affairs (VA) Greater Los Angeles Health Care System where care teams use a huddle system to help deliver care to homeless veterans. The second example is the West County Health Centers who worked with the design firm IDEO to develop a case conference format during which the care team brainstorms creative, patient-focused approaches to care. Watch the recording of this webinar here.
online course will teach you how to Boost practice productivity and team morale by implementing a daily team huddle

provider care huddle A practice team caring for complex patients must communicate and coordinate efforts among its members on a regular basis. According to the American Medical Association (AMA), implementation of brief, in-person, scheduled meetings once or twice a day with relevant team members helps to ensure an efficient clinic day with fewer surprises. 

Huddles provide an opportunity to anticipate patient needs and prepare for changes in staffing and logistics so the day runs more smoothly. Over time, they can serve as a platform for additional practice improvement and role expansion. Robust, routine huddles contribute to an interdependent team culture, improved relationships and the delivery of safe and reliable patient care.

Learn more about implementing a daily team huddle into your practice and how it will positively impact your staff, and mostly, the quality of care your clinical team delivers to your patients by completing the Implementing a Daily Team Huddle online CME course offered by the AMA's STEPS Forward initiative.
pre-visit planning will allow your practice to save time and improve care  

checkmark icon Pre-visit planning communicates to patients that a practice is planning ahead in order to make the next patient visit as meaningful as possible. Practices can plan ahead by scheduling patients for their next visit at the conclusion of each visit, including scheduling any needed pre-visit laboratory testing (plan forward). This saves time and reduces the number of "touches" to set up planned care appointments. 

An example of a pre-visit planning strategy recommended by the AMA STEPS Forward initiative is the use of a visit planner checklist to arrange the patient's next appointment(s). The visit planner is a checklist that allows the physician to indicate the interval until the next appointment and any associated labs required prior to that visit. It should be quick and convenient to use, requiring no more than a few seconds of physician time. The visit planner checklist can be used by a medical assistant (MA) or other team member who can schedule the appointments and tests indicated by the physician. Download the Visit Planner Checklist from the AMA STEPS Forward campaign for use in your practice.

Pre-visit planning can mean the difference between a practice where a physician and the team are floundering and frustrated, and one that runs smoothly with the capacity to handle any unanticipated issues that arise. Learn more here.
contact information

For more details about the Improving Hypertension and Diabetes Care & Prevention project, please contact Ashley Biscardi, Sarah Toborowski, Ryan Williamson, and Danielle Nugent.
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This publication was supported by the Cooperative Agreement Number NU58DP2018006563 from the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
Publication number: DEDPH-HD-080919