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The One & Only Campaign is a public health effort, led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Safe Injection Practices Coalition (SIPC), to raise awareness among patients and health care providers about safe injection practices and eliminate infections resulting from unsafe injection practices.

The Safe Injection Practices Coalition (SIPC) partners with states to help disseminate the messages and materials of the One & Only Campaign. State partners conduct educational outreach and create state-based activities. The SIPC currently has ten state partners – California, Colorado, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Vermont.

Join us as we show our appreciation and celebrate the work that risk management and patient safety professionals do during Health Care Risk Management Week, June 18-22, 2018. This year’s theme, “Leading Together,” celebrates the leadership that health care risk management professionals provide for their organizations.

Register for our June 20th complimentary webinar, Take the Lead in Building a Resilient Organization, as we discuss the high levels of burnout among clinicians and care team members and the leadership role in reducing burnout and building a resilient organization.

AHRQ offers free resources, Engaging Patients and Families in Their Health Care, to help health care teams get the most out of the time they spend with patients and families. Research shows that when patients are engaged in their health care, it can lead to measurable improvements in safety and quality. Whether you see patients at a hospital, primary care office, or other setting AHRQ has resources tailored to your practice setting.

Log in and visit our Patient-Centered Care Bundled Solution for more guidance, tools and resources on engaging patients in their health care.

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has launched an online repository of resources, Clinician Well-Being Knowledge Hub, to help health systems combat clinician burnout. According to NAM, burnout is primarily a system issue with workplace inefficiencies, accreditation requirements, the practice/learning environment all contributing to burnout and impacting the entire health care team and organization.

To learn more about burnout, well-being and organizational resilience, register for one of our upcoming webinars, view one of the Health and Well-Being for Health-Care Professionals on-demand videos, and visit our Well-Being Center.

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) have released updated guidelines for treating Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) in adults and children. The guidelines are intended to improve the diagnosis and management of CDI. Clostridium difficile remains the most important cause of healthcare-associated diarrhea and has become the most commonly identified cause of healthcare-associated infection in adults in the United States.

The guidelines recommend health care organizations implement an antibiotic stewardship program to minimize the frequency and duration of high-risk antibiotic therapy and the number of antibiotic agents prescribed, to reduce CDI risk.

To learn more, login to UMIA.com and watch the on-demand webinar, Antibiotic Stewardship: A National Priority.

Take the pledge for patient safety and wear a gown! We are all patients!

Your organization can play an active role in the United for Patient Safety campaign in support of Patient Safety Awareness Week, March 11-17 by planning your week, sharing your plans, and getting ideas and inspiration.

IHI/NPSF offers a number of ways to take action and plan your week including a complimentary webinar on Monday March 12, Engaging Patients and Providers: Speaking Up for Patient Safety.

Join MMIC, UMIA and Arkansas Mutual for a complimentary webinar, Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Senior Living Teams, on Wednesday March 14th from 12:00 -1:00 p.m. CT. Errors in clinical judgment is one of the top contributing factors to patient injury and malpractice claims in all care settings. The lessons and strategies learned from this webinar can be transferred to any health care organization.

AHRQ’s Academy for Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care offers tools and resources to support those who are implementing medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder (OUD) in primary care settings. The Opioids & Substance Use Resources page includes information and tools from Federal sources, health professional societies, academic institutions and researchers.

For additional pain management guidelines, tools and resources, login to UMIA.com > Risk Management > Bundled Solutions > Chronic Pain Management.

In a recent memorandum, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reminds health care organizations that CMS does not permit the texting of orders by physicians or other health care providers. The memorandum summary states that:

• Texting patient information among members of the health care team is permissible if accomplished through a secure platform.
• Texting of patient orders is prohibited regardless of the platform utilized.
• Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) is the preferred method of order entry by a provider.

Ensure your organization has policies and processes for communicating patient information among the health care team that provides a standardized checklist or template for an effective handoff, documents the communication in the EHR, and protects patient privacy and security. For help contact your risk and patient safety consultant.

Agreement expands Constellation’s support of health care clients beyond medical professional liability insurance

Minneapolis – Jan. 26, 2018 – Constellation, Inc., today announced a strategic collaboration with CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA), a leading health care professional services firm whose clients include more than 8,300 health care and senior living clients across the country.

“Our agreement with CLA marks a significant milestone as we expand our offerings beyond managing the risk of medical professional liability,” said Bill McDonough, CEO of Constellation. “CLA is a reliable advisor who understands the business of health care. As CLA puts it, its advisors ‘transform complexity into opportunity’ by considering its clients’ financial, strategic, and operational needs. CLA’s deep industry specialization and ability to integrate with customers’ existing programs and products, combined with its desire to truly understand and help its customers makes it an excellent fit for Constellation. We are proud to help connect CLA with our physician, hospital, and long-term care clients.”

“The passion and advisory approach that Constellation provides to its client base facilitated for a collaborative alignment which we foresee as very beneficial to the clients that we will serve together in the future,” said Jeff Vrieze, chief industry officer of CLA’s health care practice. “Forging this relationship with a trusted medical professional liability firm with an excellent reputation will allow us to demonstrate our capabilities to a larger health care network.”

Under the agreement, Constellation member companies MMIC, UMIA, and Arkansas Mutual Insurance Company will market CLA’s portfolio of health care services in the 16 states where it is currently conducting business. Those states include Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

The collaboration marks Constellation’s second expansion of services beyond medical professional liability insurance. Last year, it introduced the Physician Empowerment Suite, an online platform designed to help health care providers deliver a better patient experience and improve operational performance and effectiveness.

About Constellation

Minneapolis-based Constellation is a collective of like-hearted medical liability insurers and health service partners dedicated to improving the delivery of health care and providing effective business solutions to group practices, hospitals and long-term care communities. Constellation, MMIC, UMIA and Arkansas Mutual hold an “A” (Excellent) Financial Strength Rating from A.M. Best.

About CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA)

CLA is a professional services firm delivering integrated wealth advisory, outsourcing, audit, tax, and consulting to help enhance our clients’ enterprise value and assist them in growing and managing their related personal assets — all the way from startup to succession and beyond. Our professionals are immersed in the industries they serve and have deep knowledge of their operating and regulatory environments. With more than 5,000 people, more than 100 U.S. locations, and a global affiliation, we bring a wide array of services to help clients in all markets, foreign and domestic. For more information visit CLAconnect.com. Investment advisory services are offered through CliftonLarsonAllen Wealth Advisors, LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor.

Register 2-Ways

• Email: Carol Merryman at cmerryman@umia.com
• Call: UMIA Risk Management Education 800-748-4380 or 801-716-3221

Event questions: Cynthia Tyhurst at ctyhurst@umia.com