Taking Healthcare by Storm

Pam Meador from the West Virginia Healthcare Association discusses cohorting as an infection prevention and control strategy in long-term care and skilled nursing facilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

DISCLAIMER: After the recording of this podcast, the CDC issued updated guidance on infection prevention and control recommendations to prevent COVID-19 spread in nursing homes. Specifically, the updated guidance recommends empiric use of transmission-based precautions for residents who are newly admitted to a facility and for residents who have had close contact with someone with COVID-19 infection if they are not up-to-date with all recommended COVID-19 vaccine doses. In general, quarantine is not needed for asymptomatic residents who are up to date with all COVID-19 vaccine doses or who have recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection in the prior 90 days; potential exceptions are described in the guidance. However, some of these residents should still be tested as described in the testing section of the guidance. For more details on this evolving information, please visit the CDC’s website at cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/long-term-care. 

Quality Insights' Patty Austin discusses the latest guidelines issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding nursing home visitation during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Shikina "Kia" Wills and Sheila Barnett with Quality Insights' Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) answer some of the most frequently asked questions about COVID-19 vaccines and boosters. 

 Listen to this discussion between AmeriHealth Caritas of Delaware and Quality Insights regarding the National Diabetes Prevention program and how AmeriHealth Caritas of Delaware is working to promote the program among their members and providers.

If you have any follow-up questions after listening to the podcast, please contact [email protected]. 

Join co-hosts Joe Pinto and Danielle Nugent, both Practice Transformation Specialists at Quality Insights, for a deeper dive into what social determinants of health (SDOH) are, some barriers to dealing with SDOH, a few strategies for breaking down these barriers, and how health care providers can use the PRAPARE tool along with other tools to best address SDOH within their patient populations.

If you have any follow up questions, please contact [email protected]. 

On this episode of our podcast, we’re talking with the WV Healthcare Association’s Pam Meador about the impact of COVID-19 vaccinations in the long-term care setting.

Pam serves as the Association’s Director of Regulatory Services. In her role as Director of Regulatory Service, Pam’s work focuses heavily on policy and survey review, as well as helping member facilities navigate challenges in the healthcare field.  Pam is a registered nurse and has worked in long-term care for over 30 years. Prior to working for the Healthcare Association, Pam worked for more than 10 years as a project coordinator at Quality Insights, where her work focused on quality improvement assistance to long-term care facilities.  

On this episode of our podcast, we’re talking with patient representative Timmy Nelson about patient and family engagement related to COVID-19 vaccinations from the patient perspective and how it relates to his work as a patient representative.

Timmy is a retired lobbyist, a former dialysis patient, and a kidney transplant recipient. He has been committed to supporting individuals enduring the challenges of End-Stage Renal Disease and other health conditions for many years. He became involved as a volunteer with his local hospital in 2006, where he served on a Patient Engagement Council reviewing policies and procedures to ensure patient understanding and accessibility. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Timmy became an advocate for minority outreach and has since helped to foster relationships with more than 66 groups and organizations within minority communities. He is an advocate for vaccine confidence and aims to help address community health needs in ways that haven’t always been feasible in the past. 

On this episode of our podcast, we’re talking with patient representative Timmy Nelson about COVID-19 vaccine access and advocacy from the patient perspective and how it relates to his work as a patient representative.
 
Timmy is a retired lobbyist, a former dialysis patient, and a kidney transplant recipient. He has been committed to supporting individuals enduring the challenges of End-Stage Renal Disease and other health conditions for many years. He became involved as a volunteer with his local hospital in 2006, where he served on a Patient Engagement Council reviewing policies and procedures to ensure patient understanding and accessibility. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Timmy became an advocate for minority outreach and has since helped to foster relationships with more than 66 groups and organizations within minority communities. He is an advocate for vaccine confidence and aims to help address community health needs in ways that haven’t always been feasible in the past. 

In this episode, we’re talking with patient representative Timmy Nelson about COVID-19 vaccine confidence from the patient perspective and how it relates to his work as a patient representative. 
 
Timmy is a retired lobbyist, a former dialysis patient, and a kidney transplant recipient. He has been committed to supporting individuals enduring the challenges of End-Stage Renal Disease and other health conditions for many years. He became involved as a volunteer with his local hospital in 2006, where he served on a Patient Engagement Council reviewing policies and procedures to ensure patient understanding and accessibility. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Timmy became an advocate for minority outreach and has since helped to foster relationships with more than 66 groups and organizations within minority communities. He is an advocate for vaccine confidence and aims to help address community health needs in ways that haven’t always been feasible in the past. 

On this episode, we’re talking with Dr. Lisa Costello about COVID-19 vaccinations and vaccine confidence. 

Dr. Costello is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at West Virginia University (WVU) in Morgantown, WV and a Pediatric Hospitalist at WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital. Dr. Costello currently serves as the president of the West Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Vice-President of the West Virginia State Medical Association, and serves on the Board of Directors for the WV Children’s Health Insurance Program. Dr. Costello is also an advisor to the state of West Virginia around the COVID-19 pandemic response. At a national level, she is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on State Government Affairs.