News Blast

5 | 5 | 95 Success Stories are shared by TLC Associates and serve as inspiration to improve and uplift our associates and patients. Read. Improve. Uplift. Repeat. Submit your story to tlcnewsblast@kroger.com to be published in future issues.

NP Jennifer Thornberry and PCT Autumn Wilson, Central & Rock Clinic, Wichita, Kansas

In an effort to increase customer engagement and achieve five more visits per day, clinic 17102 decided to host a “Drive-In Movie” event. This past Saturday, from 11am-1pm, NP Jennifer Thornberry and PCT Autumn Wilson reached almost 70 extra people through this event and created a memory for Dillons shoppers that they will tie back to TLC. They also passed out free (Kroger branded!) popcorn to the moviegoers as well as information about the Zika virus, sunscreen and sports physicals.

- From Kaitlin McMasters, Marketing & Customer Service Manager - Kansas

Thank you, Jennifer and Autumn, for going the extra mile to bring in more patients!

Notice: This document contains confidential and privileged infor-mation that is intended only for employees of The Little Clinic.

Any disclosure, copying, distribu-tion, or reliance upon the con-tents of this document is strictly prohibited.

Inside This Issue:

5 | 5 | 95 Success Stories ................................. 1PQRS Field Notification................................... 2HIPAA 101 - FAQ ............................................. 3Journey to Health ........................................... 4Friendly & Fresh Testimonial .......................... 4Announcements ............................................. 5

TheLittleClinic.comInside Select Stores

July 13, 2016 Edition

Notice: This document contains confidential and privileged information that is intended only for employees of The Little Clinic.

Any disclosure, copying, distribution, or reliance upon the contents of this docu-ment is strictly prohibited.

Inside This Issue:

5 | 5 | 95 Success Stories .........................1

PQRS Field Notification...........................2

HIPAA 101 - FAQ .....................................3

Journey to Health ...................................4

Friendly & Fresh Testimonial ..................4

Announcements .....................................5

Page 2July 13, 2016 Edition

PQRS Field NotificationFrom Dr. Watkins, CMO

What is PQRS and why is it important to TLC?The Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) is a quality reporting program that encourages eligible providers to report information to Medicare on the quality of care provided to patients. PQRS gives providers the opportunity to assess the quality of care they provide to their patients, helping to ensure that patients get the right care at the right time.

By reporting on PQRS quality measures, providers can quantify how often they are meeting a particular quality metric against similar providers and/or practices. Program implementation and oversight is facilitated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which began applying a negative payment adjustment to eligible providers who do not participate or adequately report quality data. This is important to TLC because our practice must continue to demonstrate the ability to meet quality standards for the patients we serve. In the beginning, we will focus only on our Medicare patient population, with the goal of expanding quality data reporting to all patients we serve, in the future.

What quality measures will TLC report and how will TLC report these to CMS?TLC Medical Affairs in conjunction with members of the Quality Committee identified a total of 14 clinical measures (please refer to the Quick Reference Guide on Measure Documentation in eCW) in order to satisfy the CMS requirement to report nine or more measures covering at least three National Quality Strategy (NQS) domains, plus additional cross-cutting measures. For more information on PQRS and NQS and measurements, please refer to TLC PQRS Resource Center on TLC Today and the PQRS Implementation Guide 2016.

TLC will use our current EMR, eClinical Works, to report these measures. Documentation of specific measure related information is captured on the Clinical Quality Worksheet (Please refer to the Quick Reference Guide on the Clinical Quality Worksheet) in eCW. We expect minimum interruption to workflow as our clinical team executes against these in the routine care of the patient. The only difference is that we now need to document appropriately for reporting purposes. To capture these measures a PQRS Documentation Checklist has been developed. (Please refer to the Quality Measures Documentation Checklist) Many of the measurements selected span all ages, which is consistent for the types of patients we currently treat. For example, one of the measures, #128 Prevent Care and Screening: Body Mass Index (BMI) Screening and Follow-Up Plan, helps to identify those who have BMI above and below normal and what is our plan to address this. (May include, but is not limited to: documentation of education, counseling, referral, pharmacological interventions, dietary supplements.)

When will TLC start the reporting and what will I need to do?Measures have been identified, analytic tools developed to measure our progress, virtual pulse training established and job aids developed. Our goal is to start no later than July 22 as we are already behind for the 2016 reporting period. Clinicians must complete PQRS Virtual Pulse training as soon as possible and start to document against measures for Medicare patients and age specific patients whenever possible.

Notice: This document contains confidential and privileged information that is intended only for employees of The Little Clinic.

Any disclosure, copying, distribution, or reliance upon the contents of this docu-ment is strictly prohibited.

Inside This Issue:

5 | 5 | 95 Success Stories .........................1

PQRS Field Notification...........................2

HIPAA 101 - FAQ .....................................3

Journey to Health ...................................4

Friendly & Fresh Testimonial ..................4

Announcements .....................................5

Page 3July 13, 2016 Edition

Is there a process to capture data on patients prior to TLC PQRS launch date?Yes, Clinical Leadership has identified several providers to help “clean-up” some of the missing data through a targeted telephonic outreach program. These clinicians will phone patients and try to collect and document missing data elements. Clinical Leadership will also continue to monitor our internal PQRS dashboard to address ongoing missing data elements. (Refer to PQRS Patient Call Backs and Documentation.)

For questions pertaining to PQRS in general, please contact Marc Watkins or Martha George. For questions pertaining to measure data collection and/or documentation in eCW, please contact Lee Nelson.

PQRS Resource Center

Quick Reference Guide on the Clinical Quality Worksheet

Quick Reference Guide on Measure Documentation

PQRS Implementation Guide 2016

Quality Measures Documentation Checklist

PQRS Patient Call Backs and Documentation

HIPAA 101- Frequently Asked QuestionsFrom Martha George, Compliance and Accreditation Manager

Question 1 - Can I talk to other health care providers and/or my patients even if there is a possibility that my conversation could be overheard?YES. The HIPAA Privacy Rule is not intended to prohibit providers from talking to each other and to his or her patients. Provisions of this rule require covered entities to implement reasonable safeguards that reflect his or her particular circumstances. The requirements are intended to ensure that the provider’s primary consideration is the appropriate treatment of his or her patient. The Privacy Rule recognizes that oral communications often must occur freely and quickly in treatment settings. Thus, covered entities are free to engage in communication as required for quick, effective and high quality health care. The Privacy Rule also recognizes that overheard communications in these settings may be unavoidable and allows for these incidental disclosures.

Of course, reasonable precautions must be taken. These include using lowered voices, having conversations in exam room or talking apart from others when sharing protected health information. However, in an emergency situation, or where a patient is hearing impaired, such precautions may not be practicable. In the instance of patient registration, callbacks, phone calls and questions or comments initiated by the patient, use a lowered voice and limit conversations to necessary information only.

PQRS Field Notification Continued...

Notice: This document contains confidential and privileged information that is intended only for employees of The Little Clinic.

Any disclosure, copying, distribution, or reliance upon the contents of this docu-ment is strictly prohibited.

Inside This Issue:

5 | 5 | 95 Success Stories .........................1

PQRS Field Notification...........................2

HIPAA 101 - FAQ .....................................3

Journey to Health ...................................4

Friendly & Fresh Testimonial ..................4

Announcements .....................................5

Page 4July 13, 2016 Edition

Journey to HealthFrom Eileen Myers, VP, Retail Dietetics & Nutrition Solutions

Please click on the link “Journey to Health” featuring the story/video of Tim Massa (Group VP of Human Resources and Labor Relations). This is a great story about how one of our senior leaders is using the dietitian services.

Tim Massa - Journey to Health

Don’t forget, all associates receive a 50 percent discount through September 30!

Staff at The Little Clinic in Denver, Colo.

Realizing I had a bladder/UTI infection and no insurance, I shopped around. First, I went in to an urgent care facility (90 minute wait and they wanted twice as much money).

I was nervous The Little Clinic wouldn’t prescribe antibiotics. I had nothing to worry about. The prices listed on the website were correct. I was in and out with my necessary prescription in hand within 20 minutes.

The practitioner was very pleasant and understanding. I don’t look forward to being sick anytime soon, but when it happens I’ll be sure to go here first.

~ From a patient review on Yelp.com

Testimonial

Notice: This document contains confidential and privileged information that is intended only for employees of The Little Clinic.

Any disclosure, copying, distribution, or reliance upon the contents of this docu-ment is strictly prohibited.

Inside This Issue:

5 | 5 | 95 Success Stories .........................1

PQRS Field Notification...........................2

HIPAA 101 - FAQ .....................................3

Journey to Health ...................................4

Friendly & Fresh Testimonial ..................4

Announcements .....................................5

Page 5July 13, 2016 Edition

AnnouncementsJuly 2016 Grand Rounds

Date: Thursday, July 28, 2016 5pm CTTopic: Incision and Drainage (Procedure)Speaker: Ginger Urban, DHSc, PA-C - The Little Clinic – Regional Clinical Director, AZ

Convenient Healthcare & Pharmacy Collaborative 2nd Annual Conference

July 19-21, 2016 | Orlando, Florida Your special discount code is:Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek CHPC16TLC

At the 2nd Annual Convenient Healthcare & Pharmacy Collaborative CE conference, pharmacists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants will join one another in learning the latest about disease prevention, healthcare screenings, chronic care management and treatment of common acute and chronic conditions.

This unique conference will offer attendees the opportunity to network and share best practices while earning up to 10 CE credits on topics ranging from allergic rhinitis to diabetes.

CE Topics include:• Respiratory Disease • Mental Health • Diabetes• Cardiometabolic Conditions • Dermatology • DOT Updates• Allergies • Orthopedics • And more...