Alaska State Office of Rural Health

Location

Anchorage, AK
United States

Alaska State Flex Program

What is one Core Competency your state Flex Program is working on developing through Flex activities?

Selected Core Competency: Strengthening Quality Reporting and Improvement

The Alaska State Flex Program has a renewed focus on supporting MBQIP reporting now that the worst impacts of COVID seem to be behind us. Our team ensures each hospital has a current staff member with NHSN rights, all staff members are aware of reporting requirements and time frames, and MBQIP data releases are reviewed with hospitals during bimonthly calls. We also do an annual update and distribution of a CAH quality reporting guide to aid in MBQIP reporting. Flex funds support a Patient Safety Committee to facilitate the sharing of best practices and resources among CAHS and to achieve measurable reductions in patient harm.

What is one activity your state is funding through SHIP?

The Alaska SHIP program is offering a selection of choices each year. Alaska’s hospitals seem to gravitate towards three categories of investments. Many have decided to earmark their yearly SHIP funds to pay for their expenses related to HCAHPS. They are then using the results of the surveys to help improve the patient experience of care at their hospitals. Another popular investment is to spend funds on software to help improve quality of care while reducing costs. For example, one hospital is using this type of software to help track and guide a performance improvement project to reduce incidents of sepsis. The final popular category is to fund investments in telemedicine and telehealth.

Type of Organization State Government
Staffing (FTE) 13
Number of CAHs 13

Tags

Organization Contacts

Tricia Franklin

State Office Director; Flex Coordinator, Alaska
Tricia.franklin@alaska.gov
(907) 269-3445

Tricia has served as Alaska's State Office Director and Flex Coordinator since 2018.

Cate Harmon

SHIP Coordinator, Alaska
cate.harmon@alaska.gov
(907) 269-2084

Cate has served as Alaska's SHIP Coordinator since 2019.