To slow the spread of COVID-19, Governor Walz and the Minnesota Department of Health issued a stay at home order last week directing Minnesotans to limit movement outside of the home beyond essential needs. Based on our experience with other infectious disease epidemics like measles and polio, we need all Minnesotans to take this order seriously.
As a physician, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the greater risks associated with COVID-19 for people with chronic conditions. And I’ve also been thinking about how many people may not realize they actually have a chronic condition. For many people, their chronic health conditions are well managed, and don’t limit their day to day activities. But, they may still be at increased risk of serious illness, if they are infected with COVID 19.
In our Board of Directors meeting last week several of our ICSI leaders were discussing how grateful we are to reside in Minnesota during this time. As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread in our state, our Minnesota healthcare community of providers, clinics, physicians, plans and partners are prepared for a biological emergency like COVID-19.
The Zero Suicide Initiative, a new partnership between the MN Health Collaborative and MN Department of Health, will launch on May 1, 2024 with the Zero Suicide Summit. The new Zero Suicide initiative will help design and nurture a less fragmented system to support patients at risk for suicide based on the nationally acclaimed Zero Suicide Model.
Last spring the MN Health Collaborative announced a new set of evidence-based recommendations for suicide prevention and intervention in Emergency Departments. These standards, adapted by work groups consisting of physicians and other leaders from Emergency Departments and psychiatry, are rooted in the mix of combined experience of MN Health Collaborative's members, shared learnings about tools and current or planned practices in use, and review of existing relevant literature.
Representatives from the MN Health Collaborative and ICSI have released initial results from a nearly two-year effort to implement new acute-care and post-surgical prescription standards for opioids.
Tani Hemmila, MS, ICSI's Director for the MN Health Collaborative, was interviewed recently on RadioRev, a healthcare podcast for change makers looking to do more than just health engagement by helping people to take action and do things that improve their health.
When you know WHAT you want to do, but the HOW is challenging, having a comprehensive toolkit that addresses the model for improvement, adaptive engagement methods and a collaborative and flexible mindset is important. Leading change is hard. We can help.
Please join us for a webinar on Tuesday, November 19th, Noon-1:00 p.m. with Dr. Charles Reznikoff, as he provides an update on the MN Department of Human Services opioid prescriber reports.
Lead Courageous QI with Improv & Collaboration: Strengthen your ability to lead QI conversations by adopting an improvisational mindset and applying adaptive collaboration methods. / Motivational Interviewing: If you are looking to have more collaborative conversations about change, this session is for you.
