Internal Promotion

Toolkit

To the RARE Campaign Team:

You have a tremendous opportunity through the RARE Campaign to address a major and complex problem that plagues our care delivery system—avoidable hospital readmissions. We have developed a suite of materials to help you effectively describe and explain the campaign, and promote your participation in it. We realize that you are devoting a significant amount of time serving your patients and developing innovations to improve care, so we hope that you will find this kit helpful.

We look forward to working with you and/or your hospital’s public relations/communications team to help showcase your involvement in the campaign. If you have questions, pleasecontact one of us.

Jim TrevisJan Hennings

Director of Marketing & CommunicationsCommunications Director

Institute for Clinical Systems ImprovementMinnesota Hospital Association

,(952) , (651) 603-3549

Deb McKinley

Communications and Outreach Manager

Stratis Health

, (952) 853-8576

Toolkit Table of Contents

RARE Campaign Elevator Speech and Story ………………………………………………………... 3

Key Messages and Talking Points …………………………………………………………………… 5

Publicizing Your Involvement ………………………………………………………………………..8

Template RARE Campaign Press Release Announcement …………………………………..8

Newsletter Blurb: RARE Campaign Announcement ………………………………………...10

Notification Letter to Community Care Providers …………………………………………...11

Hosting a RARE Campaign Kick-Off Event ………………………………………………………...12

Format Suggestions …………………………………………………………………………..12

Sample Agenda……………………………………………………………………………….13

Promoting Your Event ………………………………………………………………………………..14

Who to Invite …………………………………………………………………………………14

Sample Email Invitations…………………………………………………………………….15

Sample Event Signage ………………………………………………………………………..17

Elevator Speech and Story to Supportthe RARE Campaign

This RARE Campaign elevator speech and story will help you explain the RARE Campaign and its value.These items should prove helpful when talking to others about the program including staff, stakeholders and media.

RARE Elevator Speech

Many of us have likely had a loved one sent home from the hospital only to be readmitted a few days or weeks later. We can all identify with the sense of anxiety and unrest felt by the patients and families involved when this occurs. Many of these readmissions could be prevented.

The RARE (Reducing Avoidable Readmissions Effectively) Campaign engages hospitals and care providers across the continuum of care with the goal of preventing 4,000 avoidable hospital readmissions across Minnesota between July 1, 2011 and Dec. 31, 2012.

The campaign is broadly supported by numerous stakeholders. The Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI), the Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA), and Stratis Health are serving as Operating Partners and leading the campaign. The Minnesota Medical Association and MN Community Measurement are Supporting Partners, while a growing list of Community Partners that includes providers, health plans, state health agencies, home health agencies, nursing homes, patient advocacy groups and other community organizations are endorsing the campaign.

This broad-based, collaborative campaign acknowledges that avoidable readmissions are the result of a fragmented health care system. The changes that hospitals and providers implement through this campaign will help patients and families avoid unnecessary re-hospitalizations and their associated burdens, plus it will make health care more affordable for Minnesotans by saving tens of millions of dollars annually.

[HOSPITAL NAME] is participating in the RARE Campaign because it’s the right thing to do to increase the quality and lower the cost of health care. Through the campaign we’ll have the support and resources we need to give focused attention to an issue that spans beyond our hospital walls.

RARE Elevator Story

An elevator story communicates the most essential information about an organization or situation in a paragraph or series of bullets that can be shared with others in the course of a brief conversation.

  • We likely have had a loved one return to the hospital a few days or weeks after being discharged, and can identify with the sense of anxiety and unrest felt by those involved when this occurs.
  • Many of these readmissions could be prevented.
  • The RARE Campaign has the goal of preventing 4,000 avoidable hospital readmissions in Minnesota between July 1, 2011 and December 31, 2012.
  • The campaign’s Operating Partners are the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement, the Minnesota Hospital Association and Stratis Health. Numerous other Supporting and Community Partners—representing other medical associations, provider groups, health plans, state health agencies, patient advocacy groups and other community groups—are supporting the campaign.
  • Hospitals participating in the campaign will commit to meet specific readmission reduction goals, and partner with their local care delivery organizations to achieve them.
  • The campaign will focus on five key areas that, when not done properly, contribute to hospital readmissions:1) comprehensive discharge planning, 2) medication management, 3) patient and family engagement, 4) transition care support, and 5) transition communications.
  • Participating hospitals will receive support to implement the interventions most likely to accelerate their work and achieve success.
  • Achieving the campaign’s goal will help avoid unnecessary re-hospitalizations and ensure 4,000 patients and families spend 16,000 more nights in their own beds instead of in a hospital. Plus it has the potential to save tens of millions of dollars, making health care more affordable for Minnesotans.

Key Messages and Talking Points about the RARE Campaign

Key messages capture the most important ideas for a given audience and help overcome barriers to forming desired attitudes or taking desired actions. Talking points help you elaborate further on your key messages.

The RARE Campaign is a broad-based health care community initiative to engage hospitals and providers across the continuum of care in an intensive effort to prevent 4,000 avoidable readmissions in Minnesota by Dec. 31, 2012.
  • All hospitals in Minnesotaare invited to participate in the campaign.
  • The RARE Campaign seeks to achieve the Triple Aim goals of improving population health, the patient care experience and the affordability of care.
  • Achieving this goal will help patients and families spend 16,000 more nights in their own beds instead of in a hospital.
  • It will also save tens of millions of dollars annually, making health care more affordable.

TheRARE Campaign is important to our patients and community because while most hospital readmissions are needed, many are avoidable.

  • Almost 20% of Medicare patients in Minnesota are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge.
  • 18 other states have fewer readmissions than Minnesota.
  • Involving many hospitals and the provider groups that care for patients after hospitalization will help better coordinate and improve patient care faster.

The RARE Campaign builds upon existing work by other stakeholders.
  • This campaign builds upon the work and pilots done over the past two years by the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement, HealthPartners, the Minnesota Council of Health Plans, Minnesota Hospital Association, Minnesota MedicalAssociation, Stratis Health and many other medical, health plan, state and patient advocacy groups.
  • The RARE Campaign is designed to combine many efforts into a more unified, concerted effort to reduce avoidable readmissions faster across a broad region.
  • Many hospitals have been working on reducing readmissions. This campaign intends to leverage and accelerate that work.

Many avoidable hospital readmissions are the result of a fragmented care delivery system, and can be addressed by better coordinating care at discharge and after hospitalization.
  • The campaign will engage those provider groups that coordinate and care for patients after hospitalization—including nursing homes, home health agenciesand families—to reduce avoidable readmissions.
  • The campaign’s elements will focus on addressing those issues known to contribute to avoidable readmissions:
  • Inadequate information/preparation for post-discharge care and self-care.
  • Incomplete/inadequate hospital records and discharge instructions not shared with/sent to primary care clinicians or organizations that authorize or provide post-discharge care.
  • Untimely and uncoordinated post-hospital care.
  • Preventable medical errors/complications during the first hospital stay.

The RARE Campaign has broad-based support among numerous stakeholders.
  • The Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement, the Minnesota Hospital Association, and Stratis Health are serving as Operating Partners for the campaign.
  • Numerous Supporting and Community Partners—representing other medical associations, provider groups, health plans, state health agencies, nursing homes, home health agencies, patient advocacy groups and other community groups —are supporting the campaign.
  • The Minnesota health care community’s willingness to collaborate makes such a broad campaign possible.
  • The broad-based support among multiple provider groups will help better coordinate care as patients transition from one provider to another, as many avoidable readmissions are the result of a fragmented health care system. Starting with the hospital, but engaging other caregivers who coordinate a patient’s care after hospitalization, we can reduce avoidable readmissions, plus improve care deliveryoverall and strengthen relationships among providers in our communities.

The RARE Campaign will focus on five key areas known to reduce avoidablereadmissions.
  • Five key areas:
  • Comprehensive discharge planning
  • Medication management
  • Patient and family engagement
  • Transition care support
  • Transition communications
  • Each focus area will incorporate existing best practices and be supported by experts in the field.
  • Each focus area will have a designated list of activities for participants to complete, which may include face-to-face sessions.

The RARE Campaign helps hospitals align with national efforts to reduce avoidable readmissions.
  • This initiative complements the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services work to reduce avoidable hospital readmissions at the national level.
  • The Affordable Care Act’s hospital readmissions reduction program will help hospitals smooth transitions for patients and reward hospitals that successfully reduce avoidable readmissions.
  • Hospitals with higher than expected risk-adjusted 30-day readmission performance can incur penalties up to 1% of their total inpatient Medicare payments beginning in fiscal year 2013 (i.e., starting Oct. 1, 2012). The penalty increases each year after that. CMS will evaluate prior years’ readmissions data, effectively starting the clock ticking on Oct. 1, 2011.
  • The goals of the RARE Campaign are more aggressive than the goals set nationally by CMS. We have an opportunity to lead the nation in reducing avoidable readmissions. The best practices and lessons learned by participating hospitals and care providers can be shared nationwide and adopted at others hospitals and medical centers across the country.

Participating hospitals will receive significant support from Operating Partners and other collaborating partners in order to achieve their readmission reduction goals.
  • Operating Partners will help participating hospitals set specific readmissions reduction goals, as well as conduct an organizational assessment of their current practices to identify the greatest opportunities for reducing readmissions.
  • Operating Partners will assign a Resource Consultant to partner with throughout the campaign. Hospitals will receive support from experts in the five key focus areas, as well as toolkits and opportunities to network and collaborate with other participating hospitals.

The RARE Campaign offers many benefits to patients and the community.
  • The campaign will help ensure patients and their families don’t experience the anxiety and burden that results from returning to the hospital when the stay could have been avoided.
  • With the average hospital stay at four days, achieving the RARE Campaign goals will help patients and their families enjoy 16,000 more nights in their own beds instead of in the hospital.
  • The organizational assessment completed for the campaign will help a participating hospital identify those areas where it can improve the mostto prevent avoidable readmissions.
  • The campaign’s design improves the transitions of patients between the hospital and other care provider groups, creating a foundation for subsequent efforts to reduce avoidable admissions.

Publicizing Your Involvement

Template RARE Campaign Press Release Announcement

This is a template press release for distribution to local media announcing your participation in the RARE Campaign. We suggest working with your hospital communications staff to identify and pitch this to the most appropriate publication(s).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: [Name, Title

Month, Day, 2011[Phone Number]

[HOSPITAL NAME] JOINS RARE CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT AVOIDABLE HOSPITAL READMISSIONS

[CITY], Minnesota —[HOSPITAL NAME] is pleased to announce it is participating in the RARE (Reducing Avoidable Readmissions Effectively) Campaign. This statewide campaign brings hospitals and other providers who coordinate patient care after hospitalization together with the goal of preventing 4,000 avoidable hospital readmissions in Minnesota by Dec. 31, 2012.

All hospitals in Minnesota have been invited to participate in the RARE Campaign. By securing the participation of many hospitals and their community health partners, the campaign seeks to help prevent more avoidable readmissions faster and across the entire state.

“Most re-hospitalizations are necessary but many can be avoided by better preparing patients to maintain their health after hospitalization, and by improving communication and coordination as the patient transfers from the hospital to another care provider,” said [HOSPITAL LEADER’S NAME, TITLE]. “[HOSPITAL NAME] is pleased to be part of the campaign because not only can we help patients and their families in our community spend more nights in their own beds instead of in the hospital, but we can help Minnesota save tens of millions of dollars annually, making health care more affordable.”

Hospital staff at (HOSPITAL NAME) will work on one or more of five key areas known to help reduce avoidable readmissions: comprehensive discharge planning, medication management, patient and family engagement, transition care support, and transition communications.They will reach out to other health care organizations in the community to work together in a concerted effort in these areas.

The RARE Campaign is being led by the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement, Minnesota Hospital Association and Stratis Health. They are providing a resource consultant, recognized experts, toolkits and opportunities to network and learn from other hospitals to support (HOSPITAL NAME’s) efforts to reduce avoidable readmissions.

Other organizations, including provider groups, state health agencies, health plans, home health agencies, nursing homes, and patient advocacy groups,are also supporting the broad-based initiative.

“The entire nation is tackling this complex health care issue,” said [HOSPITAL LEADER’S NAME, TITLE]. “[HOSPITAL NAME]’s participation in this program shows that we are committed to being a leader in improving patient care and in strengthening the coordination of care across our entire community. Furthermore, we can help Minnesota lead the country in reducing avoidable readmissions.”

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Newsletter Blurb: RARE Campaign Announcement

This is a template newsletter article or blurb for placement in any of your internal hospital news publications, web site or local community media. Articles like these will promote your commitment to quality improvement and superior patient care. We suggest working with your hospital communications staff to identify and place this in the most appropriate publication(s).

[HOSPITAL NAME] is pleased to announce that it is participating in the RARE (Reducing Avoidable Readmissions Effectively) Campaign. This broadly supported, statewide campaign brings hospitals and other providers who coordinate patient care after hospitalization together with the goal of preventing 4,000 avoidable hospital readmissions in Minnesota by Dec. 31, 2012.

“Most re-hospitalizations are necessary but many can be avoid by better preparing patients for home or self care, and by improving communication and coordination as the patient transfers from the hospital to another care provider,” said [HOSPITAL LEADER’S NAME, TITLE]. “[HOSPITAL NAME] is pleased to be part of the campaign because not only can we help patients and their families spend more nights in their own beds instead of in the hospital, but we can help Minnesota save tens of millions of dollars annually, making health care more affordable.”

Hospital staff at (HOSPITAL NAME) will work on some of the five key areas known to help reduce avoidable readmissions:comprehensive discharge planning, medication management, patient and family engagement, transition care support, and transition communications.They will reach out to other health care organizations in the community to work together in a concerted effort in these areas.

The RARE Campaign is being led by the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement, Minnesota Hospital Association and Stratis Health. They are providing a resource consultant, recognized experts, toolkits and opportunities to network and learn from other hospitals to support (HOSPITAL NAME’s) efforts to reduce avoidable readmissions.

Other organizations, including provider groups, state health agencies, health plans, home health agencies, nursing homes, and patient advocacy groups,are also supporting the broad-based initiative.

Notification Letter to Community Care Providers

This is a template letter to notify other care providers in your community about your involvement in the RARE Campaign, and your hospital’s desire to team with them to reduce avoidable readmissions.

Your Hospital Letterhead

Date

Name

Organization

Address

City, State, Zip

Dear [Name]:

Our community has an incredible opportunity to address a major and complex problem that plagues our care delivery system  avoidable hospital readmissions. Many of us have likely had a loved one sent home from the hospital only to be readmitted a few days or weeks later. We can all identify with the sense of anxiety and unrest felt by the patients and families involved when this occurs. Many hospital readmissions can be prevented.