Holmes County Long Term Care (LTC) is an 80-bed skilled nursing facility including a 20-bed Alzheimer’s Care Unit in Durant, Mississippi, within the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta. With assistance from a TMF Quality Improvement Specialist (QIS), Holmes County LTC was able to double its resident up-to-date COVID-19 vaccination rates in just one month.
Administrator Kimberly Collins’ initial efforts over nine months in 2022-2023 moved Holmes County LTC’s up-to-date rates from 0% to 24%. She was curious how it might be possible to increase that percentage any higher after trying for so long. When a TMF QIS reached out to offer free resources and technical support, Collins was ready for new ideas.
Starting the first week of July 2023, Collins was provided a “Vaccine Blitz” of tools and resources to guide her step by step. “TMF created the Vaccine Blitz, making it easy for us to execute it quickly and efficiently. It was broken into steps that were easily delegated to multiple people and it included links to resources for each step,” Collins said.
The Vaccine Blitz is a five-step process that begins with screenings and includes templates and resources for communicating with residents and families, educational tools and flyers, and vaccine clinic information. By filling in the simple Vaccine Blitz form, facilities can also use the data for National Healthcare Safety Network reporting and quality improvement measurements.
After implementing the Vaccine Blitz, Holmes County LTC went from 24% on July 1 to 50% on July 31, 2023. “TMF also helped with our NHSN reporting afterwards to make sure all our efforts were reflected accurately,” Collins said.
Collins worked with her internal leadership and regional support to improve ways of communication and education about vaccines with residents and their representatives. “We mailed out updated information regarding the vaccine, along with vaccine consents,” said Collins. “Our social services department, along with nursing, made courtesy calls following up if the information had been received and encouraged the paperwork to be returned. This also allowed for any questions or concerns to be voiced.”
To continue this success, Holmes County LTC now adds a COVID-19 vaccine consent form into new admissions packets, giving each new resident the opportunity to choose if they want to be vaccinated. The vaccines are offered and administered per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines and recommendations, and residents that choose to be vaccinated are provided educational material prior to receiving the vaccine.
The TMF Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) is contracted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to assist nursing homes free of charge. To find out how TMF can help your facility with challenges related to COVID-19 and vaccinations, email QIInetwork@tmf.org.