Five habits that drive quality performance
Just like regular preventive care keeps patients healthy, a monthly quality check-up can help practices stay ahead of care gaps, improve patient outcomes and strengthen quality performance.
Here are five simple activities providers and office staff can incorporate into their monthly workflow:
1.
Review of open care gaps
Identify patients who are due for their annual physical, preventive services, chronic condition monitoring, or follow-up care. Reviewing open care gaps monthly helps ensure patients receive recommended care on time.
2.
Run preventive screening reports
Use your EHR or quality reporting tools to identify patients who may be due for important screenings such as colorectal cancer screening, breast cancer screening, cervical cancer screening or annual wellness visits. Early outreach can improve patient engagement and close care gaps.
3.
Reconcile outside records
Important care often occurs outside your practice. Regularly reviewing and documenting records from specialists, hospitals, pharmacies, laboratories and immunization registries helps ensure services are captured accurately and reflected in quality reporting.
4.
Review no-show patients
Patients who miss appointments may also miss important preventive and chronic care services. Reviewing no-show lists each month provides an opportunity for outreach and rescheduling before care gaps widen. Timely, supportive communication strengthens the provider-patient relationship and creates opportunities to identify and address barriers that may prevent patients from completing recommended care.
5.
Track your quality performance regularly
Use available reports, EHR tools or internal tracking processes to review quality performance and identify opportunities for improvement. Monthly check-ins give your practice time to address gaps before year-end.
Small steps, big impact
A monthly quality check-up today can help avoid larger care gaps tomorrow.
Quality improvement is most successful when it becomes part of the routine workflow, not just a year-end activity. By dedicating a small amount of time each month to these five habits, practices can stay proactive, organized and focused on delivering high-quality care.
For additional guidance, check out the provider tip sheets available on our quality page to support timely outreach, accurate documentation and stronger quality performance throughout the year.
