NTOCC and ABQAURP are partnering to endorse and support health care professionals across the continuum of care in showing the importance of their work by gaining sub-specialty certification in Transitions of Care (TOC).

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla., June 2, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The National Transitions of Care Coalition (NTOCC) and the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians (ABQAURP) are partnering to endorse and support health care professionals across the continuum of care in showing the importance of their work by gaining sub-specialty certification in Transitions of Care (TOC). Improving transitions of care is a Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) initiative and health care professionals are encouraged to secure certification that supports their commitment, knowledge, experience, measurement, and research to improving transitions.

The Health Care Quality and Management (HCQM) Certification validates a professional's understanding of high-quality health care practices. When medical staff successfully complete the HCQM Exam, they are able to attain a sub-specialty certification in transitions of care. Health care systems adopting this certification recognize their multidisciplinary medical staff (physicians, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, nurses, social workers, allied health professionals, etc.) are dedicated to improving transitions of care and the overall quality of healthcare to their patients and identified family caregivers.

Health care leaders continue to implement various transitions and care management models of care, sometimes a single model but more often a combination of several models. Accountable care organizations and integrated health delivery systems look to initiatives focused on transitions and care management that will support building integrated models of care with their networks and community.

Each transition and care management initiative is based on developing collaborative care teams, enhancing their ability to communicate across levels of care, creating transition care plans and sharing information not only among themselves but with the patients and family caregivers they serve. Believing that TOC initiatives have consistent themes, the following seven (7) elements of the NTOCC Transition Care Bundle support a guideline to improving transitions and care management across the continuum of care.

-Medication Management Services & Management
-Transition Planning
-Patient and Family Caregiver Engagement & Education
-Information Transfer
-Follow Up Care
-Healthcare Provider Engagement & Shared Accountability Across the Healthcare Continuum
-Physical Health, Mental Health/SUD and Social Determinants of Health Triune

Assessing and implementing these elements as a guideline means the interdisciplinary team at each level of care must communicate, work together, and remain committed to improving transitions and care coordination. With this in mind, health care organizations are encouraged to support their multidisciplinary care teams with a certification program that demonstrates to internal and external entities that your group, hospital, post-acute facility, and staff are accountable.

ABQAURP's Core Body of Knowledge (CBK) course provides the support of quality management and patient safety education inclusive of transitions of care to prepare healthcare professionals for the HCQM Certification Examination. Another advantage to certification is organizations can have their staff prepare, communicate, and share concepts as a multidisciplinary team taking the CBK and achieving the certification recognition as a team.

"It takes a village" to impact and improve transitions of care. It is about time to recognize the commitment and excellence that care teams bring to the delivery of patient care services and coordination by taking the step forward for certification of quality management and transitions of care. Each healthcare professional can proudly display their achievement by displaying the certified digital CHCQM-TOC badge highlighting their professional knowledge and experience in quality transitions of care.

Organizations are able to show that their transitional care teams are certified and that they have the highest possible standards for their care teams. Hospitals, post-acute facilities, and outpatient clinics can show they are dedicated through certification to improving the overall quality of health care and transitions support to the populations they serve.

For complete information about the ABQAURP certification program, please visit: http://www.abqaurp.org/Certification.

About ABQAURP
Celebrating 45 years of excellence in Health Care Quality Management and Patient Safety, ABQAURP is a premier professional association providing Health Care Quality and Management (HCQM) certification, ACCME-accredited continuing medical education, and membership to health care professionals worldwide. Learn more at: http://www.abqaurp.org.

About NTOCC
NTOCC is an independent entity to develop, implement, and evaluate innovative, fair-balanced, and high-quality learning resources for healthcare professionals and consumers of healthcare services. NTOCC strives to meet its mission: "to raise awareness about transitions of care among healthcare professionals, government leaders, patients and caregivers to increase the quality of care, reduce medication errors and enhance clinical outcomes" with the support of its national governing board, advisors, and partners' council. Learn more at: http://www.ntocc.org.

Media Contact

Gina Breault, ABQAURP, (800) 998-6030, abqaurp@abqaurp.org

SOURCE ABQAURP