Welcome to Provider's Corner! This section of our website is customized to meet your needs and will include useful tips and ideas for practices and procedures you need to complete for NCQA, Buckeye and Ohio Department of Medicaid requirements. The intent is to create an easy-to-use, one-stop shop with helpful specifics around Quality measures, such as HEDIS, CAHPS and clinical processes you can use to meet the criteria for these requirements. Be sure to bookmark this page to make it easy to return when you need to reference content. We hope you find this helpful and are open to topics you’d like discussed on the site.
Patient engagement is an important tool for improving health outcomes and supporting individual treatment plans. It helps to increase health literacy and reduce risk for rehospitalization. One way to increase patient engagement is by using the RESPECT model. The RESPECT model consists of several key elements that are used to guide effective communication and relationship-building.
Rapport:
It is important to understand how respect is shown through verbal and nonverbal communication within a given cultural group and attempting to connect on a social level can help clinicians and patients in establishing trust.
Empathy:
It is important to acknowledge the patient’s feelings and express verbally and nonverbally the significance of each patient’s concerns so that the patient feels understood.
Support:
Reassure your patient that you are willing and available to help them address social determinations and drivers of health.
Partnership:
Let your patient know that you will work together to find solutions and resolve challenges with them.
Explanations:
It is critical to check with your patient often during healthcare conversations to assess understanding by using verbal clarification techniques.
Cultural Competence:
Respect your patients and their cultural beliefs by learning intercultural communication skills to respond to cultural differences.
Trust:
Recognizing that trust is not inherent but must be earned by medical and behavioral health clinicians and knowing that it takes time to establish trust with patients.
When using the RESPECT Model, it’s important to remember that patients desire to be engaged in decisions regarding their healthcare. When patients are active decision-makers, they tend to be healthier and by focusing on respect and understanding, patients can experience improved outcomes.
Annual Preventive Visits are the key to assessing overall patient health. It’s the perfect time to review and discuss vaccinations schedules for patients. Clinicians can talk about changes in the patient’s health that could affect their overall health outcomes. These visits are a great way for clinicians to get to know their patients and build a strong foundation for their health care journey. A preventive visit allows time for the clinicians to look for things like diabetes, cancer, and depression and makes it more likely to catch illnesses in the early stages.
Tips to include during a Patients’ Annual Preventive Visit
- Conduct social determinants of health assessment for the patient.
- Discuss advance care planning with your patient.
- Screen patient for cognitive impairment, including depression, mental wellness and emotional health.
- Assess the patient’s bladder leakage and care options.
- Complete health risk assessment, including functional abilities, ADLs.
Tips to maximize the power of an Annual Preventive Visit
- Write referrals based on patient evaluations (e.g. mammography, colonoscopy)
- Providers should consider standing orders for items like vaccines, medications etc.
- Implement a pre-visit planning process for your patients.
- Prepare a checklist to provide patients with community services in the area.
- Schedule follow-up appointments before the patient leaves the office.
If your patients have not yet scheduled an Annual Preventive Visit this year – consider having a member of your team reach out to those patients to schedule an appointment. Taking that extra step can motivate patients, close gaps in care and improve the patient’s overall health outcomes.
On September 17, the World Health Organization invites clinicians, health systems, and families to unite around this year’s theme: “Safe care for every newborn and every child,” with the campaign slogan “Patient safety from the start!”
At Buckeye Health Plan, we support providers delivering safer care by aligning with evidence‑based practices, sharing data to close gaps, and spotlighting tools for reducing risk and improving outcomes across care settings.
Why it matters
Children, especially those in intensive care or with complex medical needs, face a higher risk of adverse events. Studies have shown that up to 91.6% of critically ill children in intensive care settings may experience safety incidents. (Patient Safety Learning) These risks underscore the need for robust safety protocols, continuous staff training, and family engagement in care.
Transitions across care settings- from inpatient and urgent care to primary care and specialists- introduce opportunities for small misses, such as result follow-up or documentation handoff, that can increase risks. The good news: targeted, team-based approaches make care safer without adding heavy lift.
5 quick actions for your practice (this month)
- Double‑check pediatric weight‑based meds. Standardize weights, use a second‑check for high‑alert meds, and provide dosing devices with clear instructions. (See TeamSTEPPS communication tools.)
- Close the loop on test results. Map how labs/imaging come back, who reviews them, and how families are notified- use diagnostic‑safety prompts for “no‑miss” follow‑ups. AHRQ Diagnostic Safety Tools
- Use teach‑back with caregivers. Confirm understanding on meds, warning signs, and when to return; document in the visit note. IHI Recommendations on Family Engagement
- Refresh infection‑prevention basics. Revisit CDC’s outpatient checklist with your team (hand hygiene, injections, device reprocessing).
- Reinforce safety goals together. Huddle on one Joint Commission: National Patient Safety Goal relevant to your setting each month (e.g., patient ID, communication).
Learn more & share with your team
- WHO: World Patient Safety Day: 2025 campaign page
- AHRQ PSNet: World Patient Safety Day overview
- Patient Safety Learning: World Patient Safety Day Objectives
- Flu Season
- HEDIS Measures
- CAHPS
- Annual Wellness Visits
- Colorectal Cancer Awareness
- Provider Appointment Standards
- Heart and Nutrition
- Telehealth
- Osteoporosis
- HEDIS/CAHPS Measures: Kidney Health, Eye Exam for Patient with Diabetes, Childhood Immunization Status
- Men's Health Screenings
- Medication Errors: Critical Findings and Critical Interventions
- Understanding How We Grasp Our Members' Experience
- Medallia Program
- Patient Experience Video Series - Video #1
What is CAHPS and HEDIS and Why is the Patient Experience Important to you? - Outpatient Mental Health Survey
- HOS Medicare Health Outcomes
- Patient's Advocacy Program
- Video #2 Where to Start When Focusing on Patient Experience?
Patient Experience Video Series
Care Coordination and Ways to Improve Outcomes
We hope that our monthly Patient Experience Video Series has been helpful. We are pleased to present #3 for August in the Video Series.
Each month our Buckeye Medical Directors will share their thoughts and ideas as one clinician to another in these brief videos. We hope you find these valuable in our partnership to make the Patient Experience the best possible outcome.
- June: Video #1 What is CAHPS and HEDIS and Why is the Patient Experience Important to You?
- July: Video #2 Where to Start When Focusing on Patient Experience?
- August: Video #3 Care Coordination and Ways to Improve Outcomes
- September: How to Help Patients Get the Care They Need
- October: Barriers to Healthcare Access and How to Overcome Them