In August, 2016, a memo was sent from the Health Facilities and Emergency Medical Services Division (HFMESD) to inform agencies that the system for inputting names of staff members who had completed the Division for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD) Qualified Medication Administration Personnel (QMAP) process was changing. Currently, agencies send in the names of students that pass the course and staff at CDPHE enter those names into the online verification database. In an effort to improve efficiency, accuracy and timeliness of submissions, the new system will require nurses that teach the DIDD QMAP courses to input the names of students that pass the course directly into the online database.
Since that time, HFEMSD recruited nurse instructors affiliated with a variety of Program Approved Service Agencies (PASA) to volunteer to pilot the new system. This approach has been utilized in an effort to identify possible problems users may encounter when navigating the new system before moving forward. Currently, 40 nurses from 35 agencies have piloted the new system to input student names into the online verification database.
To assess and review the new system, HFEMSD surveyed the nurses involved in the pilot and the results have been positive. There have been no concerns about ease of use of the new system. The only issue identified from these surveys was that the reporting form only allows the nurse to input one staff member at a time. To address this concern, HFEMSD revised the authorizing signature to allow nurses to designate a proxy to input the information. Although student names must still be put in individually, it is now possible to use administrative assistance from individuals authorized by the instructor. The new language on the reporting form states, "by submitting this information, you are certifying you are either an authorized instructor or you have been authorized by the instructor to submit accurate student information..."
The approach of bringing on instructors in a measured fashion has allowed HFEMSD to provide ongoing support for new instructors entering the new system. Thus the remaining integration will continue this tiered approach. The date for all instructors to be proficient in entering the student information directly is June 30, 2017. From now until that date, HFEMSD will contact a segment of agencies and registered instructors each month to onboard to the new system.
The system requires a separate Google account for each nurse. This can be a new email address or one that they are already using.
By June 30, 2017, all agencies will be required to use the new system. Proactively moving ahead with this required change is advised. As of July 1, 2017, HFEMSD will no longer enter student reporting forms for instructors.
Thank you to all the nurses who have participated in the pilot thus far. They have provided valuable feedback and helped ensure a reliable verification system.
To indicate your interest in beginning this new process right away, the nurse instructor needs to send an email to the IDD QMAP email address, cdphe_QMAP_IDD@state.co.us, with "IDD QMAP self-input verification" as the subject. The email must include the nurse's license number and the email address they will use for their Google account. The nurse will be added to the list of registered nurses, sent database entry instructions and contact information for any questions
Please email the above email address for more information.
This blog publishes information typically sent to users of the Colorado Health Facilities Interactive (COHFI) system for health care entities regulated by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Please note that COHFI is the official medium for business communication between the Department and licensed and/or Medicare/Medicaid certified health care entities. Health care entities should continue to monitor their email accounts routinely.
