  |
|
          |
Advancing Excellence in America's Nursing Homes Campaign GROW CAN HELP How the campaign goals will improve quality Excerpted from the September 29, 2006 News Release from Washington D.C. Leaders from national associations representing government, nursing home providers and consumers to join the Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes campaign. The groundbreaking campaign will focus on cooperation, collaboration and commitment. Each stakeholder has agreed to voluntarily adopt roles and share responsibility to fulfill the campaign’s mission of improving quality of care and quality of life in American’s nursing homes. The campaign will strengthen the public trust in nursing homes care by focusing on quality improvement and transparent accountability. The campaign also acknowledges the critical role of nursing home staff in improving quality of life and quality of care for the 1.5 million frail, elderly and disabled residents care for each day in America’s nursing homes. Founding organizations of the Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes campaign are: Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care; American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA); American Association of Nurse Assessment Coordinators (AANAC); American College of Health Care Administrators (ACHCA); American Health Care Association (AHCA); American Medical Directors Association (AMDA); Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and its contractors, the Quality Improvement For more information about the Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes campaign, visit www.nhqualitycampaign.org. ADVANCING EXCELLENCE ENCOMPASSES TWO CATEGORIES OF GOALS High quality nursing home care – where residents get the care that is right for them every time- is important for everyone. Nursing home residents, their families, and people who may someday choose a nursing home for themselves or a loved one should be able to expect the best possible care every time. The Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes campaign is the first national effort to measure quality by setting measurable “clinical” and “process” goals. In the Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes campaign, nursing homes will voluntarily work ton on at least three of eight measurable quality goals. A provider must select at least one of four clinical goals and at least one of four process-related goals. CLINICAL GOALS What is a “clinical goal”? It measures how well a nursing home care for residents or patients with certain common conditions. Information for clinical goals for all nursing homes is collected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that administers Medicare. You can read about these quality on Medicare’s Nursing Home Compare Web site, medicare.gov/nhcompare/home.asp and use them as one tool to help you evaluate the quality of a nursing homes’ care. The campaign’s first clinical goal (Goal 1) measures how nursing homes prevent or reduce pressure ulcers, as known as bed sores, for residents. Nursing home residents who cannot easily reposition themselves as often susceptible to this condition and need special care. Proven techniques can reduce and almost eliminate this uncomfortable and potentially dangerous condition. The campaign goal is for 50,000 fewer residents to suffer from bed sores by September, 20081 Getting Residents Out of Wheelchairs will help! Reduction of extended seating in wheelchairs as well as reduction of extended seating in regular chairs while increasing regular ambulation rather than transporting while seated will decrease the potential for pressure ulcers. Goal #2: Reducing the daily use of physical restraints. The second clinical goal (Goal 2) will help residents to remain independent as well as safe. While physical restraints were once regarded as necessary for the safety of some residents, today the practice is to greatly reduce and even eliminate restraint use in nursing homes. Research has proven that restraints increase the likelihood of injury and may cause serious problems that jeopardize health and quality of life. The campaign will help nursing homes to learn the best ways to minimize restraints, and the goals is for at least 30,000 few residents to use restraints by September, 2008. Getting Residents Out of Wheelchairs will help! Increasing regular ambulation will maintain independence while strengthening bones and muscles through vertical integration which can lead to safer mobility and decrease injurious falls. Goals 3# and #4: Improving the management of pain in long-stay residents and short-stay residents. The next two goals will help residents with painful medical conditions to lead more comfortable, pain-free lives by treating them for pain. By September, 2008, 40,000 fewer long-stay (Goal 3) and 130,000 fewer short-stay (Goal 4) residents will experience moderate –to-sever pain on a daily basis, sue to efforts of the campaign. Getting Residents Out of Wheelchairs will help! Regular ambulation reduces the negative effects of pain for lack of muscle use and body movement. PROCESS GOALS “ Process” goals help measure the overall satisfaction and experience of nursing home residents and staff as well as the nursing home’s commitment to quality improvement. People in the nursing home field know a resident’s experience can be improved by assessing residents and family satisfaction, improving retention of nursing staff who work with residents, and assigning the same nursing staff to residents on a consistent basis. Goal #5: Setting individualized targets for clinical quality improvement. In order to stay on track of their efforts to improve quality, nursing homes can set improvement targets in the Advancing Excellence campaign. Nursing homes that regularly set quality improvement targets are more likely to be committed to improving the quality of care they provide to their residents. The first of four process goals (Goal 5) is for 90 per cent of all nursing homes to set annual clinical quality targets, using a system designed and assisted by Quality Improvements Organizations. Getting Residents Out of Wheelchairs will help! Regular ambulation as well as use of regular seating in deference to the use of wheelchairs are both measurable and can be utilized as targets for facilities. Goal #6: Measuring resident and/or family satisfaction and incorporating this information to quality improvement activities. The campaign has a process goal for more that 80 per cent of nursing homes to assess residents and family experience of care (Goal 6) and incorporate this information into their quality improvement plans. Getting Residents Out of Wheelchairs will help! Regular ambulation and seating in regular chairs leads to feeling of normalcy, increased self-esteem and independence for the resident while it offers the family observable success for their loved one. Goal #7 and #8: Measuring nursing staff turnover and developing action plans to improve staff retention, and adopting “consistent assignment”. The last two campaign goals involve staffing issues. By September, 2008, approximately 35,000 fewer staff will leave their jobs each year 2 and to improve quality of life, 80 per cent of nursing homes will measure staff turnover and satisfaction (Goal 7). One-third of homes will adopt “consistent assignment” of CNA’s to residents (Goal 8). Getting Residents Out of Wheelchairs will help! Contributing to the quality of life for residents through normalcy in seating and ambulation increases the staff satisfaction and leads to staff retention. Regular campaign updates showing progress will be posted on the campaign Web site at www.nhqualitycampaign.org. In addition, the campaign will provide a listing of the home participating to allow consumers, providers and organizations (such as state and national associations) to track which homes have enrolled. 1 Based on the 1999 National Health Statistics estimate of 1.6 million residents residing in an American nursing homes at any one point in time. 2 based on a 2002 report by the American health Care Association, current estimated total |
Organizations (QIOs); The Commonwealth Fund; The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society; National Association