Nursing Home Quality

 Nursing Home Quality Improvement

New York South Carolina Washington D.C.

The AQIN Collaborative Approach

Working with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Atlantic Quality Innovation Network (AQIN), led by IPRO in New York and including Qlarant in the District of Columbia and the Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence in South Carolina, is developing a strategy to guide local, state and national efforts in improving quality of care in nursing homes and skilled-nursing facilities.

As a collaborative effort, the AQIN is partnering with long-term care communities and other providers throughout our three regions to improve nursing home quality and performance by focusing on enhanced consumer engagement, strengthened survey processes and standards, the creation of strategic partnerships and the advancement of quality through innovation.

Goals

Communities and other providers participating in this initiative are working with our industry experts to achieve the following goals:

• Achieve a score of six or better on the Nursing Home Quality Composite Measure Score
• Improve the mobility of long-stay residents
• Reduce Inappropriate Use of Antipsychotic Medications
• Decrease healthcare-acquired conditions (HACs)

Nursing Homes are also targeting the following areas for improvement:

• Communication/Teamwork/Staff stability
• Collaborative Problem Solving
• Using Data to Drive Improvement

Key Strategies & Interventions

AQIN supports participants of the Nursing Home Quality Care Collaborative by providing:

• Learning and Action Network activities – educational webinars and video series; informational emails; NH Quality Care Collaborative events (NHQCC); focused, virtual affinity group collaboration; and a Peer Mentoring Program
• Quality Assurance & Performance Improvement (QAPI) principles, processes and resources;
• Collaborative Change Package resources

Nursing Home Quality Improvement Project

Participating Nursing Homes:

• Join in educational collaborative sessions, teleconferences, affinity groups, webinars and website forums;
• Form an interdisciplinary team to work with IPRO on areas targeted for improvement;
• Develop interventions on topics specific to improving composite measure score;
• Develop interventions to decrease inappropriate usage of antipsychotic medications;
• Develop plans to improve resident mobility;
• Develop measures to align efforts to reduce avoidable hospital admissions/re-admissions;
• Maintain an updated QAPI Assessment Tool;
• Develop and apply strategies for implementing QAPI and overall quality by working to:
  • Utilize a data-driven and proactive approach to quality improvement
  • Identify opportunities for improvement
  • Address gaps in systems through planned interventions and working through action plans to improve the overall quality of care
  • Actively share best practices and lessons learned