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August 19, 2009

Featured Topic: Long-Term Care

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has found that one-fourth of the country's 16,000 nursing homes have serious deficiencies that cause actual harm to residents or place their health and safety at risk.

The featured innovations describe quality improvement efforts to reduce high rates of ventilator-associated pneumonia, pressure ulcers, and staff turnover at long-term care facilities.

The featured QualityTools provide practical information and resources to improve long-term care.  

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Innovation Profiles:
- updated House Calls to Frail Elders Reduce Costs, Hospital Use, and Nursing Home Placements
- updated Interdisciplinary Team Identifies and Addresses Risk Factors For Falls Among Nursing Home Residents, Leading to Fewer Falls and Less Use of Restraints
- updated Nursing Home Learning Collaborative Improves Quality of Care, Reduces Staff Turnover
- updated Prevention and Treatment Program Integrates Actionable Reports Into Practice, Significantly Reducing Pressure Ulcers in Nursing Home Residents
- updated Real-Time Vital Sign Monitoring Ensures Timely Care For At-Risk Patients, Leading to Fewer Unplanned Intensive Care Unit Admissions and Out-of-Intensive Care Unit Cardiac Arrests
- Adaptation and Expansion of Existing Bundle of Inpatient Interventions Reduces Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia at Long-Term Care Facility
- Counselor-Led House Calls Reduce Symptoms and Hospitalizations, Improve Quality of Life Among Home-Bound Elders With Mild Depression
- Multipronged Strategy Reduces Use of Seclusion and Restraints to Manage Aggression at Inpatient Behavioral Health Facility
- Nurse-Led Program Increases Provision of Cessation Counseling to Inpatients Who Smoke
- Revised Processes Related to Daily Opening Reduce Wait Times and Enhance Patient Satisfaction at Two Urban Clinics

Innovation Attempts:
- updated Staff Training and Support, Incentives, and Feedback Fails to Generate Sustainable Reductions in Pressure Ulcers at Nursing Home

QualityTools:
- AGing Integrated Database (AGID)
- Nursing Home eTool
- Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture
- PEARLS (Program to Encourage Active and Rewarding Lives for Seniors) Toolkit
- Smoking Cessation Public Service Announcements With National Football League Hall of Famer Darrell Green
- www.trytostop.org

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Last updated: August 19, 2009.
 
 
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