Advancing Excellence Campaign Announces 9 New Quality Goals and Updated Tools

WASHINGTON, Aug. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Advancing Excellence Campaign has announced its completion of nine new quality goals and toolkits and will feature them in a free, informational webinar on September 10 at 3pm ET. The Campaign's objective is to engage and challenge nursing homes to provide valuable data as well as make quality improvements.  It envisions every nursing home resident in America experiencing person-centered quality of life as a result of a stable and empowered workforce, dedicated to improving clinical and organizational outcomes, and engaging in open communication and transparency.

"We are very excited to announce our nine quality goals and free toolkits," said Dr. David Gifford, MD, MPH, SVP, Quality & Regulatory Affairs, AHCA and Co-Chair, Advancing Excellence Campaign.  "This effort demonstrates the Campaign's ongoing commitment to make nursing homes better places to live, work, and visit."

More than 60% of the nation's nursing homes have joined the Campaign. They participate by committing to work on at least one process and one clinical goal. The Campaign aspires to establish national standards and best practices in line with the new CMS Quality Assurance Performance Improvement requirements.  

The Advancing Excellence Campaign is supported by 52 Local Area Networks of Excellence (LANEs). These state-level coalitions promote the Campaign and engage nursing homes in performance improvement. The LANEs disseminate Campaign information and resources and organize statewide projects to improve nursing home performance related to Campaign goals.

The nine new quality goals are:

• Process Goals:
  • Improving staff stability;
  • Increasing use of consistent assignment;
  • Increasing person-centered care planning and decision making;
  • Safely reducing hospitalizations;
• Clinical Goals
  • Using medications appropriately;
  • Increasing resident mobility;
  • Preventing and managing infections safely;
  • Reducing the prevalence of pressure ulcers; and
  • Decreasing symptoms of pain.

"These nine new quality goals, along with their toolkits, were developed by many of the most esteemed experts in their fields," commented Cheryl Phillips, MD, SVP, Advocacy, LeadingAge and Co-Chair, Advancing Excellence Campaign. "The unprecedented collaboration behind Advancing Excellence is what makes such impressive, meaningful impact possible."

Free resources, including implementation tools correlating to each goal, are available at www.nhqualitycampaign.org.

The Campaign will host a free, informational webinar on September 10, 2013, at 3pm EDT.  Registration information can be found online.

Keynote speakers will include Advancing Excellence Board members:

• Cheryl Phillips, MD, SVP, Advocacy, LeadingAge, Washington, DC
• David Gifford, MD, MPH, SVP, Quality & Regulatory Affairs, AHCA, Washington, DC
• Mary Jane Koren, MD, VP, Long-Term Care Quality Improvement, The Commonwealth Fund, New York, NY

About Advancing Excellence:  The Advancing Excellence in America's Nursing Homes Campaign is a coalition of long-term care providers, caregivers, medical and quality improvement experts, government agencies and consumers working to make Nursing Homes better places to live, work and visit. For more information, contact Adrienne Thomas at [email protected].

SOURCE Advancing Excellence in America's Nursing Homes Campaign