Quality Tools & Resources

The North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association (NCHCFA) strives to empower members to better serve their customers, transform their businesses, and to promote this valued profession. As such, quality and patient safety is a top priority for North Carolina Skilled Nursing Facilities and they are utilizing a number of approaches to improve safety and quality. NCHCFA partners with member facilities to implement comprehensive solutions to health care challenges and to work toward a coordinated approach across the continuum of care.

Through connecting facilities to valuable resources and developing innovative solutions to stakeholders, NCHCFA strives to make the long term and post-acute care sector at the quality forefront of our nation’s health care delivery system. For more information on valuable tools, explore the following links. Some links may require your AHCA/NCAL login.

Alliant Health Solutions

Alliant Quality is proud to serve as the QIN-QIO for Georgia and North Carolina and is focused on delivering patient-centered, safer and more effective care. By participating in a local QIN-QIO improvement initiative, facilities gain access to valuable resources, including evidence-based improvement strategies that are aligned with other major health quality initiatives and that can help prepare for value-based purchasing.

By getting involved in the QIN-QIO’s learning and action networks, facilities will share knowledge on critical health care quality and safety issues with peers, and discover real-world best practices that will work. QIO learning and action networks embrace an “all-teach, all-learn” philosophy that recognizes the value of everyone’s perspective.

Alliant Quality engages health care providers at all levels of performance in rapid-cycle improvement projects for collaborative learning and action that accelerate changes. All health care providers are invited to be a part of QIN-QIO improvement initiatives.

National Quality Award Program

The American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) National Quality Award Program provides a pathway for providers of long-term and post-acute care services to journey towards performance excellence. The program is based on the core values and criteria of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program.

Member facilities may apply for three progressive levels of awards: Bronze—Commitment to Quality, Silver—Achievement in Quality, or Gold—Excellence in Quality. Each level has its own distinct rigors and requirements for quality and performance excellence.

Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI)

Section 6102(c) of the Affordable Care Act requires that all skilled nursing facilities develop Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) programs. The statute requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop a prototype QAPI program, establish standards, and provide technical assistance to facilities on the development of best practices in order to meet such standards. One year after a final rule for QAPI is issued, all nursing facilities must have in place and implement an acceptable QAPI plan.

American Health Care Association (AHCA) Quality Initiative

The AHCA Quality Initiative is a national, multi-year effort to further improve the quality of care in America’s long-term and post-acute care centers. Since the launch of the Initiative in 2012, members have been challenged to meet measurable targets in key areas such as hospitalizations and antipsychotics usage. While significant improvements have been made, more must be done. The next phase of the effort continues to challenge providers to achieve quantitative results in four areas by March 2021. These areas are top priorities for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) as well as Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), and are aligned with federal mandates that link financial outcomes to quality performance.

Payroll Based Journal (PBJ) Mandatory Reporting

The Affordable Care Act requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to collect electronic staffing data from nursing facilities. The Act requires this data to be auditable and verifiable. The information is intended to collect direct care staff (employed and contracted), employee turnover, and tenure, and must include census data and case mix. In July 2016, CMS required this information be submitted by all skilled nursing facilities.

Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) Quality Reporting Program (QRP)

Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) are required to report information to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for the SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP) required under the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014. Utilizing the Section GG item set for self-care and mobility in the Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0 and required to complete the Prospective Payment System (PPS) 5 day and PPS Part A Discharge Assessments. Information from Section GG will be used to calculate the standardized measure of Percent of Residents With an Admission and Discharge Functional Assessment and a Care Plan That Addresses Function (NQF #2631). This measure reports the percentage of residents with both an Admission and a Discharge functional assessment and an activity (self-care or mobility) goal that addresses function.

LTC Trend Tracker

LTC Trend Trackersm is a web-based tool that enables long-term and post-acute care providers to access key information that can help their organization succeed. This exclusive benefit for American Health Care Association (AHCA) members, allows skilled nursing facilities to benchmark personal metrics to those of their peers and examine ongoing quality improvement efforts. LTC Trend Tracker is AHCA members’ one-stop-shop to gain timely information and valuable insight into their own performance as well as the entire profession.

Five-Star Quality Rating System

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Five-Star Quality Rating System is a tool to help consumers select and compare skilled nursing facilities.  Created by CMS in 2008, the rating system uses information from Health Care Surveys (both standard and complaint), Quality Measures, and Staffing. The Nursing Home Compare Website features the rating system. For more information on changes to the rating system, visit AHCA/NCAL.

Additional Resources

Corporate Responsibility and Health Care Quality Resource Paper