UPDATE Weekly

Do not miss Trending Regulatory News on Thursday, August 11 at 9:00AM. Join Cindy Deporter, MSSW, State Agency Director, Division of Health Service Regulation (DHSR), for the latest regulatory hot topics. Ms. Deporter will review numerous topics including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) changes to the Five Star Rating System, Emerging Infection Control Issues in congregate living, Updated LTC regulations, and other revisions to the State Operations Manual (SOM) and much more. The content of this presentation will continue to change until August. Please submit any additional topics that you would like to have Ms. Deporter address to allisonb@nchcfa.org.

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The North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association would like to thank our 2016 Summer Symposium Corporate Sponsors for supporting the upcoming Fifth Annual Summer Symposium in Myrtle Beach, SC! We appreciate your support: Healthcare Services Group, Liberty Healthcare Group, Medipack Pharmacy, NH Medical Services & QMX Mobile Health.

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Do not miss the NCHCFA Day at the Beach – Volleyball & Corn Hole Tournament on Wednesday, August 10th. Join your colleagues on the beach for an afternoon of fun! Represent your district in the NCHCFA Volleyball Tournament. Challenge the NCHCFA staff and Board of Directors in the quest for the Chairman’s Cup. If you are not set on volleyball, get a team together for the Corn Hole Tournament or a friendly game of horseshoes. Sponsors will provide snacks, beverages and prizes. Brochures will be available very soon.

Call the Embassy Suites Resort at (800) 876-0010 to reserve your overnight room. Due to the popular time of the year in Myrtle Beach, the NCHCFA room block will fill-up! Use group code “HFA” to identify yourself as a NC Health Care Facilities Association Convention attendee! To make your reservation on-line, visit http://tinyurl.com/summersymposium2016. If you have any problems making your reservation, please call the Association office at (919) 782-3827.

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This is part of a series featuring one element of the Building Prevention Into Every Day Practice: Framework for Successful Clinical Outcomes.

Success in achieving positive resident/patient outcomes is even more critical now than ever before. The link between quality and payment in long term and post-acute care is growing stronger, as evidenced by the SNF Value Based Purchasing Program (VBP), Improving Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act, SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP) and more. In addition, regulatory activity is intensifying through focused surveys on adverse events, dementia care and Minimum Data Set (MDS). The Five-Star Rating system and Nursing Home Compare have been revised and will add items in the future as it broadens public reporting and transparency. Most importantly, consumers expect and deserve high quality care.

The entire framework outlines key elements from both an organizational and clinical nature that are critical to successful clinical and organizational outcomes. Positively, these elements reflect common denominators that cross multiple care situations. Therefore, instead of being yet another initiative or single focused project to achieve just one outcome, it is a way of acting, thinking and being that will benefit multiple areas across an organization. Each element is addressed in detail throughout the framework.

This week we will feature the element of Clinical Foundation: Cause Identification

Key Takeaways: Cause Identification

 Cause identification refers to finding the reason(s) for an event or a situation.
 Finding causes allows us to intervene and figure out whether and to what extent we can correct the underlying issues related to a problem, situation, or symptom.
 By gathering information systematically to clarify issues or problems, organizations can make improvements to avoid potential near misses in the future.
 Cause identification methods should be built in to everyday processes so they are used in real time throughout the day, as well as retroactively to analyze situations that already occurred.

Probing Questions for Team Reflection and Discussion:

1. What processes do we have in place currently to support cause identification? How can we make it better?
2. How are lessons from investigations and cause analysis activities communicated with all staff and acted upon?
3. Do staff from all disciplines participate in cause analysis?

Visit the AHCA Clinical Practice Web-site to learn more about the element of “Clinical Foundation: Cause Identification” and answers to these key questions:

What does this mean? Why is this important? What are some examples? What is my part (as an individual employee, manager or practitioner)? What can my organization do?

Start somewhere, pick one element and work through it with your team.

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AHCA/NCAL heads to Music City USA! Great entertainment, friendly people, and unforgettable experiences – all of this describes Nashville, Tennessee, known as Music City USA. But this also describes the AHCA/NCAL 67th Annual Convention & Expo, to be held in Nashville on October 16-19. This is the gathering place for long term and post-acute care professionals, where leaders in the field gather to share ideas, learn about new techniques and services, network, and have fun. Educational sessions are designed to help you provide for your residents in the most efficient and effective way; keynote talks will inspire you; visits to the Expo Hall will expose you to the very latest in products and services for your business; and networking events will help you make new friends. AHCA has it all this fall, and it’s all at the Annual Convention & Expo, in beautiful, friendly, musical Nashville. Make your plans now to attend! Click here to see more details and register today!

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This book helps leaders, performance-excellence examiners, and organization-improvement practitioners to understand the 2015-2016 Baldrige Framework and Performance Excellence Criteria and the linkages and relationships among the items. Seven types of information are provided in this book for each of the items in categories 1 through 7:

1) The actual language of each item, including Notes
2) A plain-English explanation of the requirements of each items with suggestions about the rationale for the item and ways to meet key requirements
3) A table showing the similar requirements of the criteria presented only once at the scoring level where the requirement first appears
4) A summary of the requirements of each item in flowchart form
5) The key linkages between each item and other items
6) An explanation of some potential adverse consequences that an organization might face if it fails to implement processes required by each item
7) Examples of effective practices that some organizations have developed and followed consistent with the requirements of the item, plus examples of ineffective practices from organizations that did not embrace the item requirements

To order, visit http://www.AHCApublications.org or call (800) 321-0343. Fax orders may also be placed at (800) 869-5605.

Product #8389
AHCA MEMBERS $92.00

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Important information for residents and families…This brochure outlines what physical restraints are, when they should be used, rules and regulations concerning restraints, and making decisions about using them. To order, e-mail your request to Donna Snyder at donnas@nchcfa.org.

• NCHCFA Member: $30.00 per 100 brochures plus tax and shipping
• Non-Members: $60.00 per 100 brochures plus tax and shipping

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Make Resident’s First Impression A Good One

http://www.providermagazine.com/columns/Pages/2016/Make-Residents-First-Impression-A-Good-One.aspx

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Mount Everest is not the tallest mountain in the world. Although Mount Everest is the highest point on Earth from sea level, Mauna Kea, an inactive Hawaiian volcano, holds the record as the world’s tallest mountain. Everest’s peak is at a higher altitude, but that does not make it taller. Mauna Kea may only reach a height of 13,796 ft. above sea level, but the volcano extends an incredible 20,000 ft. below the water’s surface. Measured from its base on the ocean floor, its full height stands at 33,465 ft. making it almost a mile taller that Everest.

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