Bethesda Home joins stateide project
Bethesda
joins
statewide
project
Bethesda Home in Goessel has joined a statewide project designed to help nursing homes improve the quality of care provided in their facilities.
Bethesda is one of 57 Medicare/Medicaid certified Kansas nursing homes that have agreed to participate as an intensive group member in the Kansas Nursing Home Quality Initiative (NHQI).
The Kansas initiative is part of a larger, national project driven by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services that involves Quality Improvement Organizations in every state and U.S. territory. KFMC is the federally designated QIO for Kansas.
The initiative is a two-pronged effort to help nursing homes improve care for their residents, while at the same time helping Kansans make more informed decisions about nursing homes through the use of "Nursing Home Compare" on the Medicare website www.medicare.gov. The Web site is intended to be used to be used as an additional resource in the decision making process. Medicare beneficiaries also are encouraged to visit nursing homes and make observations, talk to administrators and staff, and ask questions about quality of care issues. Those who don't have Internet access may call the toll-free Medicare hot line at 1-800-MEDICARE (633-4227) for assistance.
KFMC is playing a critical role in the initiative of offering technical assistance to all 377 Medicare and or Medicaid certified nursing homes and nursing facilities in Kansas. The 57 nursing homes participating in the intensive level of the initiative will receive on-site technical assistance.
Nursing homes participating in the NHQI have opportunities to examine the practices and collaborate with other nursing homes to share information about "best practices," enhance learning, and accelerate improvement.
KFMC has selected four "Quality Measures" to focus on improving over the course of the three-year initiative: percentage of short stay residents with improvement in walking; percentage of residents with pressure ulcers; percentage of residents with loss of ability in basic daily tasks; and percentage of residents with chronic pain.
For more information, visit KFMC's website at www.kfmc.org.
