September 28, 2016
Contact: Eric Kiehl, 717-221-7935
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Four Long-Term Care Providers Honored for Excellence

Facilities in Altoona, Bradford, Hanover and South Park Township receive Excellence in Quality Award from Pennsylvania Health Care Association

LANCASTER — The Pennsylvania Health Care Association (PHCA), the state’s premier skilled nursing, assisted living, personal care, post-acute care and rehabilitation association, honored four long-term care facilities for their role in enhancing quality assurance and improving performance in the nursing home, assisted living residence and personal care professions.

The four exemplary facilities each received an Excellence in Quality Award from PHCA’s Quality Committee during the association’s annual convention and trade show, held at the Lancaster County Convention Center at the Marriott at Penn Square.

This year’s winners are:

  • Altoona Center for Nursing Care, a Grane Healthcare facility (Altoona, Pa.) – PHCA’s Best Practice in Establishing a Quality Culture Award

    In 2015, the facility identified the need to improve their ranking with the Centers for Medicare and Medicare (CMS) Five Star Quality Measures. A systematic process was implemented to review data on a monthly basis and to utilize a team-focused approach to improve upon areas identified after a thorough analysis. Despite Five Star Rating Changes by CMS, Altoona Center for Nursing Care earned a five star rating in quality measures.

  • Bradford Manor, a HCF Management, Inc. facility (Bradford, Pa.) – PHCA’s Best Practice in Quality Culture – Integrating Technology

    A rural nursing center, Bradford Manor identified the need to decrease both in-house and community acquired pressure ulcers. Utilized root cause analysis, the facility identified a gap in primary care physician expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of wounds. After exploring several options, Bradford Manor partnered with Vohora Physician Services to provide telemedicine visits — resulting in a steady reduction in the percentage of residents being treated for short term and long term wounds.

  • Hanover Hall Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, a Wilmac Corporation nursing center (Hanover, Pa.) – PHCA’s Best Practice in Decreasing a PHCA Quality Measure Award

    Hanover Hall identified the need to reduce their re-hospitalization rates for long-stay and short-stay residents after benchmarking their data to national rates. By implementing a three-pronged approach which included a change to operational process for early assessment and intervention, advanced care planning to reflect person-centered care preferences and creating a new Nurse Navigator role, the nursing center has successfully decreased both re-hospitalization and emergency room visits for residents.

  • Vernon of South Park, a Five Star Senior Living facility (South Park Township, Pa.) – PHCA’s Best Practice in Quality Assisted Living and Personal Care Award

    An in-depth root cause analysis on re-hospitalizations revealed that changes in resident conditions were not being detected early so that an intervention could be implemented at the community when possible. To address this challenge, Mt. Vernon introduced a new “Stop and Watch” tool to help staff more effectively monitor the health care needs of residents. Since usage of the tool was implemented, re-hospitalization rates have decreased more than 10 percent since 2014-2015.

“Ensuring quality, compassionate care for nursing home and assisted living residents is central to the work performed every day by those who work in long-term care,” said PHCA President and CEO W. Russell McDaid. “In recognition of the importance that the role of quality assurance and performance improvement has in our profession, the PHCA Quality Committee invited PHCA members who are enhancing quality to nominate their quality success stories for an Excellence in Quality Award.

“As expected, we received many excellent entrees and the quality committee had difficult choices to make,” McDaid said. “But in the end, these four facilities stood out as the best of the best. Their commitment to excellence and the steps they’ve taken to provide the best care possible is inspiring and serves as an example for all care providers in Pennsylvania.”

Pennsylvania has a robust long-term care network, as the demand for acute health-care services is growing. The state’s 700-plus nursing homes provide high-quality, compassionate care to more than 81,000 frail elderly and disabled residents who need around-the-clock support for clinically complex medical conditions.

More than 45,000 residents live in more than 1,200 assisted living or personal care homes across Pennsylvania. Among the residents, more than 88 percent are 60 or older, and nearly 10.5 percent of residents are living with some form of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Additionally, while long-term care is still the primary focus, more and more facilities are treated residents who are short-term rehabilitation patients coming from hospitals and medical centers for transitional care or specialized treatment before returning home.

Nearly 700 attendees are registered for PHCA’s three-day annual conference, which features 175 exhibitors on every aspect of long-term care, health-care, financing, elder law and more. The conference runs through Thursday, Sept. 27, and includes nearly 80 educational sessions — among the association’s largest ever — with more than 100 guest speakers.

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