2019 PHCA Excellence in Quality Awards
PHCA and its members are committed to the provision of high-quality care.
Skilled nursing facilities, assisted living residences and personal care homes are encouraged to submit entries for the 2019 PHCA Excellence in Quality Awards.
Categories included:
- Improved Quality of Care for Residents: This category’s winners will have implemented a program or approach that significantly improved an outcome measure reflecting improved quality of care for residents.
- Best Systematic Approach to Quality and a Quality Culture: This category’s winners will have demonstrated an effective systematic approach to quality that is deployed throughout the organization and has resulted in improving outcomes. The winner will have established a culture of continuous quality improvement across all levels of care.
- Improved Quality of Life: This category’s winners will have implemented a program or approach that significantly improved quality of life for residents in one of the following domains—improved resident perception of self-worth or giving back to the community; increased resident engagement, improved shared decision making of residents, and increased satisfaction.
- Improved Person-Centered Care for Residents: This category’s winners will have implemented a dynamic approach that honors the importance of keeping the resident at the center of the plan of care (i.e. care plan or support plan) and decision-making process in a collaborative framework.
- Best Practice in Providing Innovative Quality Care: This category’s winners will have demonstrated a meaningful or breakthrough change improving outcomes or health care excellence for residents utilizing innovative care approaches by incorporating progressive technology, transforming organizational knowledge, or evidence-based medicine.
- Best Practice in Quality Workforce Development: This category’s winners will have demonstrated how their workforce environment supports employee and staff training and development to meet organizational competency and capacity needs, workforce engagement and commitment to meeting organizational goals including a focus on quality and continuous learning; and effective recruitment and retention of highly competent staff.
2017 PHCA Quality Award Winners
Improved Quality of Life for Residents
ManorCare Montgomeryville – HCR ManorCare
ManorCare Montgomeryville wanted to improve the admissions process for residents entering the facility during off-hours. The hope was that by improving the off-hours admissions process, it would improve resident satisfaction. A process was implemented so that the manager on duty implemented a greeter checklist including providing the new admission: a ManorCare gift bag, a list of activities, a copy of the Always Available menu, tv listings, etc. and answers to any questions from the resident or their family. The housekeeping director initiated a pre-admission room readiness checklist. The team added a question about the admissions process to the customer satisfaction survey with a goal of 100% satisfaction for that question.
Improved Person-Centered Care for Residents
Quality Life Services of Countryside – Quality Life Services
Quality Life Services of Countryside identified that residents had minimal input on how their day was structured and when they participated in daily activities because the schedule was prepared solely by staff based on the tasks that needed to be completed. The goal of the program was to the resident more control over their daily schedule. This meant wholistic changes for all staff including therapies, dining staff, caregivers, etc. Block assignments changed to team assignments allowing staff to work together, improving the staff morale and the quality of life for residents.
Improved Quality of Care for Residents
ManorCare Mercy Fitzgerald – HCR ManorCare
The goal of ManorCare Mercy Fitzgerald was to improve the ability of long-stay residents to move independently. To accomplish the goal, the facility increased activities of daily living education with the CNAs so they could submit alerts to nursing or therapy about any resident who was identified as having a change in condition. In addition, the Director of Therapy and the MDS staff began meeting on a quarterly basis to better coordinate therapy care for the residents. As a result, the facility saw a 28% improvement in the metric which brought them below both the national and state average.
Best Practice in Providing High-Tech Quality Care
ManorCare Lebanon – HCR ManorCare
Regional hospitals in the Lebanon area had identified a need for a nursing facility level of care for their left ventricular assist device (LVAD) patients. An LVAD is a pump that is used for patients who have reached end-stage heart failure. After identifying the need, ManorCare Lebanon sprang into action to help fill the care gap, educating staff about how to manage and maintain LVAD patients and upgrading rooms to meet the additional needs of this patient group. As a result, ManorCare Lebanon has seen an increase in the number of LVAD referrals since implementing the program.
Best Practice in Integrating a Quality Culture
Schuylkill Center – Genesis HealthCare
Schuylkill Center identified a need to reduce the use of side rails and antipsychotics. The root cause that they identified was a lack of progressive thinking by staff, physicians and families. Schuylkill Center developed an interdisciplinary collaboration which included therapy, residents and families. They reviewed the benefits and risks associated with each intervention method and determine the best option for the resident. As a result of the interdisciplinary collaboration, the facility has seen a dramatic reduction in both the use of side rails and antipsychotics.
Best Systematic Approach to Quality in Assisted Living/Personal Care
Devon Senior Living – Five Star Senior Living
Devon Senior Living had identified that 25% of their residents were not taking part in structured activities or utilizing their time and abilities to pursue self-guided interests. By interviewing the residents, the facility was able to determine that the residents were not engaged because they either lacked the confidence to participate in group activities or found the center did not offer activities that interested them. Devon Senior Living took on a “village” approach in addressing the challenge by engaging all staff to: be aware of the daily activities, provide reminders to residents and encourage participation in all the activities and events. This “village” approach, along with an expansion of the number and frequency of activities allowed residents to find something of interest to participate in, leading to better overall wellness. Currently, 100% of residents are engaged in a minimum of 4 activities a week.