TIP OF THE WEEK
How to start a Touch Program
Differentiation is perhaps the biggest challenge in healthcare marketing today. With more than 900 nursing homes in Ohio alone, how does your organization set itself apart from the competition? The Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes Campaign provides long-term care marketing professionals with tools to stand apart.
- Promotion on the Web. Your nursing home will be recognized as a campaign participant on www.nhqualitycampaign.org.
- Participant registration and promotion packet. Once registered, you will receive a packet of information that includes:
- Information about how to join the Ohio Advancing Excellence Yahoo! Group.
- Promotional items including a campaign window cling and certificate of participation.
- Tools and resources for quality improvement
- Support from the Ohio Local Area Network for Excellence (LANE). Ohio KePRO, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for Ohio, convenes this group of organizations, state agencies, and trade associations that have committed to providing assistance and support to members of the campaign.
For more information, call Ohio KePRO toll-free at 1.800.385.5080 and ask for a member of the Nursing Home Team. Or register today at www.nhqualitycampaign.org.
RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
The Nursing Home Health Setting Targets, Achieving Results (STAR) Site is a free quality improvement tool that nursing homes use to determine your goals and set targets. The targets you set pertain to the Quality Measures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Determine your goals and set targets for 2007 today!
For assistance, call 1-800-385-5080 and ask for a Nursing Home Team Member.
IN THE NEWS
HOSPITALS INCREASINGLY USE PALLIATIVE CARE TO IMPROVE PATIENTS' QUALITY OF LIFE, REDUCE COSTS
July 3, 2007 -- Washington Post -- According to the Post, about one-third of U.S. hospitals now offer some form of palliative care, and last year the American Board of Medical Specialties recognized palliative medicine as a specialized field.
The "main goal" of palliative care is to "improve a patient's quality of life," the Post reports. Interdisciplinary palliative care teams at hospitals "often devote much of their time to working with the dying," but as such programs "expand and mature, the teams often begin to see patients earlier in the course of disease, creating a continuum of care from diagnosis on," the Post reports. Palliative care also can keep hospital costs down "by moving patients out of intensive care -- and even out of the hospital -- sooner and by managing pain, nausea or respiratory problems better."
Sean Morrison, director of the National Palliative Care Research Center at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine, said, "We save a lot of money by providing the right care to the right patients at the right time." Diane Meier, head of the Center to Advance Palliative Care, also based at Mount Sinai, said the rapid growth in palliative care shows hospital administrators are seeing cost savings resulting from the care. Meier said, "Hospital CEOs are voting with their feet. We are way past the tipping point." Read more >>
SOME FIRMS OFFER HELP AS MORE EMPLOYEES JUGGLE WORK, CARE FOR AGING PARENT
July 5, 2007 -- USA Today -- For both employees and the self-employed, shouldering the burden of caring for an elderly parent while also meeting job demands can be a Herculean task. The nation includes an estimated 34 million unpaid caregivers for adults, typically older relatives, according to a study released this week by AARP. Nearly 60% of male caregivers work full time, as do 41% of female caregivers, according to the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP.
But as the ranks of employed caregivers swell, a small but growing number of employers are beginning to establish novel programs to provide help and scheduling flexibility. Twenty-six percent of companies offer an elder care referral service, which helps employees connect with service providers or other services, according to a 2006 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management of small, midsize and large companies. Five percent provide emergency elder care help (such as contracting with a firm that has nurses or other providers who can help care for an elderly relative), and 3 percent subsidize the cost of elder care. Read more >>
MANOR CARE GOING PRIVATE IN $6.3 BILLION DEAL
July 2, 2007 -- Cincinnati Business Courier -- The largest operator of nursing homes in Ohio will be taken private in a $6.3 billion cash-and-debt deal by the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm.
Manor Care Inc. agreed to the deal that will pay stockholders $67 a share, a 2.6 percent gain from its Friday close and a 20 percent premium from April 10, when directors said they would begin evaluating alternatives for the company to improve value for shareholders.
Toledo-based Manor Care operates 278 skilled nursing facilities and 65 assisted-living centers in the nation. Its operations in Ohio consist of 43 skilled nursing facilities and nine assisted-living centers with a combined 6,251 beds. Its operations include several Cincinnati-area locations including a Heartland Home Health Care office in Norwood and an Arden Courts Alzheimer’s unit in Anderson. Read more >>
OHIO KEPRO EVENTS
THE GOOD APPLES: TIPS FOR ATTRACTING AND RETAINING THE RIGHT EMPLOYEES
In this half-day workshop, we will delve into key strategies for improving workforce retention in the nursing home, including:
- The impact of turnover and absenteeism on an organization and what you can do about it.
- Strategies to improve the hiring and orientation process.
- Motivating employees and improving staff satisfaction.
- Setting goals and measure improvement in workforce retention.
Who should attend: Directors of Operations, Directors of Nursing, Nursing Home Administrators, Staff Development, and Human Resources.
7/11 – Cincinnati | 7/26 – Oberlin | |
7/12 – Springfield | 7/31 – Lyndhurst | |
7/17 – Cambridge | 8/7 – Boardman | |
7/19 – Sylvania | 8/15 – Columbus | |
7/24 – Wooster | 8/21 – Wellston |
Download the flyer
INDUSTRY EVENTS
Healthcare Personnel -- What Immunizations are Advised? (NCIRD Net Conference)
July 12, 2007, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Navigating the MDS Through the Ohio Medicaid Reimbursement System
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
August 23, 2007
Call Cheryl Robertson at (614) 466-9088 for more information.
Medicare Learning Network:
Learning resources and products for the healthcare professional.
Alzheimer’s Association Training Events
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Courses
Ohio Department of Health, Technical Assistance Program – New Programs
Ohio Health Care Association Events
An archive of The Nursing Home Weekly Update is available on our Web site. Click here >>
