In the Nursing Home Healthcare-Associated Conditions (NH HAC) project, nursing homes are collaborating with Ohio KePRO to implement quality improvements to help them work smarter – not harder, for better care for their residents. Project participants are promoting better healthcare for individual patients by addressing HACs such as pressure ulcers and physical restraints. These efforts are aligned with the National Quality Strategy an other healthcare developments driven by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Restraints Nursing home residents have the right to be free from physical restraints or chemical restraints imposed for the purposes of discipline or convenience and not required to treat the resident’s medical symptoms (F-221/F-222). According to the Long Term Care Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) Manual, “While a restraint-free environment is not a federal requirement, the use of restraints should be the exception, not the rule.” Ohio KePRO has assisted hundreds of nursing homes with reducing or eliminating restraints. We are continuing to work with Ohio facilities to minimize restraint use for better quality of care delivery through the implementation of targeted strategies such as organizational assessments, internal and external communication, customized training, implementation of individualized care plans, and person-centered care practices.
Pressure Ulcers A pressure ulcer, also known as a bed sore, has been identified as a key patient safety concern by the National Quality Forum and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Ohio KePRO works with nursing homes in our state to reduce pressure ulcer incidence with targeted approaches to quality improvement, such as:
- Completion of risk assessments upon admission, weekly times four weeks, quarterly, and with a significant change in status to help the facility identify at-risk residents
- Implementation and monitoring of individualized interventions
- Routine skin inspections for all residents to help identify the presence of pressure ulcers.
- Improvements to communication and process issues between hospitals and nursing homes
Learning & Action Networks (LANs) Ohio KePRO is continuing to develop Learning & Action Networks (LANs) for all healthcare settings, interdisciplinary networks of providers and organizations collaborating to support statewide quality improvement efforts. We encourage you to click on one of the links below to read more about our existing Networks, or to join the Readmissions/Adverse Drug Events (ADE) LAN today! Members of the Network will be able to share best practices, receive up-to-date information, and collaborate with other stakeholders.
Skin Care Poster Series
Display these posters in your facility to help remind staff of the importance of teamwork in skin care.
Each eight-poster set focuses on various aspects of pressure ulcer prevention.
Set I Download Now |
Set II Download Now |
Set III Download Now |
Set IV Download Now |
