Keywords
Citation
(2007), "USA - AHCA: today's nursing home quality summit next step toward advancing seniors access to highest quality long-term care services", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 20 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2007.06220aab.002
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2007, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
USA - AHCA: today's nursing home quality summit next step toward advancing seniors access to highest quality long-term care services
Americas
USA
AHCA: today's nursing home quality summit next step toward advancing seniors’ access to highest quality long-term care services
Keywords: Partnership working, Quality Improvement initiatives, Long term care
The American Health Care Association (AHCA) said that the unprecedented gathering with a wide range of participating stakeholders at a “Nursing Home Quality Summit” held in our nation’s capital represents the next logical step toward ensuring America’s nursing home residents have access to the highest quality long term care and services. Keynote addresses by the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Mark McClellan; Co-Chairs of the National Commission for Quality Long-Term Care former Senator Bob Kerrey and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich; Governor Haley Barbour (R-MS); and Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) underscore the importance of stakeholders from both the public and private sectors working together to advance quality in long term care.
Bruce Yarwood, President and CEO of AHCA stated that the AHCA is proud to be a leader in the coalition effort and the quality summit because it helps place the profession’s “Quality First” principles into action, and also helps to set the stage for advancing on a variety of fronts. The overall objective of ensuring the USA’s nursing home residents have increasing access to the highest quality long-term care and services.
The summit, convened by a coalition of healthcare providers, caregivers, medical and quality improvement experts, government leaders, consumers and others, launches a new, voluntary, two-year Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes campaign, which will help create greater awareness of quality care improvement efforts already underway, and report on the progress of providers’ quality improvement efforts.
Yarwood said the new quality campaign will build on and complement the work of existing quality initiatives including Quality First, the Nursing Home Quality Initiative (NHQI), and the culture change movement. Overall, he said, the effort is designed to help boost the public trust in nursing home care by focusing on transparent accountability, with facilities monitoring both clinical quality goals and organizational improvement goals that focus on resident and family satisfaction and employee retention.
The AHCA President and CEO also praised outgoing CMS Administrator Mark McClellan, who addressed the Quality Summit. “Mark McClellan has been a key driving force behind ensuring the government and profession-wide quality improvement initiatives in which we participate are effective vehicles for improving the quality of care and quality of life for frail, vulnerable and disabled Americans”, Yarwood said. “We commend him for his excellent service and stewardship at CMS.”
In addition to AHCA, the other founding stakeholders of the Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes campaign are the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care; American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA); American Association of Nurse Assessment Coordinators (AANAC); American College of Health Care Administrators (ACHCA); American Medical Directors Association (AMDA); The Commonwealth Fund; The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society; National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA); National Citizen’s Coalition for Nursing Home Reform (NCCNHR); The National Commission for Quality Long-Term Care and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and its Quality Improvement Organization (QIOs) contractors.
For more information: www.ahca.org