It’s one thing to achieve excellence. It’s another thing to sustain it over a long period of time. Sustaining excellence is exactly what many Alabama nursing homes are doing as part of the National Nursing Home Quality Care Collaborative.

Thirty-two nursing homes have sustained the CMS Composite Score Goal of 6.00 or lower for up to two-and-a-half years. Three new nursing homes achieved the goal this past quarter.

The Quality Measure Composite Score monitors progress during participation in the National Nursing Home Quality Care Collaborative. It is used to view quality from a systems perspective which aligns with quality assurance and performance improvement initiatives. The Composite Score is comprised of the 13 publically reported, long-stay quality measures used by the federal government.

The First Time Achievers are Diversicare of Lanett, Generations of Vernon and Haleyville Health Care Center.

The following nursing homes have sustained the CMS Composite Goal of 6.00 or less:

10 Quarters:

  • Cloverdale Rehabilitation & Nursing Center
  • Georgiana Health & Rehabilitation
  • Goodwater Healthcare Center
  • Hanceville Nursing & Rehabilitation Center
  • Hartford Health Care
  • Luverne Health & Rehabilitation
  • Northside Health Care
  • Piedmont Health Care Center
  • Oak Trace Care & Rehabilitation Center
  • TLC Nursing Center
  • Woodhaven Manor Nursing Home

Nine Quarters:

  • Altoona Health & Rehabilitation
  • Sumter Health & Rehabilitation
  • Twin Oaks Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center
  • Washington County Nursing Home

Eight Quarters:

  • Arbor Woods Health & Rehabilitation
  • Brookshire Healthcare Center
  • Colonial Haven Care & Rehabilitation Center
  • EMAC Lanier Nursing Home

Seven Quarters:

  • Athens Health & Rehabilitation
  • Crossville Health & Rehabilitation
  • Valley View Health & Rehabilitation

Six Quarters:

  • Lauderdale Christian Nursing Home
  • Plantation Manor Nursing Home
  • Regency Health Care & Rehabilitation

Five Quarters:

  • Birmingham Nursing & Rehabilitation Center East
  • Gadsden Health & Rehabilitation Center
  • Oaks on Parkwood Skilled Nursing Facility

Four Quarters:

  • Burns Nursing Home
  • Diversicare of Arab

Three Quarters:

  • Diversicare of Foley
  • Diversicare of Pell City

Using the Composite Score for Quality Improvement

The Composite Score helps a nursing center determine the which quality measures it is performing well on and the ones that need improvement.

The 13 long-term care quality measures cover the full range of care:

  • Percent of residents with one or more falls with major injury
  • Percent of residents with a urinary tract infection
  • Percent of residents who self-report moderate or severe pain
  • Percent of high-risk resident with pressure ulcer
  • Percent of low-risk residents who lose control of their bowels or bladder
  • Percent of residents with a catheter inserted or left in bladder
  • Percent of residents physically restrained
  • Percent of residents whose need for help with Activities of Daily Living has increased
  • Percent of residents who lose too much weight
  • Percent of residents who have depressive symptoms
  • Percent of residents who received antipsychotic medications
  • Percent of residents assessed and appropriately given the season influenza vaccine
  • Percent of residents assessed and appropriately given the pneumococcal vaccine

Each quarter, the 170 Alabama skilled nursing centers in the National Nursing Home Quality Care Collaborative (NNHQCC) are invited to participate in a virtual training session that teaches them how to improve one of the quality measures. Then, the centers spend the next three months applying what they learned to their day-to-day operation.

The NNHQCC’s goal is that 50% of those participating in the program achieve a composite score of 6.00 or lower at least one time during the program. As of the most current data (Q3Y17) 56% of the recruited nursing homes have reached the goal of 6.00 or lower. The NNHQCC ends in July 2019.

About the Alabama Quality Assurance Foundation

The Alabama Quality Assurance Foundation is a member of the five-state atom Alliance, a Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO). For more information, visit www.aqaf.com.