Illinois Foundation for Quality Health Care Helps Illinois Nursing Homes Focus on Residents’ Preferences
Person-Directed Care Offers Greater Choice and Independence, Helps Retain High Quality Staff Through Organizational Culture Change
August 4, 2005
Oak Brook, Ill.,– The Illinois Foundation for Quality Health Care (IFQHC) recently concluded the person-directed care pilot project designed to help nursing homes improve their quality of care. Each of the eight homes that took part in the pilot had a different focus based on the individual needs of their facility, such as improving buffet dining, individual wake up times or individual bath schedules. The nine month pilot project was part of a national collaborative led by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for Illinois, IFQHC was one of 22 QIOs nationwide providing resources to assist nursing home staff in the person-directed care pilot.
The Illinois nursing homes who worked with IFQHC in this pilot include: Eunice Smith Home in Alton; Cedar Ridge Health Care Center in Lebanon; Coulterville Care, Inc. in Coulterville; Miller Center in Kankakee; Provena St. Joseph Center in Freeport; Tabor Hills Health Care Facility in Naperville; Clark-Lindsey Village in Urbana; and the Capitol Care Center in Springfield.
“The main goal of the person-directed care pilot was to help facilitate the quality improvement of the involved homes by providing them with the necessary resources, energy and motivation to begin and maintain their journey,” said Benneta Sevier, RN, MPH, MBA, Nursing Home manager for IFQHC. “We want the eight facilities to be our champions, share best practices with each other and keep us updated on their continued progress.”
By implementing person-directed care, nursing homes are able to incorporate the resident’s preferences into his or her daily routine at the nursing home. While the person-directed care model is not new, it is a new focus for QIOs.
Beginning this month, and continuing over the next three years, QIOs in every state will make person-directed care an important priority. Lessons learned from the CMS pilot will be shared with nursing home collaborators throughout the country in an effort to spread successful creative practices.
“The pilot was a success because these eight nursing homes have proven they are committed to improving the quality of life for their residents and they want to see change occur,” said Sevier.
The pilot project is part of CMS’ Nursing Home Quality Initiative, a multi-pronged effort to improve care through public reporting of quality of care measures; quality improvement training and resources provided by QIOs; and collaboration and partnerships to leverage knowledge and resources.
Nursing homes enrolled in the pilot were participating in specialized learning sessions and other collaborative efforts to improve care.
Quality of care information about nursing homes is available by visiting www.medicare.gov and clicking on Compare Nursing Homes in Your Area. The site also provides tips for making informed decisions about health care. Those without Internet access may call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) for assistance.
For more information on the patient-directed care pilot project in Illinois, call the Illinois Foundation for Quality Health Care at (800) 386-6431.
Media Contacts:
Lisa Bevilacqua - (630) 928-5819
lbevilacqua@ilqio.sdps.org
Kathy Maddock - (217) 553-7303
cgyure@midwest.net
This material was prepared by the Illinois Foundation for Quality Health Care, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for Illinois, under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy. IL-8SOW-NH-01-08/05