by Debra Bakerjian, PhD, APRN, FAAN, FAANP

As most of our members know, CALTCM has focused on Quality Improvement for the past several years.  We have provided education on QAPI during our annual conferences and had several applications of content organized around QAPI as well.  As widely announced, the Obama administration proposed sweeping regulatory changes for nursing homes; the first major update to nursing home regulations in over two decades that will have a significant impact on nursing homes. (The changes were included in the Federal Register, July 16, 2015.)  

There are many changes that will affect how care is provided in the nursing home, some focusing on resident’s quality of life and others on patient safety.  In any case, nursing homes will be working in the upcoming months, to change the way they do business. As part of this, CMS proposes that each facility develop a QAPI program and further defines the requirements for QAPI including being focused on resident needs, and the type, complexity and quality of services already provided by the facility. Some of these changes may have significant fiscal impact on facilities and influence the type of training nursing homes carry out. CALTCM will be working to provide education and training on these changes and will incorporate some of these into our Annual Meeting.

The focus of next year’s conference will be “Promoting quality patient care through medical leadership and education.”  Continuing with the day and a half structure, we will have three half day segments, each with a different focus.

Consistent with this QAPI focus, CALTCM just received a significant grant from the California Health Care Foundation to work with three health plans to adopt INTERACT into selected nursing homes and hospitals with the ultimate goal of reducing rehospitalizations rates.  This project will be led by Dan Osterweil MD, CMD and Albert Lam, MD, CMD and with consultation with INTERACT Team Strategies, LLC.  Several CALTCM members will be involved in the project, primarily to train nursing home staff on how to use the INTERACT curriculum.  This project will be overseen by an Advisory Committee comprised of quality improvement experts representing CA nursing home trade associations, the CA Quality Improvement Organization (HSAG), the CA Culture Change Coalition, the national leaders of INTERACT,  and representatives of the cooperating health plans, hospitals and nursing homes. This group will review plans for training and implementation, meeting at least every 6 months, to review progress, address problems and review facility data.  The project leaders will provide CALTCM with an update and progress at our Annual Conference next year.

As part of this continued focus on quality, CALTCM has created a CALTCM Best Practice Award! We are currently looking for providers (individuals or institutions) that demonstrate successful implementation of best practices that includes a plan to ensure sustainability. Eligible projects include those shown to yield positive care outcomes and include innovations in care processes focused on enhancing and improving the care of patients with multiple chronic conditions and end-of-life care needs.  All practices must be evidence based. Submissions will demonstrate best practices with a proven track record that can be replicated and spread throughout the long term care community. A selection committee will choose the top five (5) submissions that have demonstrated potential for successful implementation to present their Best Practice at the 2016 CALTCM ½-day preconference. The Selection Committee consists of Jocelyn Montgomery from CAHF, Mike Wasserman from HSAG, Romilla Batra from SCAN Health Plan, Debra Saliba from Rand, and myself, Deb Bakerjian, representing CALTCM. The top three best practice presentations showing the best implementation and best sustainability plan will be recognized at the award ceremony during the “2016 CALTCM Annual Meeting.”

It is easy to submit your best practice award, please see detailed instructions on our website.  We are thankful for the generous support of SCAN Health Plan.  The deadline for submitting your best practices for consideration is November 20, 2015! Please contact Renee McNally, [email protected] if you have any questions regarding the process.

For those that are not aware, AB 637 passed both the Senate and Assembly and was signed into law by Governor Brown.  This new law allows nurse practitioners and physician assistants to sign POLST forms.  A new POLST form is expected to be available January 2016.

We hope that our CALTCM members continue to see the VALUE in the activities that we have been focusing on and encourage each of you to keep your CALTCM membership active and current and to recruit a friend or colleague to join CALTCM, renewing and joining is easy through our website.  

We look forward to seeing you at the 2016 Annual Meeting!

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