American health care association is a nonprofit federation state health organization that represents over ten thousands nursing facility. It was established in 1949 and is located in Washington D.C.
The American health care association is expanding the quality of improvement efforts related to its members which started three years ago. The next phase of initiative includes eight goals designed in improving the organization success, long term care and post acute care. According to the association the expansion will help to improve most people lives by:
- Reducing turnover among staff by fifteen percent or achieving a turnover of fifty percent by 2018.
- Reducing number of hospital readmission within twenty days or maintaining a low rate.
- Improving discharge to the community by ten percent or maintaining a high rate.
- Having twenty five members who use self care sections.
- Reduce the use of anti-psychotic medications.
The progress will be measured using composite measures by combining pressure, re-hospitalizations and ulcers. The measure is under development and will be over by 2016.
In developing these goals the association admitted that some people are doing well in the assisted living areas. Anti-psychotic medications are important because they are hospital stays. The American health care association considered developing goals that are related to specific medical condition like pressure ulcers but they decide to take a broad approach.
Since the launch of quality initiative in 2012, the organization members have reduced label use of medications. More than 20,000 people have avoided hospital readmission which is vital because re-admissions are a good indicator of future health problems. If a hospital can take of a patient and he is not sent back to the hospital it makes a big difference in his life.
Just like other professions the peace of mind to patients is paramount to assisted living communities. This is the reason why the association has made a lot of progress to identify customer satisfaction survey that is used by care providers. Health care providers who work in nursing care centers are at high risk of being hospitalized. The hospitalization result in individuals developing healthcare infections that impact the quality of life of the residents. Members who work with the association focus on serving long stay population. The association can see their progress when they use LTC trend tracker a benchmarking tool.
