(Courtesy of Daughters of Miriam) Daughters of Miriam Center/The Gallen Institute (DMC) was recognized by the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) for its achievements through the Quality Initiative Recognition Program, which honors member facilities for their individual work in achieving AHCA/NCAL Quality Initiative goals.
Launched in 2012, the Quality Initiative is a national effort to build upon the existing work of the long-term and post-acute care profession. The Initiative aims to improve quality of care in skilled nursing centers and assisted living communities by challenging members with specific, measurable targets that must be implemented no later than March 2021. These areas are top priorities for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, accountable care organizations and managed care organizations and are aligned with federal mandates that link financial outcomes to quality performance.
In order to be recognized by the Association, specific Quality Initiative goals must be met, including reducing nursing home patient hospitalizations, improving long-stay or short-stay satisfaction by 10%, reducing the off-label use of antipsychotic medications and improving short-stay functional improvement or long-stay mobility. Each of these goals has explicit measurable targets that nursing homes track and report.
Nursing home residents often are frail, with multiple chronic illnesses, with many also having some level of cognitive or functional impairment. Hospitalizations are difficult and even dangerous for these elderly patients as they are at a higher risk to develop infections and other complications and often become disoriented in new settings. Once they return to the nursing home, they may not be able to function on the same level as they did prior to hospitalization; therefore, it is incumbent upon skilled nursing care centers to try to safely minimize the number of seniors that are sent out to the hospital. With this in mind, Daughters of Miriam Center has been successful in lowering the number of residents who require either hospitalization or re-hospitalization.
Another Quality Initiative goal is to improve functional outcomes, which measure the physical abilities of patients for self-care and mobility. Daughters of Miriam Center has met this goal by improving the abilities of patients to walk and carry out activities of daily living such as eating, bathing or getting dressed independently by at least 15%. These abilities are extremely important for healthy aging and maximizing self-sufficiency, especially for short-term patients who will be discharged home after a rehabilitative stay at the Center.
Daughters of Miriam Center has also been successful at reducing the off-label use of antipsychotics on residents. Since a large number of the elderly in skilled nursing centers have some type of dementia their behavior is often challenging for families and staff, resulting in the off-label use of antipsychotic drugs to help modify their behavior. These drugs, however, often have side effects that include an increased risk of death, falls with fractures and other complications that result both in poor health and increased costs. DMC has achieved this goal by reducing this rate by at least 10% since 2017.
“Daughters of Miriam Center has once again met or exceeded our Quality Initiative goals, and we are very proud of our staff for their commitment not only to providing exceptional medical care for our residents, but for continuously striving to improve the quality of their lives,” said Frank DaSilva, CEO of Daughters of Miriam Center/The Gallen Institute.
The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living represent more than 13,000 non-profit and proprietary skilled nursing centers, assisted living communities, sub-acute centers and homes for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. By delivering solutions for quality care, AHCA/NCAL aims to improve the lives of the millions of frail elderly and individuals with disabilities who receive long-term or post-acute care in member facilities each day. The Association is a voluntary membership organization and, similar to Daughters of Miriam Center’s Joint Commission accreditation, membership in AHCA demonstrates the Center’s commitment to going above and beyond the normal standards for long-term care facilities.
Daughters of Miriam Center/The Gallen Institute is a CMS-rated, five-star, state-of-the-art long-term care and subacute facility providing broad-based services to seniors. Emphasizing a continuum of care focus, Center divisions include a skilled nursing facility, a subacute care wing, a memory care pavilion, a rehabilitation program, hospice care, a respite program and senior housing with supportive services.
Founded in 1921, the Center is a non-profit, non-sectarian organization licensed by the New Jersey Department of Health and accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and serves as a university-affiliated teaching center.
The Center’s mission is to provide quality health care services and housing for seniors in an environment that enhances and respects individualized traditions and lifestyles. We work to meet the emerging needs in our community and to advance geriatric care through research.
