Quality in long-term care

student2.docx

Home >Business & Finance homework help >Management homework help >Quality in long-term care

1) When customers are researching for healthcare service options, the most important performance measure is staffing. It is the most important performance measure because your care may require special equipment or specialty services. Another factor into placing importance on staffing, according to the Medicare website, that higher staffing levels may indicate higher quality of care. The patient experience with the staffing is also crucial and is important to the quality of life for a patient.

2) In my opinion, healthcare consumers, find all of the performance measures mentioned important and all three are equal in importance. Health inspections, staffing and quality are the top three performance measures used determine if a customer will use that particular facilities services. Health inspections are important to ensure that patients are safe and there are polices in place to ensure patient safety. Staffing measures are important to ensure that staff is qualified to provide the services needed by the patient and that staff interaction is positive to improve quality of life. Quality measures are used to ensure that the patient is safe and always monitoring what needs to be changed to meet patient’s needs.

3) Consumers should use the site to simply weed out the lower rated nursing facility. However, the website will not answer a lot of the probing questions a consumer may have before placing their loved ones into a particular facility. According to the University of Chicago Medicine, a study shows that many believe that CMS could improve the website’s appeal by adding more information regarding cost, opinions from nursing-home residents about the quality of care and the availability of activities to residents (Targeted News Service, 2016).

4) As a consumer seeking a nursing facility, in addition to reviewing the performance measures, it is important to consider the location of the facility, if the facility is certified by Medicare and Medicaid (how does it affect you financially), and explore what activities are offered to residents. It could also benefit the consumer to physically visit the nursing facility. Consumers could also explore how to get feedback from individuals that have experience with that particular nursing facility.

5) Although it has been several years since visiting the location, I will base my answer on my experience then. Two of my great-grandmothers resided there. One of them declined in health after being placed there and the other lived there for years, reaching the age of 103. Mostly, I do agree with the ratings CMS has given this facility. However, I do remember the staffing rates always seemed to be low and overworked. I believe this facility could definitely use some work on quality measures overall.