Something as simple as hand washing and other infection control practices can make a difference in keeping your patients and residents healthy and happy. I’m sure many of you have developed creative, effective strategies to prevent infections in your long term care or assisted living facility. If so, we’d like to hear from you! As part of a U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)-funded conference grant, “High Reliability Practices to Reduce Transmission of Infections in Long Term Care,” The Joint Commission is seeking examples of effective, successful or high reliability practices that prevent infections in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. These could include effective policies or procedures and strategies to control infections. It also may include tips to better communicate with staff, patients, residents, families and other health care facilities.

Your submission may be selected for discussion at an invitational roundtable meeting in July 2013 and may be included (with permission) in education materials that will be made available at no charge later this year. To submit a practice for consideration, please complete the online survey. The survey will close June 21, 2013.
 

Names play important roles in our everyday lives.  They can set the tone for how we feel about the people, places and things around us.  Sometimes, names evoke strong emotional connections or memories of days gone by.  If you are a parent, think about the angst you felt poring over the baby name book, trying to come up with a name that’s just right for your new child-maybe one that’s easy to pronounce, or one that wouldn’t be turned into something else on the playground?  Naming a beloved pet can be just as hard. 

At The Joint Commission, we recently learned how challenging it can be to name or “rename” something as we reinvented our Long Term Care Accreditation program. We knew that we needed a new name to evoke new emotion and foster a better understanding of what our recently re-invented accreditation program stands for. We wanted to show how the reinvented program better reflects the changing patient care environment we now face.  Like expectant parents, we asked others what they thought certain names meant and the feelings these names evoked for them.  Through market research, we learned what others thought the newly reinvented program should be called.  We’re excited to formally announce our new Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Accreditation Program, under which we accredit nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities and other long term care organizations.  We are equally excited and proud to announce the name of the program’s specialty certification option—Rehabilitation and Advanced Care Certification—that is specific to our program’s care setting.

We learned a lot from the entire naming process, especially that naming something is not a task to be taken lightly.  There are many factors to consider getting the right designation. We would love to hear your thoughts on our new name, so please—tell us what you think!
 

Have you ever wanted to share your thoughts with us on improving Joint Commission products and services? Now is your chance! Nominate yourself or someone you know to be a member of the Long Term Care Customer Advisory Council.

Advisory Council members provide input on issues, products and services affecting long term care organizations. To be a member, you must be currently employed at a Joint Commission accredited long term care organization and have knowledge and experience with Joint Commission accreditation. We specifically want people who have been involved in promoting quality and safety within their organization. Council  members are expected to participate in three to four conference calls per year and to serve a two year term.

This is a nonpaid position, but you will gain the satisfaction of knowing that you are making a difference in improving long term care accreditation. If you or someone you know is interested, please e-mail your nominations to me at ltc@jointcommission.org. Include a short explanation of why you or your nominee would make a good council member, along with contact name, title, organization, e-mail and phone number. Nominations will be accepted through December 31, 2012.
 

The Joint Commission recognizes that your long term care organization is providing more complex care to patients and residents and that you are seeking ways to meet increasing demands for quality oversight. To that end, The Joint Commission Board of Commissioners recently approved a plan to modify the current Long Term Care Accreditation Program to help you better demonstrate the quality and safety of care that you provide. We envision the creation of core accreditation standards with a set of optional specialty designations, such as for subacute care, memory care, assisted living, and behavioral health for non-geriatric populations. Throughout 2012, we will be developing and testing the modifications. After the development and field testing is complete, modifications to the Long Term Care Accreditation Program will be introduced in mid-2013. Please share your thoughts about what you would like to see changed in the current standards and accreditation process, and why these changes would be important to your organization.