The New York–Reducing Avoidable Hospitalizations (NY–RAH) project has released two new resources as the project draws to a close. The NY–RAH project, which concluded on December 31, 2020, was conducted by GNYHA Foundation under the auspices of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Nursing Facility Initiative (NFI). The NFI and the NY–RAH project focused on the early recognition, communication, and documentation of acute changes of condition (ACOC); evaluation of data to drive change through quality improvement; documentation of advance directives; and promotion of palliative care conversations. In their final months, the NY–RAH team created two resources that members of the community can access.
The NY–RAH Project QAPI Case Studies Guide details quality improvement projects that could meet the Quality Assurance Performance Improvement (QAPI) requirements to support participating facilities. The Guide includes projects that focus on reducing respiratory illnesses, improving practitioner in-person visit response times, and improving compliance with Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment forms.
Nursing facility medical directors can use the Practitioner ACOC Note Documentation Assessment Guide to evaluate the quality of the information contained in a practitioner note following an ACOC. The Guide includes a tool that can provide practitioner feedback as part of a facility’s ongoing quality improvement plan, which can be modified to fit the needs of an individual facility, a sample policy, and a suggested implementation guide.