Q: What’s the first project you want to undertake?
A: There are so many! I think one of the more important projects is incorporating some of the policy changes and regulation changes through Five Star and in the value-based purchasing system. We are working on good analytic tools via LTC Trend Tracker that help our members make sense of the changes.
Q: You’ve worked previously on a long-stay hospitalization measure: What should providers be looking at related to hospitalizations?
A: In my seven years of working with the MDS data, when you look at two skilled nursing centers, and they may even be across the street from another, the patients they care for can be very different. It’s important that these measures are risk-adjusted. It generally requires some statistical modeling. That work is something I am excited about, and I’m excited to work with an already great research team.
Q: What do you think providers will be focused on when it comes to quality for the rest of the year?
A: It still will be rehospitalization and how it’s measured through [the Skilled Nursing Facility Readmission Measure]. Now the industry is measuring not just through skilled nursing, but the time the patient has been outside.
From the May 01, 2017 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
