Kansas nursing homes are enrolled in online programs by equipping their in-person caregivers with sector-specific training and resources.
Kansas' nursing homes are participating in Snfclinic, an electronic learning management system, thanks to funds approved by the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“Our goals and mission statements are simple. We provide training and resource tools to our facilities with a single application that improves the quality of care provided to long-term care residents,” Ben Meeker, general legal counsel for long-term care consultants, told McKnight's Long-term Care News on Tuesday.
LTCC developed SNFClinic in 2018. It is currently used in more than 70 US facilities in multiple states.
Through the system, operators and their staff can engage in exclusive insights from over 150 training videos of care tactics used by live residents, a database of thousands of amendments submitted and accepted to CMS, and training pilot programs used in various participating facilities.
The program will be made possible using civil penalties collected from nursing homes that are found to be in violation of one or more of the participation requirements. These penalties will be reinvested in Snfclinic to help improve nursing homes.
LTCC received its first grant from CMS and Ohio in 2019, introducing SNFClinic at several low-performance facilities. It made a noticeable difference, Meeker said.
“In states where the SNFCLINIC CMP grant project has been completed, data shows that the program will have a positive impact on the quality of care provided to nursing home residents,” he said.
Overall outcome? A reduction of the average number of published survey tags by 48%, an improvement of health inspection scores by 63%, a 100% improvement in at least one MDS and claims quality measure, and an average increase of 1.6 points in CMS STAR ratings.
Snfclinic is found in 20 states, including Arizona, California, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, New Jersey and New Mexico.
Some of the 43 nursing homes that welcome Kansas programs include Advenna Living, which has seven participating locations. Baldwin Healthcare and Rehabilitation Centre in Baldwin City. Halstead Health & Rehab in Halstead;Lexington Park Nursing and Post-Acute Center, Topeka.
