PACE of the Triad adopts several Quality Improvement Projects (QuIPs) each year. As we near the fourth quarter of the year, we are excited to see our five QuIPs from 2015 winding down. Each of our five projects was sponsored by one of our committees, who provided guidance and oversight throughout the life of each project. We thought it would be a great time to share an overview of each of our projects from this year with you!
- PACE-Specific Wound Tool: The PACE of the Triad Skin and Wound Assessment Team (SWAT) developed, tested and are currently reviewing findings of a PACE-specific wound tracking tool. Staff had considered that, while the Braden scale was an excellent tool for discerning skin integrity in most settings, PACE organizations offered a unique environment in which to assess skin and wounds. The Team sought input from several members of our Interdisciplinary Team and developed a tool which addressed several domains of skin care and wound prediction. Then, we tested the tool for accuracy during a set period of time. Currently, we are in the review period of our findings and are eager to see if the newly developed PACE-specific tool was a better predictor of skin breakdown or wound development for PACE participants than the commonly used Braden tool.
- End of Life Care Enhancement: The PACE of the Triad Deaths, Admissions, Readmissions and Emergency care (DARE) Committee is sponsoring the End of Life project. This project was established in order to formalize our care processes for our participants who are coming to the end of their life cycle while enrolled in our program. The workgroup’s focus was on honoring participant choice during this difficult time, and accessing additional community resources (such as Hospice care) in order for our participants to have the most comprehensive, person-centered care available.
- Retention Program: The PACE of the Triad Leadership Committee has adopted our Disenrollment rate to monitor this year. As a result, the Leadership Team was able to make some clarifications to PACE publications, procedures and processes which we feel will lead to fewer avoidable disenrollments in the future.
- Informatics Extension: The PACE of the Triad Quality Committee has taken on an expansion project in 2015, to include Health Informatics. The healthcare industry has recognized the need to bridge the gap between clinical need and information technology, and PACE of the Triad is excited to be able to offer these cutting edge services.
- Falls Awareness and Prevention: The PACE of the Triad Falls Committee welcomed one of our PACE Primary Care Physicians to the team to enhance our falls protocol. As a component of this project, we offered staff education on ‘Falls Risks for Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease’, created an intervention protocol for individuals with more than one fall within a 90-day period (‘Frequent Fallers’), provided all staff with education tools for falls reporting, integrated our Electronic Medical Record into falls tracking processes and are currently planning to celebrate our third annual Falls Prevention Awareness Month this September. Please see the Spotlight on Quality article for more about our plans for September!
As 2015 comes to a close, we are pleased with the improvements we have brought to PACE of the Triad this year. We are confident these changes will continue to improve the quality of our services for many years to come. We look forward to sharing our planned Quality Improvement Projects with you in 2016, as well!
