Industry Status
By Diane Morrow, CEO, ProvidersWeb.com

A Facility can be any type of Assisted Living Facility, Adult Foster Home, Residential Care, Supportive Care, Sheltered Care, Board and Care, the primary common denominator is more than just providing lodging and meals, there is a “care” element involved. The care element significantly changes things. See Path to ProvidersWeb.

When the element of “care” is added to a business component, it becomes a 24-hour a day business, and a responsibility. When a Care Provider is issued a “License to Operate” is like getting a driver’s license, except with a lot more rules and responsibilities. This means that besides providing housing, meals, and housekeeping services, the operator must also provide care services. “Care Services” encompass the handling of medication, dietary needs & desires, life style needs and desires, the assistance with personal hygiene needs, mobility needs, emergency care, environmental safety, and the maintenance of a nurturing environment that protects and promotes self-autonomy. In essence by taking out a license to operate a facility, the provider is agreeing to care. See ProvidersWeb.com’s Care Giver Ethics.

ProvidersWeb brings together all areas of operating a facility into one place for the first time ever. ProvidersWeb’s Management System is a total system. It is designed for one person the owner or administrator to manage all aspects of running a care facility.

Currently, the residential care assisted living industry is in a crisis mode. In many cases, residents are not being cared for properly, and basic care standards are not followed. Insurance claims for liability and worker’s compensation are among the highest in the nation. Public policy makers and stakeholders, (consumers, providers, and insurance agencies) have been identifying the problem areas to create solutions.

According to CNA HealthPro’s Long Term Care Report, The most common general liability (GL) claims allegations (70 percent) are related to falls, mostly by visitors on facility grounds. The most common professional liability (PL) claims allegations are related to negligence, including medication errors, burns, and lack of or improper care (39 percent), falls (37 percent), abuse (10 percent), wrongful death (10 percent) and elopement, or the unauthorized absence of a resident from a facility (3 percent).

In an October 28, 2003 report published by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations the following statistics were reported as the causes of problems:

Root Causes of Medication Errors 1995-2002

Orientation/training 60%
Communication 56%
Availability of info 26%
Standardization 22%
Storage/access 21%
Competency/credentialing 21%
Supervision 19%
Staffing levels 19%
Labeling 18%
Distraction 13%

Root Causes of Delays in Treatment 1995-2002

Communication 84%
Patient assessment 75%
Continuum of Care 61%
Availability of info 42%
Competency/credentialing 29%
Orientation/training 29%
Staffing levels 25%
Organization culture 22%
Specialist availability 15%
ER overcrowding 15%

Root Causes of Home Care Fires 1995-2002

Communication 81%
Home safety eval/drills 73%
Patient assessment 55%
Alarm systems 55%
Orientation/training 45%
Continuum of Care 36%

Root Causes of Patient Falls 1995-2002

Orientation/training 87%
Communication 55%
Patient assessment 42%
Care planning 42%
Physical environment 42%
Alarm system 36%
Staffing levels 14%
Organization culture 14%

Root Causes of Sentinel Events (All Categories) 1995-2002

Communication 64%
Orientation/training 58%
Patient assessment 36%
Availability of info 20%
Staffing levels 19%
Physical environment 16%
Continuum of Care 13%
Competency/credentialing 12%
Procedural compliance 12%
Alarm systems 9%
Organization culture 9%

No doubt almost everyone in American has heard bad reports about care facilities. Almost all of the industry’s problems can be solved by good communication and documentation, orientation, training, proper assessments, admissions, increases in staffing, increases in income, and quality assurance risk management practices.

The only way to encompass the whole of it to have an organized performance based management system such as www.providersweb.com, otherwise, the excess of information can drown the individual trying to manage the business.