Healthcare Quality Week, the third week in October, is a dedicated time to evaluate the current state of your facility’s quality assurance and performance improvement (QAPI) program, to address gaps, and to celebrate successes. 

While federal regulations mandate a QAPI program, an evidence-based, data driven program can improve resident outcomes and quality of life.  Review the effectiveness of your QAPI program’s leadership structure. Ensure that your program is ongoing, comprehensive, and sustainable through leadership changes.  Assess your written plan to determine if it is current and relevant.  Ensure that it focuses on clinical care, quality of life, and resident choice. Review your most recent facility assessment to make certain that current performance improvement work aligns. Evaluate how your program reviews and prioritizes problems and opportunities that reflect organizational process, functions, and services provided to residents based on performance indicator data, and resident and staff input, and other information. 

Review your facility’s quality assessment and assurance (QAA) committee to ensure that all required members attend meetings and actively participate. Evaluate your committee’s process for identifying quality gaps and implementing performance improvement plans (PIP). Consider how you take action on data.  Your facility’s success is directly impacted by how you track and trend data, identify gaps, and evaluate outcomes.

QAPI programs often focus on falls, pressure injuries, and grievances. Consider other areas of care that can be impacted. Review feedback from resident interviews. Leverage findings from your Safety Committee. Think outside the box to determine how you can drive change and improve outcomes. 

Investing time in improving your QAPI program will improve resident outcomes and decrease your facility’s overall risk.