Culture Change in Long-Term Care
The Promoting Excellent Alternatives in Kansas (PEAK) program promotes and supports culture change in nursing homes as they pursue person-directed care in the areas of resident control, staff empowerment,home environment, and community involvement. The two components of PEAK are recognition and education. KDOA annually recognizes nursing home person-directed care initiatives. KDOA has partnered with Kansas State University’s Center on Aging to provide the education component,which includes developing resources and training nursing home staff in how to begin and sustain the culture change journey.
The Money Follows the Person Project allows funds for up to75 persons (increased to 80 in SFY 2006) living in nursing homes to receive services through the Home and Community-Based Services(HCBS) Frail Elderly (FE) or Physically Disabled (PD) waiver pro-gram upon relocation to the community. This lessened the strain to move residents to the community while there was an HCBS waiting list. It should be noted the HCBS-FE waiver program has not had awaiting list since SFY 2004.
The Long-Term Care Division professional staff, which consists of two registered nurses, a registered licensed dietitian and an environmental specialist, serve as consultants to consumers, adult care home providers, health care facility surveyors and other stakeholders in the long-term health care industry. Consultation is provided through individual technical support and participation in workshops. Division staff are also responsible for the development of state adult care home regulation sand conducting physical environment inspections of adult care homes following construction projects.
The Mental Health and Residential Care Facilities Division evaluates intermediate care facilities, nursing facilities for mental health, assisted living facilities and other “state licensed only” facilities for state licensure and federal certification. These facilities serve several thousand elderly, physically impaired, developmentally disabled and chronically mentally ill individuals who reside in a variety of institutional and community-based settings.
The Licensure and Certification Division promotes excellence in the health care and living conditions of the 18,000 individuals residing in Kansas nursing homes through the application of federal and state regulatory standards. Through initial licensure processes and ongoing annual surveys, state surveyors review a variety of aspects of nursing home care. Federal and state regulations ensure that residents receive care that meets accepted standards. Other regulations ensure that residents’ rights are protected and they are protected from abuse, neglect and exploitation.In addition, the surveyors examine the physical environment to ensure facilities provide safe and sanitary conditions for residents. Fire and safety inspections are provided under contract by the State Fire Marshal. This Division is also responsible for surveyor training and orientation; survey quality improvement efforts; policy and procedure development; survey management; enforcement activities; complaint intake, referral and investigation management. Many of the activities of the Division are performed under contract to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The Division is required to survey all nursing facilities within an overall 12-month average, with no individual facility exceeding 15 months.
Nursing Facilities Survey Process
- How the State Surveys Nursing Facilities
- 10 Common Myths About Survey - An Article from the May, 2005 Provider Magazine
- Complaint Program
- Local Area Network for Excellence (LANE) is an advisory committee for the Advancing Excellence in America's Nursing Homes campaign that launched in September 2006. The campaign is reinvigorating efforts to improve the quality of care and quality of life for those living or recuperating in America's nursing homes. Learn more about the campaign and its goals at http://www.nhqualitycampaign.org/.
Nursing Home Compare
- This is a link to Medicare Nursing Home Compare site (www.medicare.gov). The primary purpose of this tool is to provide detailed information about the past performance of every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home in the country.
- The National Clearinghouse for Long-Term Care Information. This is a new web site developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide information and resources to help you and your family plan for future long-term care (LTC) needs.
Zero Deficiency Surveys |
Exemplary Letters |
Reports
- Directory of KDOA Regulated Health Care Providers
- Provider Category Definitions
- Staffing and Occupancy Data
The Partnership Loan Program supports the expansion of services and housing alternatives for senior Kansans by providing low interest loans. The Partnership Grant Program uses interest income from the PLP loans to fund competitive matching grants for the benefit of long-term care programs.