External Peer Review Program
A site for data collection specifications, facility reports and reconsiderations
Nursing Home Improvement
PROJECT
Comprehensive Infection Control & Care Quality Improvement
WHAT WE DID
Personalized Assistance, Education and Emergency Preparedness
Setting
585 Nursing Homes in Pennsylvania and West Virginia
TIMELINE
March 2020 - March 2025
The Project
- Quality Insights provided comprehensive infection prevention and quality improvement services to nursing homes across Pennsylvania and West Virginia, reaching an exceptional 90% of all nursing homes in West Virginia and 70% of all facilities in Pennsylvania. This extensive program offered no-cost education, tools, resources, and hands-on assistance to help nursing homes maintain the highest standards of infection control and resident care quality.
- Our approach focused on strengthening infection control practices through personalized assistance tailored to each facility's unique needs and challenges. Working directly with nursing home staff, we provided evidence-based training on infection prevention protocols, helped facilities develop robust surveillance systems, and assisted in implementing best practices that protected both residents and healthcare workers. The program emphasized sustainable improvements that nursing homes could maintain and build upon over time.
The Challenges
- Varying levels of infection control knowledge and capabilities across 585 different facilities
- Limited staffing resources at many nursing homes to implement new protocols
- Resistance to change from established care practices and procedures
- Complex regulatory requirements for emergency preparedness planning
- Need to balance resident safety with maintaining quality of life and family access
- Resource constraints affecting facility ability to invest in infection prevention infrastructure
The Results
- The program generated substantial measurable impact, with improved infection control processes and care quality contributing to healthcare cost savings of $21 million to Medicare throughout the project period.
- We successfully assisted every participating facility in updating or implementing emergency response protocols, safe visitor policies, and effective cohorting plans that enabled them to respond effectively to various health threats while maintaining quality resident care.
- The effectiveness of our approach was validated by an outstanding 99% satisfaction rate among participating nursing homes, demonstrating that rigorous infection prevention efforts could be implemented successfully while maintaining strong provider relationships.
- This combination of significant cost savings, improved resident outcomes, and high provider satisfaction illustrated the value of comprehensive, relationship-based approaches to nursing home quality improvement that created lasting change across the long-term care sector.