Quality Leaders Named as Co-Chairs to Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes Campaign 

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Washington, DC

– Bringing a wealth of experience in improving quality in long-term care, Dr. Cheryl Phillips and Dr. David Gifford were recently named co-chairs of theAdvancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes Campaign (Advancing Excellence). The two were elected co-chairs by theAdvancing Excellencein Long Term Care Collaborative Board. Their term is for two years, beginning January 1, 2012.

“On behalf ofAdvancing Excellenceand the Collaborative Board, we welcome the opportunity to work with Dr. Gifford and Dr. Phillips in their new roles,” stated Mary Jane Koren, MD, MPH, current chair of the collaborative board. “Advancing Excellencehas a wide membership full of innovative ideas and deep knowledge about how to promote nursing home quality. Dr. Phillips and Dr. Gifford are well suited to ensure that the strides we have made will continue.”

The mission ofAdvancing Excellenceis to help nursing homes become better places to live, work and visit. The Campaign does this by supporting statewide LANEs or Local Area Networks of Excellence. The LANEs focus nursing homes on problem areas that the public cares about such as improved organizational workplace practices and clinical outcomes. The Campaign also provides nursing homes free and evidence-based technical assistance tools to accomplish improvement in the selected areas.  

Advancing Excellence

works closely with other national nursing home quality initiatives to streamline efforts and maximize improvement.

With 46% of all nursing homes in America taking part in the campaign since its establishment in 2006, there has been measurable progress in many significant quality improvement areas.  The number of pressure ulcers and daily use of physical restraints have both decreased. In addition, the use of consistent assignment – the same person taking care of the same resident day after day – has also increased.

“Advancing Excellenceoffers nursing homes a unique opportunity to set goals for improvement, measure that improvement and access numerous resources to help meet the goals,” said Dr. Cheryl Phillips. “I am honored to serve such an important initiative and look forward to working with Dr. Gifford and the entire collaborative board to make this unique partnership even more effective.”

Dr. Phillips serves as LeadingAge’s senior vice president for advocacy. Previously, she served as chief medical officer for

On Lok Lifeways

, the country’s first

Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly

(PACE) program.  She also serves as chair of the board of directors and immediate past –president of the

American Geriatrics Society

and  is also past president of the

American Medical Directors Association

, the physician organization for long-term care. 

“I am honored to serve with Dr. Phillips to chair theAdvancing Excellenceboard ” stated Dr. Gifford. “TheAdvancing Excellence Campaignis a groundbreaking collaboration between patient advocacy organizations, long term care providers, health care professionals, and government agencies that are dedicated to helping all nursing homes achieving excellence in the quality of care and quality of life for the millions of elderly living in nursing homes throughout our country.”

Dr. Gifford is the Senior Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs at the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL).  Previously, Dr. Gifford served as the director of the Rhode Island State Department of Health and was the chief medical officer for Quality Partners of Rhode Island where he directed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ national nursing home-based quality improvement effort.

A coordinated initiative among providers, caregivers, consumers, and government agencies,theAdvancing Excellence Campaign

 measures quality outcomes and establishes numerical targets and benchmarks related to quality improvement.Thecampaignis led by a Board of Directors of the 30 organizations that comprise the coalition. Those organizations are: 

Voting Members

Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care

Alzheimer’s Association

American Academy of Nursing -- Expert Panel on Aging

American Association for Long Term Care Nursing (AALTC)

American Association of Nurse Assessment Coordinators (AANAC)

American College of Health Care Administrators (ACHCA)

American Health Care Association (AHCA)

American Health Quality Association (AHQA)

AMDA – Long Term Care

LeadingAge (formerly AAHSA)

National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA)

National Consumer Voice for Long Term Care

The Commonwealth Fund

The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society

Association of Health Facility Survey Agencies (AHFSA)

Foundation of the National Association of Boards of Examiners of LTC Administrators  (NAB)

Gerontological Advance Practice Nurses Association (GAPNA)

Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing

National Association of Directors of Nursing Administration in Long Term Care (NADONA/LTC)

National Association of State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs (NASOP)

National Gerontological Nursing Association (NGNA)

PHI

Pioneer Network

Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Non-voting/Government Members

Administration on Aging

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality  (AHRQ)

Assistant Secretary for Policy and Evaluation (ASPE)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and its contractors, the Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) and State Survey Agencies

Department of Veteran’s Affairs

To learn more, please visit

http://www.nhqualitycampaign.org

.