National Quality Forum
The National Quality Forum (NQF) is a not-for-profit, non-partisan, membership-based organization that works to catalyze improvements in health care. Its measures and standards serve as a critically important foundation for enhancing health care value, making patient care safer, and achieving better outcomes. And, on the heels of publishing the widely acclaimed National Quality Partners (NQP) PlaybookTM on Antibiotic Stewardship in Acute Care, NQF wanted to launch a follow-up that would address antibiotic stewardship in post-acute and long-term care settings, such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
NQF brought in Momentum Health Strategies to handle this second playbook project soup-to-nuts, starting with a focus group and 60+ telephone interviews with experts around the field through to developing detailed and creative strategies for implementing stewardship programs—all in less than six months.
We were looking for a partner who had the right expertise and could supplement our knowledge from the moment they walked in the door,” said NQF Director Rachel Roiland. “Jennifer and Erica know the right people, and it became very clear, very quickly, that their background with infectious diseases, their connections, and their ability to summarize the recommendations of people out in the field really made their work perfectly suited to our needs. The resulting publication is a Playbook tailored to the needs of post-acute and long-term settings looking to incorporate antibiotic stewardship into the care they deliver. Momentum’s work – from the literature review to their interviews with people who work in the field—ensured that the information included in this Playbook is new and up-to-date. Momentum Health Strategies is also a member of our organization, so they’re very familiar with our audience. It was a great collaboration on a really important and valuable publication.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 75 percent of the antibiotics in nursing homes are prescribed inappropriately. In addition, many residents living in long-term care facilities have chronic health conditions, impaired cognitive skills, and need significant support in day-to-day living. As part of its ongoing efforts to reduce unnecessary use of antibiotics, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated its conditions of participation for long-term care facilities to include requirements related to antibiotic stewardship, which will come into effect at the end of 2018. Many long-term care facilities reported significant needs for concrete tactics and strategies to improve the use of antibiotics and meet these requirements. NQP’s new Antibiotic Stewardship in Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Playbook not only highlights how facilities can satisfy the new requirements, but it also provides step-by-step plans and recommendations for building an effective and comprehensive stewardship program.