OASIS Alert

Nobody's perfect, but even knowing this you may feel overwhelmed by the possible quality improvement activities you could initiate.

Now that your agency's outcomes are published for the world to see, the pressure to improve will increase. But it's important to focus your energy on what you can control, advised consultant Marion Donahue with Simione Consultants in Hamden, CT, during a recent teleconference sponsored by Eli.

Donahue offered these strategies to listeners:

1. Concentrate on OASIS assessment accuracy. The more accurate your OASIS assessment, the more accurate your outcomes are likely to be.

TIP: Require staff to all use the same assessment tools in the same way, she said.

2. Standardize as much as possible. This should include both care planning and care delivery.

3. Assign everyone responsibility. Outcome improvement is not the exclusive domain of the quality improvement staff. Educate and involve all staff.

4. Know your data. Your data can give you information to guide your quality improvement efforts. No one should know it better than you.

5. Prioritize your efforts. Tackling too much at once or spreading people too thin can keep you from getting good results from your efforts.

Editor's Note: Marion Donahue's teleconference "Prepare To Compare" is available on tape, CD or transcript at http://codinginstitute.com/conference/tapes.cgi?detail=493.