Achieving Better Clinical Outcomes in LTC

Long-term care clinicians are continuously challenged to find ways to keep residents happy, healthy, and at home. In this era of managed cared models such as I-SNPs, the quest is on to refine clinical care, bringing in the right expertise, at the right times, with the best answers to optimize residents’ safety and well-being.

As shared by Steven Posar, MD in a recent webinar hosted by McKnights, the clinical leadership team of GuideStar Eldercare has been pioneering a neurology-forward approach to achieving quality focused outcomes for nursing home residents. It begins with a diagnostic framework that ensures accuracy and leads to targeted plans of care.

“Our experience now is relatively deep in providing care with a neurology focus in addition to the interdisciplinary team,” Dr. Posar told attendees. “We are not advocating a complete re-do of the recipe; we’re adding an ingredient,” he said.

Driving quality focused outcomes

Measuring clinical outcomes of this approach has been a high priority for the GuideStar Eldercare team. Better care leads to better outcomes. “What we’re seeing and measuring,” he said, “are very significant improvements in a number of key outcomes, both clinically and on a compliance basis,” he shared.

Working from a foundational, neurology-based approach to ensuring accurate diagnosis has led to “virtually 100% compliance” with CMS standards for diagnostic accuracy, he noted.

There’s more, though: “The overall improvement in the clinical status of these patients is driving other outcomes,” Dr. Posar explained.

Reducing inpatient psychiatric admissions

GuideStar Eldercare pioneered its clinical care model with several client facilities whose resident profiles all included behavioral health concerns. In these, CMS reporting data were revealing.

“We’re seeing a 75% reduction in acute inpatient psychiatric admissions,” he reported. Similarly, the team has been measuring declines in emergency department referrals.

Applying the GuideStar Eldercare model, “this traditionally highly challenging and unstable population becomes extremely stable,” he commented.

In the same mix, he noted 100% compliance with CMS standards for anticonvulsant utilization. He pointed to previously published GuideStar research demonstrating a 68% reduction in antipsychotic use with a neurology-forward approach.

Raising quality of life

Addition of a neurology focus to a specialized interdisciplinary care team for dementia care management is directly linked to improvement in neurobehavioral health and functional symptoms. It elevates quality of life for residents, caregivers, and loved ones, Dr. Posar explained. The clinical benefits of this approach are paralleled by robust CMS compliance and strong improvements in behavioral health star ratings.

To explore how your operation can achieve better outcomes through better care, feel free to reach out to the GuideStar team.