Driving Operational Excellence in Long-Term Care
Achieving clinical, regulatory, and operational success in long-term care hinges on having the right structures and processes in place. As a corporation dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for residents of long-term care, GuideStar Eldercare has honed a rigorous model for driving operational improvements that ultimately touch every aspect of clinical care, while positioning organizations for compliance with the stringent demands of the industry.
One key to success is the corporate structure behind the services provided to nursing homes. With its ever-expanding footprint in long-term care, GuideStar has cultivated crucial roles and departments to serve facility clients. Each client organization collaborates with an Account Manager from GuideStar who is dedicated to ensuring client success.
In a partnership approach, the team stands with facility clinicians, caregivers, and leaders in developing strategic solutions to the challenges at hand and ensuring seamless execution of successful practices. Explains Mike Boyum, Senior Vice President of Sales, “Success is built on trust, communication, and going the extra mile to ensure our clients achieve their goals.”
For each facility we serve, GuideStar delivers evidence-based expertise and a pioneering, neurology-forward care model. Proven protocols and processes, backed by collaborative support, lead to better outcomes for GuideStar client facilities, including fewer Emergency Department visits, lower antipsychotic utilization, and consistently deficiency-free surveys for behavioral health
Clinical expertise
Working hand-in-hand with facility care teams, GuideStar clinicians help to guide and deliver effective neurobehavioral care. Standards of practice and staff training are guided by top experts in neurobehavioral health for older adults who serve as industry leaders and educators. GuideStar clinicians align individualized patient care plans with best practices in assessment, diagnosis, and treatment grounded in a robust evidence base.
Before assignment to client facilities, GuideStar nurse practitioners, clinical psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, and mental health counselors have augmented their clinical skills with GuideStar procedures and processes that position them for success—and position every resident for the best possible clinical outcomes.
These clinicians receive specialized support, including a 90-day training period, ongoing reimbursement for professional CME/CEU education, and the benefit of managerial oversight. Clinical leadership expertise at GuideStar includes Founder and Chief Medical Officer Steven Posar, MD; Senior Vice President, Behavioral Health Daniel Heiser, Psy D, Senior Vice President, Behavioral Health; Corporate Medical Director Olaniyi Osuntokun, MD; and Regional Medical Director James Shackson, MD. As President & Chief Executive Officer, Maureen M. Maloney leverages extensive experience in healthcare operations to lead the organization.
Facility teams can rely on an accurate diagnostic process that includes a multi-disciplinary assessment with norm-validated testing, comprehensive psychological and pharmacological review, and timely documentation that are essential to survey success.
Proactive scheduling
Facilities are relieved of the burden of arranging clinical visits or ensuring that clinical follow-ups occur in a timely manner. Through a structured process, members of the fully operationalized Scheduling department at GuideStar proactively prepare a monthly schedule for clinician visits with residents at defined frequencies. A referrals team ensures that the necessary consultation occurs seamlessly. Clinicians and facility staff are talking regularly and consistently. Through on-site visits and collaboration, GuideStar clinicians develop an understanding of what’s going on with each resident, picking up on changes and zeroing in on evolving needs. They drive a process of assessment, refinement, and documentation related to medical condition, behavioral concerns, the Gradual Dose Reduction (GDR ) process, and other needs.
Further supporting facility care teams, GuideStar provides 24/7 on-call expertise with unique 24-hour on-call access to a Nurse Practitioner to address a crisis at any time of day. The reliability and peace of mind this service offers are key to keeping residents safe and at home in the facility while reducing stress on facility staff.
A collaborative approach
GuideStar practitioners fully integrate with the facility’s long-term care clinical teams and primary care physicians for a turnkey approach to resident care that becomes the gold standard of clinical excellence. Ongoing dialogue and collaboration bring clinical decisions into focus and ensure that residents receive cohesive and effective care aligned with dynamic needs.
Corporate leaders in long-term care benefit not only from industry-leading standards of care, but also from high-level quarterly business reviews to evaluate benchmarks and progress on goals. Industry-leading expertise, rigorous processes, and a partnership approach supported by active Account Management are all essential to navigating today’s regulatory landscape and delivering safe, more effective care in today’s nursing homes.