Quality assurance for the ALF
One of the best ways to improve your facility practices is to develop a quality improvement program (commonly using the QAPI method). It Is certain that every community, heck every business, has room to make improvement in their operating procedures. By effectively use a quality improvement program you can pinpoint issues within the community itself and make tangible changes based upon the feedback received in the meeting. If you see the same type of issues coming up month after month then it could be a trend that needs to be unraveled. Check out the regulation provided by Arizona Bureau of Residential Facilities Licensing for the guidelines on their mandated quality improvement initiative:
R9-10-804. Quality Management
A manager shall ensure that:
- A plan is established, documented, and implemented for an ongoing quality management program that, at a minimum, includes:
- A method to identify, document, and evaluate incidents;
- A method to collect data to evaluate services provided to residents;
- A method to evaluate the data collected to identify a concern about the delivery of services related to resident care;
- A method to make changes or take action as a result of the identification of concern about the delivery of services related to resident care; and
- The frequency of submitting a documented report required in subsection (2) to the governing authority;
- A documented report is submitted to the governing authority that includes: a. An identification of each concern about the delivery of services related to resident care, and b. Any change made or action taken as a result of the identification of concern about the delivery of services related to resident care; and
- The report required in subsection (2) and the supporting documentation for the report are maintained for at least 12 months after the date the report is submitted to the governing authority.