03/19/2003 - Local H.R. Executives, Hospital Discharge Planners To Meet On First National Nursing Home Quality Report

Breakfast Seminars will Introduce New Tool for Consumer Choice

LAKE SUCCESS, NY - March 19, 2003 - IPRO, an independent organization dedicated to health care quality improvement, will sponsor simultaneous breakfast seminars on April 16 that will introduce New York-area corporate human resources managers and hospital discharge planners to an important new Web-based tool for consumer choice on nursing home care. Part of the national Nursing Home Quality Initiative (NHQI), this first-ever national report on nursing home quality was developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

The NHQI effort includes posting comparative data on the Nursing Home Compare section of CMS' website, www.Medicare.gov, disseminating facility-specific quality information in newspaper advertisements throughout the U.S., and ongoing efforts to improve quality. IPRO, New York's federally financed Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO), is now working with nursing homes across the state on quality improvement efforts.

"These meetings will help spread the word on this important new tool, which consumers can use when choosing a nursing home," says Theodore O. Will, Chief Executive Officer, IPRO. "Our goal is to disseminate this information to as broad an audience as possible."

The April 16 seminar for human resources professionals will be held from 8 a.m. to 12 noon at Lighthouse International, 111 East 59th Street, New York City. The discharge planner seminar will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon at Lenox Hill Hospital's Einhorn Auditorium, 100 East 77th Street. Both programs are free and open to the public, but preregistration is required.

The human resources seminar, entitled, "Helping Families Access Nursing Home Compare," will begin with a presentation on "How to Evaluate Nursing Home Quality" by Mr. Will. Barbara Schwartz, Director, Corporate Development, IPRO, will speak on "Navigating Nursing Home Compare." Anthony Shih, MD, MPH, Vice President, Health Care Quality Improvement, IPRO, will address "The Nursing Home Quality Measures: What Do They Mean?" The second half of the morning will be devoted to a panel discussion: "How to Integrate this Information into Human Resource Department Offerings." Panelists will include Jack Dolan, Senior Consultant, Senior Bridge Family; Bob Levy, CEO, Corporate Counseling Associates; and Ida Gencarelli, Director of Employee Benefits, New York Power Authority. Laurel Pickering, Executive Director, New York Business Group on Health, will give closing remarks. The seminar is cosponsored by the New York State Health Accountability Foundation.

The discharge planner seminar, "Discharge Planning - A Link to Informed Consumers," will kick off with introductory remarks by Clare B. Bradley, MD, MPH, Senior Vice President/Chief Medical Officer, IPRO. The national Nursing Home Quality Initiative will be discussed by Pauline Kinney, RN, MA, LNHA, Director/NHQI, IPRO. Sheila McCullagh, RN, BS, IPRO's Director of Consumer Protection/Outreach, will discuss "Discharge Planners as Information Intermediaries" and will demonstrate the CMS Nursing Home Compare site at www.Medicare.gov. Michael Conroy, MSW, Director of Social Work/Case Management, Lenox Hill Hospital, will discuss "The Discharge Planner's Perspective." A representative of the New York State Long Term Care Ombudsman Program will close the morning with "Communications Across Care Settings."

With nearly 20 years experience in health care quality evaluation, IPRO holds major contracts with state and federal governments to review the cost and quality of services provided to Medicaid recipients, Medicare beneficiaries, and patients enrolled in managed care organizations. Based in Lake Success, New York, IPRO also holds contracts with private-sector clients to improve the quality of privately financed services.