- Email: [email protected]
INTERACT for assisted living is here!
Geriatric Nursing 35 (2014) 482e483
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Geriatric Nursing journal homepage: www.gnjournal.com
AALNA Section
INTERACT for assisted living is here! Josh Allen, RN, C-AL * Board Member, American Assisted Living Nurses Association, USA
After several years in development, assisted living versions of the INTERACT tools were released in July. The INTERACT, originally developed in the skilled nursing environment, is a quality improvement program designed to reduce hospitalizations and other acute care transfers. According to www.interact2.net, the official INTERACT website: INTERACT is an acronym for “Interventions to Reduce Acute Care Transfers”. The interventions are a quality improvement program designed to improve the identification, evaluation, and communication about changes in resident status. The overall goal of the INTERACT program is to reduce the frequency of transfers to the acute hospital. Transfers to the hospital can be emotionally and physically difficult for residents, and result in numerous complications of hospitalization, and they are costly. In the plans for health care reform, Medicare may financially reward facilities with lower hospitalization rates for certain conditions. By improving the identification, evaluation, and communication about changes in resident status, some, but not all acute care transfers can be avoided.
AALNA’s role In 2012 Brookdale and the University of North Texas Health Science Center received a grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to test the implementation of INTERACT in 27 assisted living, independent living, and dementia care communities in Texas and Florida. At the request of Brookdale Senior Living, AALNA and our partners at NCAL became involved in the review, revision, and development of INTERACT tools as part of this project. Through these and other stakeholder collaborations, AALNA was able to influence the paths pursued and the changes needed to create Assisted Living appropriate tools and approaches to the
* Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected]. 0197-4572/$ e see front matter Ó 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2014.10.007
INTERACT program. The official INTERACT tools for Assisted Living became available to the public on the INTERACT website on July 25, 2014. These tools can be accessed at no cost by visiting: http:// interact2.net/assisted_living.aspx. The INTERACT tools There are four basic types of tools in the INTERACT program: quality improvement tools; advance care planning tools; communication tools; and decision support tools/clinical paths. The list below summarizes the specific tools available in each category. Quality Improvement tools Acute Care Transfer Log Quality Improvement Tool for Review of Acute Care Transfers Quality Improvement Worksheet Advance Care Planning tools
Advance Care Planning Communication Guide Advance Care Planning Tracking Tools Comfort Order Set Education Information: Risks and Benefits of Hospitalization, Decision Making Vignettes on CPR and Enteral Feeding
Communication tools Stop and Watch Early Warning Tool SBAR Communication Form and Progress Note for Caregivers SBAR Communication Form and Progress Note for RN/LPN/ LVNs Decision Support tools Change in Condition File Cards Care Paths Acute Mental Status Change
AALNA Section / Geriatric Nursing 35 (2014) 482e483
Change in Behavior e New or worsening Symptoms Dehydration Fever GI Symptoms: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea Shortness of Breath Symptoms of lower respiratory illness Symptoms of CHF Symptoms of UTI
483
We at AALNA hope all of our members will embrace these new, industry driven tools as your organization for Assisted Living Nurses was instrumental in their development specifically for our profession. Projects such as this are evidence of nurses working with and for nurses to provide quality environments for our staff, residents, families and physicians. This is a perfect example of what your association can do for you and our profession. About AALNA
Ensuring the nurse’s voice is heard As the landscape of health care changes, state regulations become more stringent and requirements for quality improvement become more evident and the impact on Assisted Living will be felt. AALNA and our partners want to be the leaders in our profession bringing systematic improved communication and quality improvement to a higher level before any government agency demands it. The advent and use of these Assisted Living specific tools will become a standard part of quality improvement. The skilled environment has been utilizing their tools for a few years and changes to staff communication with each other and physicians regarding resident changes in condition have improved with their use. AALNA sees this system as an innovative approach to improving communication by more directly empowering our caregivers and improving our relationships with each other, residents, families and physicians.
The American Assisted Living Nurses Association is the only national non-profit association dedicated exclusively to nursing in assisted living. Operated by nurses, for nurses. The mission of AALNA is to promote effective nursing practice in assisted living such that nurses as well as residents benefit. Learn more about AALNA at www.alnursing.org. About the author Josh Allen is a Registered Nurse with over 20 years of experience in assisted living and residential care. Josh serves on the national board of directors of the American Assisted Living Nurses Association and represents AALNA on the Coalition of Geriatric Nursing Organizations and the Center for Excellence in Assisted Living board of directors. Josh is also the director of InTouch at Home, an SRG Senior Living company.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Geriatric Nursing journal homepage: www.gnjournal.com
AALNA Section
INTERACT for assisted living is here! Josh Allen, RN, C-AL * Board Member, American Assisted Living Nurses Association, USA
After several years in development, assisted living versions of the INTERACT tools were released in July. The INTERACT, originally developed in the skilled nursing environment, is a quality improvement program designed to reduce hospitalizations and other acute care transfers. According to www.interact2.net, the official INTERACT website: INTERACT is an acronym for “Interventions to Reduce Acute Care Transfers”. The interventions are a quality improvement program designed to improve the identification, evaluation, and communication about changes in resident status. The overall goal of the INTERACT program is to reduce the frequency of transfers to the acute hospital. Transfers to the hospital can be emotionally and physically difficult for residents, and result in numerous complications of hospitalization, and they are costly. In the plans for health care reform, Medicare may financially reward facilities with lower hospitalization rates for certain conditions. By improving the identification, evaluation, and communication about changes in resident status, some, but not all acute care transfers can be avoided.
AALNA’s role In 2012 Brookdale and the University of North Texas Health Science Center received a grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to test the implementation of INTERACT in 27 assisted living, independent living, and dementia care communities in Texas and Florida. At the request of Brookdale Senior Living, AALNA and our partners at NCAL became involved in the review, revision, and development of INTERACT tools as part of this project. Through these and other stakeholder collaborations, AALNA was able to influence the paths pursued and the changes needed to create Assisted Living appropriate tools and approaches to the
* Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected]. 0197-4572/$ e see front matter Ó 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2014.10.007
INTERACT program. The official INTERACT tools for Assisted Living became available to the public on the INTERACT website on July 25, 2014. These tools can be accessed at no cost by visiting: http:// interact2.net/assisted_living.aspx. The INTERACT tools There are four basic types of tools in the INTERACT program: quality improvement tools; advance care planning tools; communication tools; and decision support tools/clinical paths. The list below summarizes the specific tools available in each category. Quality Improvement tools Acute Care Transfer Log Quality Improvement Tool for Review of Acute Care Transfers Quality Improvement Worksheet Advance Care Planning tools
Advance Care Planning Communication Guide Advance Care Planning Tracking Tools Comfort Order Set Education Information: Risks and Benefits of Hospitalization, Decision Making Vignettes on CPR and Enteral Feeding
Communication tools Stop and Watch Early Warning Tool SBAR Communication Form and Progress Note for Caregivers SBAR Communication Form and Progress Note for RN/LPN/ LVNs Decision Support tools Change in Condition File Cards Care Paths Acute Mental Status Change
AALNA Section / Geriatric Nursing 35 (2014) 482e483
Change in Behavior e New or worsening Symptoms Dehydration Fever GI Symptoms: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea Shortness of Breath Symptoms of lower respiratory illness Symptoms of CHF Symptoms of UTI
483
We at AALNA hope all of our members will embrace these new, industry driven tools as your organization for Assisted Living Nurses was instrumental in their development specifically for our profession. Projects such as this are evidence of nurses working with and for nurses to provide quality environments for our staff, residents, families and physicians. This is a perfect example of what your association can do for you and our profession. About AALNA
Ensuring the nurse’s voice is heard As the landscape of health care changes, state regulations become more stringent and requirements for quality improvement become more evident and the impact on Assisted Living will be felt. AALNA and our partners want to be the leaders in our profession bringing systematic improved communication and quality improvement to a higher level before any government agency demands it. The advent and use of these Assisted Living specific tools will become a standard part of quality improvement. The skilled environment has been utilizing their tools for a few years and changes to staff communication with each other and physicians regarding resident changes in condition have improved with their use. AALNA sees this system as an innovative approach to improving communication by more directly empowering our caregivers and improving our relationships with each other, residents, families and physicians.
The American Assisted Living Nurses Association is the only national non-profit association dedicated exclusively to nursing in assisted living. Operated by nurses, for nurses. The mission of AALNA is to promote effective nursing practice in assisted living such that nurses as well as residents benefit. Learn more about AALNA at www.alnursing.org. About the author Josh Allen is a Registered Nurse with over 20 years of experience in assisted living and residential care. Josh serves on the national board of directors of the American Assisted Living Nurses Association and represents AALNA on the Coalition of Geriatric Nursing Organizations and the Center for Excellence in Assisted Living board of directors. Josh is also the director of InTouch at Home, an SRG Senior Living company.