Quality-of-life Assessment
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REASONS TO IMPROVE IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS
In today's long-term-care environment, nursing homes have compelling reasons to improve their improvement efforts. First and foremost is the availability-since November 2003-of public report cards for virtually every nursing home in the nation. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) publishes these reports on its website, www.medicare.gov, not only to help consumers make informed decisions but also to motivate nursing homes to improve their daily care practices and resident outcomes. Field reports suggest that this long-term-care improvement initiative has indeed sparked new interest among nursing homes in enhancing their services.
The other impetus for change is that the nation's tsunami wave of baby boomers has begun to eye nursing homes as possible residences for their elderly parents. This demanding, very vocal generation is notorious for its ability to transform the institutions it cares about. Though the baby boomers, acting on behalf of their frail parents, have only recently begun to flex their consumer muscle in the long-term-care industry, nursing facilities are taking note and redesigning their services to meet this generation's high expectations.
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