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Amy Weiss, 202-203-0448

Dramatic Drop in Facility Restraint Use Points to Success on Quality Improvement Front

Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care:
Much More to do, But Achievements Merit Public Recognition

Washington, DC – Commenting on today’s Associated Press news article reporting “The use of physical restraints on nursing home patients declined nearly 40 percent nationally in recent years as the federal government, states and the nursing home industry placed greater emphasis on eliminating what once was a common practice,” the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care said this achievement represents a solid success for joint government-provider quality improvement efforts.

“While this is but one quality indicator, and we still have much work to do, the dramatic drop in the use of physical restraints in America’s nursing homes is a significant development – and reflects ongoing improvements in the quality of care and quality of life for nursing home patients,” stated Alan G. Rosenbloom, President of the Alliance.

“The nursing home community’s Quality First initiative and the more recent Advancing Excellence Campaign – which is an unprecedented collaboration among consumer groups, health care professionals, paraprofessional caregivers, nursing homes and the federal government - - are yielding demonstrable improvements in outcomes, processes and consumer perceptions of care. e – which long term care profession’s ‘Quality First’ and ‘Advancing Excellence’ programs focus heavily upon improving consumers’ experience within a facility, especially in terms of actual patient outcome,” Rosenbloom continued.

The new nursing home data, part of an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) report that compares states on numerous health issues, also found restraint use among long-term patients dropped from 9.7 percent in 2002 to 5.9 percent in 2006. Rosenbloom noted at “we are proud of these achievements, which help to improve the lives of our oldest, most vulnerable patients, and we intend to continue pursuing quality improvements that raise the cumulative quality of care in all facilities.”

More broadly, Rosenbloom said the timing of this success is consistent with the stable federal Medicare funding levels in place over the past several years, and which now is threatened by possible federal funding reductions. “It is no accident that care improved during a period when Medicare funding was relatively stable. Quality improvement is inextricably linked to payment stability for nursing homes – and we are hopeful Congress will recognize that federal Medicare cuts are contrary to the interests of every long term care stakeholder.”

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The American Health Care Association (AHCA) and National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) represents nearly 11,000 non-profit and proprietary facilities dedicated to continuous improvement in the delivery of professional and compassionate care provided daily by millions of caring employees to 1.5 million of our nation’s frail, elderly and disabled citizens who live in nursing facilities, assisted living residences, subacute centers and homes for persons with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.  For more information, please visit www.ahca.org.

The Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care (“The Alliance”) is a coalition of 16 national long term care provider organizations that care for approximately 300,000 elderly and disabled patients each year in nearly 1,800 facilities across America. The Alliance is dedicated to improving the quality of nursing home care in the United States through measured results and outcomes and to assuring the government resources necessary to provide high quality care and services.