Mary Jane Koren

Modern Healthcare‘s August 16 issue features a commentary on the many ways that consistent assignment benefits nursing homes and residents, written by Mary Jane Koren, M.D., M.P.H., chair of the Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes campaign.

Koren, a geriatrician and vice president at The Commonwealth Fund, explains in “Predictable Scheduling: Nursing Homes Can Boost Quality, Bottom Line with ‘Consistent Assignment’” that when a nurse aide routinely cares for a nursing home resident, it improves the quality of care and is cost-effective.

Relationship between Consistent Assignment and Quality

Consistent assignment is one of the targets identified by Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes, a national campaign to improve the quality of nursing home care. Participating nursing homes set quality targets, and the campaign provides tools to measure progress and achieve goals.

The campaign data shows that nursing homes that have made inroads in improving quality outcomes are often facilities “with low staff turnover and…rely on consistent assignment,” Koren writes.

For example, she explains that when an aide develops a relationship with a resident through consistent assignment, the use of physical restraints can decrease and the development of pressure ulcers can be reduced. Ongoing relationships allow aides to observe and report potential medical problems, thus reducing costs.

Since residents rate relationships with caregivers as important, Koren says that nursing homes that employ consistent assignment have a “competitive edge in a tough market.”

“The PHI team has coached many nursing homes to implement consistent assignment,” said PHI Director of Training and Organizational Development Services Susan Misiorski.

“I can’t emphasize enough how critical this practice is to ensuring high job satisfaction, high resident satisfaction, and quality care outcomes,” Misiorski said.

Case Study on Consistent Assignment

Consistent assignment is one of the practices featured in a recently published PHI case study that highlights the outcomes achieved by the Edgewood Centre in Portsmouth, NH.

– by Deane Beebe