May 9, 2012

OHCA Contacts: Jo Kilgore - (405) 522-7474, Carter Kimble - (405) 522-7510

The Focus on Excellence (FOE) nursing home rating initiative and quality reimbursement program has been helping consumers make informed decisions along with providing useful information to nursing home managers since 2007. In line with the program’s mission to improve and enhance the overall quality of care being provided in Oklahoma’s nursing home facilities, new performance metrics have been established.  This new metric set is more logically organized and better addresses the most important issues of the Long-Term Care community. 

The nine new measures are: person-centered care, direct care staffing, resident/family satisfaction, employee satisfaction, licensed nurse retention, CNA retention, distance learning, peer mentoring and leadership commitment.

“These updates to quality measures reflect our commitment to the continuous improvement of this extremely important program. The information made available by Focus on Excellence is critical to both those who are in need of nursing home care and those who provide services. Data-driven decisions by facility managers and by those making choices about where to get services are the best drivers of improved quality of care,” said Mike Fogarty, Oklahoma Health Care Authority CEO.  

In addition to the improved quality measures, the program will also see changes resulting in increased precision and fairness in ratings and payment allocation, expanded information to consumers, improved program accountability and a focus on the residents’ personal needs and desires in a home-like atmosphere.

All Oklahoma Long-Term Care facilities are eligible to participate. There are currently some 291 homes actively participating. To view more detailed information on the new rating factors, visit www.oknursinghomeratings.com. For further information on the overall program contact Jennifer Wynn at 405-522-7306 or jennifer.wynn@okhca.org.

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