GREENSBURG, PA — The Newhaven Court Think Tank was designed to address major health care problems in hopes to conceptualize best practices that can be implemented and tested throughout our respective region. The Newhaven Court Think Tank occurs every 60 days and includes Skilled Nursing Facility Administrators, Nurses, Admissions Coordinators, Discharge Planners, the local hospitals’ Directors of Case Management, Home Health and Hospice Representatives as well as Therapy Group representatives, Financial Advisors, and of course our Newhaven Court Team.
The topic for the past two Think Tanks has been “Re-hospitalization Rates.” This is a growing concern not only in our region, but across the country. In the first think tank Newhaven Court presented data showing that re-hospitalization rates have been shown to lower as much as 50% among patients who receive respite care upon discharge. This extra step before returning home clearly makes an impact on the successful return to health for residents. The panel present at the Think Tank agreed to present the healthcare community with a universal respite education piece that discussed the type of options provided for a prospective resident upon discharge from a hospital or skilled nursing facility. The universal respite material was finalized a week later and was introduced into the marketplace in two weeks.
Other takeaways from the first Think tank was the advice from Hospital Director of Case Management, John Dolan, who reminded Newhaven Court’s wellness team of the importance of regularly weighing our residents as a means of screening for potential health problems such as CHF. We are happy to announce that this renewed focus since Think Tank 1, Newhaven Court at Lindwood has been able to dramatically decline admissions to the hospital, with only one admission into the hospital for CHF.
Communication was the next topic of interest as transparent communication about a resident’s health, needs and next steps with the resident and designated persons can make a great impact on the residents’ healthcare success. Representatives from both Newhaven Court at Lindwood and Westmoreland Manor Nursing discussed a format that would be more universal across all steps of the resident’s healthcare journey. Since then communication has improved dramatically between Newhaven Court’s Senior Living care team and the nursing team at Westmoreland.
A financial advisor was brought in to discuss the financial benefits of respite stay for seniors, as we discussed alternative ways to introduce this fact to the general public. We concluded with the announcement that we will be starting a Think Tank Newsletter to distribute our findings as well as create an open forum for other communities and facilities to reach out and express their best practices or concerns in regards to providing quality care within the region.
For more information about the Newhaven Court Think Tank, contact Michael Anton Monsour at mmonsour@integracare.com or by calling Newhaven Court at Lindwood at 724-853-2505