The OMNI team accepts 2012 Quality Improvement award at OLTCA/ORCA conference and trade show.

OMNI tops in quality improvement
Efforts to reduce fractures recognized with OLTCA award
Monday April 11, 2012 -- Kristian Partington
Standing before a room filled with people connected to the world of elder care at the Ontario Long Term Care Association/Ontario Retirement Communities Association Breakfast of Champions to receive some well-deserved recognition was a sweet moment for OMNI Health Care chief operating officer Candace Chartier.

OMNI has always made quality improvement a top priority, but in the last 18 months, that focus has been sharpened and through hard work and the dedication of many, a real difference has been made in the lives of residents.

On April 3, Chartier, along with CEO Patrick McCarthy and operations director Shawn Riel, accepted the OLTCA's 2012 Quality Improvement Recognition Program Team of the Year award at the annual breakfast, held during the organizations' conference in Toronto.

"It's been slow and steady wins the race and so we started with our pilot home, and it's not just one area that resulted in the quality, it's everybody working as a team; not only our management and staff but our service providers as well," says Chartier.

"One of the most phenomenal parts is working with our physiotherapy provider (Achieva Health) and establishing the nursing rehabilitation and physio program we have in place."

The award stems from the work done at Riverview Manor to pilot initiatives that have made an impact and will hopefully roll out in all OMNI homes, she adds, pointing to efforts to reduce fractures in long term care with hip protectors and osteoporosis screening to identify at-risk residents.

Chartier put together her statistics for the past year and the results speak for themselves. Out of 40 critical incidents, 24 had been saved from any hip fractures, thanks to the use of hip protectors. The remaining falls where residents weren't wearing the protectors resulted in 16 broken hips.

Protecting residents from debilitating and painful injury is an obvious sign of quality improvement, but Chartier also notes there are other benefits she's identified.

"Basically, just on those critical incidents we saved the health care system $912,000," she says.

Formalizing the quality improvement initiatives over that last 18 months means there is now quantifiable data available to justify the spread of the program, says Chartier.

If you have questions or comments, please contact 800-294-0051, ext. 24, or e-mail kristian(at)axiomnews.ca.