QA Reader Blog

Peter Feeney

Peter has over 20 years of experience managing self-insurance groups and over 30 years of experience in the insurance industry. As the President of American Risk Pooling Consultants, He oversaw the operations of group self-insurance pools with over 2,500 public entity participants.

Recent Posts

Risk Management Is Your Path to Meeting Regulatory Requirements

Posted by Peter Feeney on August 15, 2016 at 11:30 AM

The long term care industry has regulations that require you to be attentive to the quality of care and quality of life you deliver to your residents. Communities should place a much greater emphasis on the Quality Assurance/Performance Improvement (QAPI) process, coupled with a proactive and ongoing risk management program.

Read More

Topics: Risk Management

See a 300% Jump in ROI on Adverse Event and Incident Tracking

Posted by Peter Feeney on August 1, 2016 at 9:30 AM

Your organization manages adverse events much like everyone else. Someone, likely a pretty high-functioning nurse, accumulates paper incident reports manually or from your EHR system. They periodically type them into a spreadsheet, then sort them and count the different types of incidents by community. They do a pretty good job of it, even though they complain that they aren’t very good at Excel, that some buildings don’t report consistently, and that they can’t get anybody’s attention with the results that are often murky at best compared to benchmarks that they can’t find.

Let’s put aside the qualitative aspects of incident reporting and let’s overlook the most important aspect of your current incident reporting and adverse event management process—that it doesn’t work as well as it should and could. Let’s focus on one simple thing: how much does it cost you?

Read More

Topics: Quality Assurance, Incident Reporting

6 Things Top LTPAC Management Teams Do to Manage Adverse Events

Posted by Peter Feeney on July 28, 2016 at 10:30 AM

There are top performers in every industry and every sport, and they have remarkable similarities. Sure, they have talent, but they also approach their work in the same ways and with the same tools.

I was just watching the U.S. Olympic Trials, which was dramatic and exciting. For most of the athletes, it was their best chance to go to the Olympic Games, to be an Olympian. No matter if they were a high jumper, a sprinter, a wrestler or a gymnast, after their event—when the microphone was placed in front of them, every one of them said the same thing: “I worked so hard to get here.”

Read More

Topics: Quality Assurance, Patient Care

Happy Communities Don't Get Sued

Posted by Peter Feeney on July 21, 2016 at 9:30 AM

Everyone has heard the stories of good doctors with bad bedside manner getting sued more often than bad doctors with good bedside manner. It's true with doctors, and it's true with facilities.

Are you nice? Would other people say you're nice, or is this just your own perception of yourself? Nice people are valued in our organizations because they're the glue that can hold a community together. Ever meet a person who wasn’t nice who was the “go to” person on a team or organization? Not often. 

Read More

Topics: Patient Care

Past Non-Compliance Doesn't Have to Result in a Citation

Posted by Peter Feeney on July 18, 2016 at 3:07 PM

Have you ever had an adverse event happen in your community where you identified that a deficient practice may have contributed to, or failed to prevent, the incident? This may surprise you, but CMS understands that this can happen and they're willing to give you an opportunity to avoid citations! Shocking but true, back in October 2005 a memo was published by CMS outlining the History of Past Non-Compliance (HPNC) process (www.cms.gov).

Read More

Topics: Quality Assurance, Administration, Regulatory Compliance

Protecting Frail Patients from Fall-Related Injuries

Posted by Peter Feeney on July 14, 2016 at 12:10 PM

It's a well-known fact that many resident falls aren't preventable. But it's still our responsibility to decrease the risk of significant injuries related to falls.

large study from Canada showed that frail, elderly patients face a significantly increased risk of mortality in the year after undergoing major elective, non-cardiac surgery. Being frail before surgery substantially increases the risk of adverse postoperative outcomes and that frailty had the strongest impact on the risk of mortality after total joint arthroplasty.

Read More

Topics: Risk Management, Quality Assurance, Patient Care

Risks of Using Flu Vaccines and Statin in Senior Care

Posted by Peter Feeney on July 11, 2016 at 1:07 PM

According to a pair of studies published online in the Journal of Infectious Disease, statins—a class of drugs widely used to reduce cholesterol in older adultsmay reduce the response to and effectiveness of influenza vaccinations.

Read More

Topics: Patient Care

Making Sense of the F323 Regulation

Posted by Peter Feeney on July 1, 2016 at 1:23 PM

F323 is the federal tag that is often cited at actual harm or immediate jeopardy. Have you received any citations at actual harm under this tag in recent years? If so, when was the last time you reviewed the language in the regulation?

I know it's probably a great cure for insomnia, but the regulation is pretty clearly written. And although there is some room for interpretation, it's a great guide to help improve your accident prevention program. Think about it: how can you meet the challenge if you don’t know what the rules are?

Read More

Topics: Quality Assurance, Administration

Senior Living Pro Tip: Reduce Claims By Owning Your Ship

Posted by Peter Feeney on June 30, 2016 at 8:00 AM

Own your ship. This is one of our company principles, for one simple reason. It is the single characteristic that separates the best from everyone else in any industry, in any walk of life, in any sport, and in any era for that matter. Why is that? 

Read More

Topics: Risk Management

Adverse Events – Facing Reality

Posted by Peter Feeney on June 27, 2016 at 1:00 PM

Adverse events are part of serving seniors, pure and simple.

Whether the resident is in your community for short term rehab or to spend their last days, they expect to receive great care. But the reality is, residents fall. They develop skin issues. And family members are processing these changes.

But enough of the dark and gloomy. We simply have to face reality and deal with it.

Read More

Topics: Risk Management, Patient Care

Get our Fast Facts Infographic to learn why real users love QA Reader.

Subscribe to Email Updates

Recent Posts