Quality

Direct-care worker associations can give individuals a means of gaining additional skills, accessing support and recognition, and networking with peers. They can also raise awareness to the value of caregiving work and help workers develop leadership skills needed to become involved in discussions about long-term care policy and workplace practices. The article provides a historical overview of associations, reviews successful models, and addresses ways to organize and sustain groups.

This Promising Practices Bulletin highlights the development and implementation of an internet-based centralized reporting system to report and track major/unusual incidents in the Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. The system is used by county boards to report major and unusual incidents (MUIs) to the state, by the state to follow up on investigations and remediation related to MUIs, as well as for analysis of patterns and trends related to MUIs.

These materials are from the national conference sponsored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and held in Nashville on May 2-3, 2002. The goal of the conference was to provide an opportunity for information exchange among decision-makers in the design and implementation of quality management/improvement. This conference was designed to facilitate communication around quality management among state staff, federal agency staff, providers, and consumers/advocates.

This Promising Practices Bulletin highlights South Carolina's automated Case Management System (CMS) for the day-to-day management of three Medicaid HCBS waivers (Elderly/Disabled, HIV/AIDS, Ventilator Dependent). In addition to supporting intake, assessment, care planning and service initiation functions, South Carolina’s CMS is also used to support quality management through its report-generation function.