Implementing Quality First Successfully

Name:		John Mastronardi
Title:		AVP of Information Technology
Organization:		Morningside House (Nursing Home and HCBS)
Location:		Bronx, NY
Phone:		718-409-8221
E-mail:		jmastro@aiamsh.org

Have you reviewed the QF Website?
Yes, it was helpful in terms of describing what other facilities had accomplished.

Does your organization have a Quality First leader... an individual or committee? Yes, we initiated a special committee. But we already had a QF committee.

Has your organization developed an action plan to focus on improvements in one or more of the Quality First Elements of Quality?
Yes, we are determined to improve communication and hiring practices through identification of specific problems through root cause analysis and a focus on enhancing staff, departmental and individual communication as well as enhancement of our screening, orientation and hiring practices for soft skills as well as technical capabilities. Environmental improvements entail more Rounds with the focus on reporting and fixing issues as quickly as possible.

Has QF been beneficial to your organization in improving quality?
Yes, it has lifted the veil, so to speak, on the attitude of "business as usual" that sometimes creeps into an organization. Interestingly, many staff members felt that we were already practicing Quality First, but after the QF Rounds were reported at Administrative Staff, there was a noticeable change in attitude and a recognition and desire to do better. The process is slow, but worthwhile. In the next year, for instance, we will focus more on sharing with other facilities, and resident and staff satisfaction.

Would you say that you have been able to integrate QF into your ongoing operations, or is it viewed as "something else to do"? Explain.
Right now it is viewed as an additional set of items on the agenda. Integrating into the daily fabric of the organization presents a challenge because it is truly a mindset change for some of the staff. But in response, we said this was a new direction in which we must travel. Then we distributed the QF literature and explained the reasoning behind the movement, which helped.

Members have voiced several reasons for not signing the QF Covenant, including: We already run a quality organization; we don't want to expose ourselves to greater liability; we can't afford it; we're too busy. What would you say to encourage these members to sign the QF Covenant?
No matter how wonderful the service that an organization provides, there will always be room for improvement. An organization and its people can never be satisfied to rest on its laurels. Everyday we must justify our jobs and our existence to the people that we serve and to the public at large. Quality First provides a clear and distinctly advantageous avenue for quality improvement because it is not a program that an organization simply implements and then it's over. Quality First is a continual goal and a moving target. If we feel that we, as an organization, have done everything that we can to improve quality and there is nothing more to achieve, then why are we still here?