Never before and since the pandemic has the ability to passively monitor and evaluate infection control processes been so important. One of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) measures that can be used to passively monitor infection programs is ” The Percent of Residents With a Urinary Tract Infection,” which reports the percent of residents experiencing a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) in the last thirty days. Although the measure is publicly reported on Nursing Home Compare (NHC), that data is 3-6 months old – too outdated to use to effect real change in care processes that could influence the spread of infection. Using Quality Apex, a software application that displays performance on CMS quality measures in real time, facilities can evaluate the effectiveness of their infection control programs.
Article prepared for LeadingAge Kansas by Susan Chenail RN, CCM, RAC-CT, Senior Quality Improvement Analyst, LeadingAge NY Technology Solutions, LLC
