February 24, 2011 |

Report Highlights Case Studies for Best Practices in Care Transitions

The Long Term Quality Alliance (LTQA) today released a summary of its Innovative Communities Summit held last December in Washington, D.C. The report showcases how three innovative programs are working to reduce re-hospitalization rates and improve care transitions for citizens requiring long-term care services.

The three programs spotlighted are: North Carolina’s Community Connections project in Chapel Hill; Vermont’s Seniors Aging Safely at Home in Burlington; and Michigan’s Detroit Community Action to Reduce Hospitalizations in Farmington.

“These programs serve as examples for strengthening the continuum of care, including ways to prevent unnecessary hospitalization and improved transitions between medical and social settings, with the goal of creating a more person-centered, efficient system that empowers aging with dignity in the place of the consumer’s choice,” said Bruce Chernof, MD, president and CEO of The SCAN Foundation, which provided grant funding for the Innovative Communities Summit.

Community delegations were invited to attend the summit and explore a multi-year partnership for creating and strengthening multi-sector cooperatives for improving transitions and reducing hospitalization rates.

“While action on the national level is certainly integral to healthcare reform, LTQA is convinced that the real and sustainable health reform victories will take place at the local level, in cities and towns across the country,” said LTQA Chair Mary Naylor, PhD, FAAN, RN, in a release.

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