A Change of Role

I have been working as an independent contractor now for almost 6 months. I have had the opportunity to do mock surveys. I have completed the same tasks for facilities I worked for or were part of a company that I worked for, but doing it for a facility I am not an employee of is a little different. I really enjoy the process but also understand the stress it causes. I have had the opportunity to use the abaqis program and electronic records. This method makes the documentation review much easier. There is no trying to read someone's writing ( mine is horrible, I always felt sorry for surveyors trying to read it). The abaqis system mimics what the surveyors use exactly. During the first stage the system uses a computer program to choose the sample to be reviewed. Once this is done it guides you through a chart review that identifies trends that could be a deficiency. During the first stage you also complete interviews with residents, family and staff. Another part of the first stage includes direct observation of dinning, kitchen, medication pass and storage. once this is done it helps determine if additional information needs to be completed. This has been a positive experience for me. I love to teach and I use this process as an opportunity to share my knowledge during the survey as much as possible. I also get the opportunity to develop a plan of action for the facility to implement to correct the issues discovered during the process therefore sharing my knowledge and advice. I feel that facilities should self monitor as an ongoing process but should have someone not connected with the facility do a mock survey at least every other year if they have good survey outcomes and annually if they have problems or management turnover. Self monitoring can be skewed by staff and managers not being completely honest in order to look good on paper for a multitude of reasons:1. fear of what others will think of them,2. afraid of loosing their job, 3 not obtaining a bonus. If a facility cannot afford the abaqis program all of the forms can be printed directly from the CMS web site. Good survey outcomes will help a facility achieve a higher rating in the 5 star program resulting in improved census and community standing.