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| Conducted validation studies to determine the accuracy of MDS QIs |
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MDS Research team members worked with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Center for Health Systems Research and Analysis, and Division of Aging (DA) staff to validate the accuracy of the MDS quality indicators. It is important that the MDS quality indicators be validated for accuracy. They can be extremely useful to a facility’s quality improvement program as well as to survey staff. Quality indicators are markers of potential problems that quality improvement teams can and should explore in further depth. Types of problems which can be detected using MDS quality indicators include incontinence, skin breakdown, weight loss, dehydration, and others.
Specific facility reports are generated using the facility’s MDS data and quality indicators are calculated by the MDS Research Team statistical members. The procedure required that two advance practice nurses observe (and in some cases talk with) the nursing facility residents who are flagged by the MDS quality indicators. The advance practice nurse observers confirmed if the residents have the problem indicated by the quality indicators. The observers attempted to identify other residents who exhibit the problem defined by the quality indicator but who did not flag within the facility specific report. Facility staff did not participate in the data collection in direct ways; however, they did assist the nurse observers by answering specific questions about residents, care delivery, and by providing access to clinical records. We completed observations in ten homes of various sizes and ownership in Missouri. Study findings were presented at the request of Division of Aging at a national conference of survey agencies in fall 1998. The study was reviewed and approved by the University Missouri-Columbia Human Subjects Review Board prior to the initiation of research. The study found the QIs are accurate in the Missouri sample. Rantz, M. J., Popejoy, L., Mehr, D., Zwygart-Stauffacher, M., Hicks, L., Grando, V., Conn, V., Porter, R., Scott, J., & Maas, M. (1997). Verifying nursing home care quality using minimum data set quality indicators and other quality measures. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 12(2), 54-62. |