A Team Approach to Reducing Bedsores in Nursing Homes

Today's New York Times reported on a collaborative program carried out by 52 nursing homes around the country, sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The team effort, involving not only nursing staff, but laundry workers, nutritionists, and maintenance workers, reduced the incidence of severe bedsores (medically known as pressure ulcers) by 69 percent. Experts say two million Americans acquire pressure ulcers each year.

"Dr. Horn, of the Institute for Clinical Outcomes Research, praised the collaborative as 'the first major national effort driven by Medicare to reduce pressure ulcers.' But she said that better outcomes could be achieved if more nursing homes improved their documentation, so that all of the information on a given resident, including details on eating, urinary and bowel function, appeared on a single sheet, with key reminders to nursing assistants and other staff members about best practices.

Institutional change and work-flow redesign are critical, she added, given the high rates of turnover in nursing home staff across the country."