NHC Smithville was recently awarded a grant for successful implementation of the INTERACT program. INTERACT stands for Interventions to Reduce Acute Hospital Transfers and NHC Smithville has successfully implemented the core strategies of the program. The grant was the result of collaboration between Vanderbilt and National HealthCare Corporation.
According to the INTERACT website, “INTERACT is a quality improvement program designed to improve the early identification, assessment, documentation, and communication about changes in the status of patients in skilled nursing facilities. The goal of INTERACT is to improve care and reduce the frequency of potentially avoidable transfers to the acute hospital.”
“We know from experience that unnecessary transfers to the hospital can result in a challenging situation for the patient and hospital, especially with complicated cases of dementia, acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and pneumonia,” said Melody Anderson, Director of Nursing. “If we can identify and treat a condition before it results in a transfer to the hospital, the patient gets the appropriate care and overall costs are drastically reduced. The INTERACT assessment and communication tools are helpful because they give practitioners consistent, informative data to help treat the patient as early as possible.”
“These grant funds will go towards training and equipping our nurses and CNA’s with the necessary resources to help reduce unnecessary hospital transfers,” said Clint Hall, Administrator. “We are committed to improving the quality of care for patients in DeKalb County and the surrounding communities.”
NHC Smithville offers inpatient and outpatient rehabilitative care for patients of all ages. For more information about NHC Smithville, visit www.nhcsmithville.com or call (615) 597-4284. For more information on the INTERACT program, visit www.interact2.net.
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