Staff share commitment to performance measurement

Pictured above: Krista Boston, left, and Val Cooke of Continuing Care pose by the Hall of Results, which features posters on key measurements tracked by the administration.

Top state leaders recently heard about efforts in the DHS Continuing Care Administration to measure progress toward such policy goals as helping seniors return to their homes after a nursing home stay and helping people with disabilities move to homes of their own. DHS Commissioner Lucinda Jesson introduced the team to her colleagues at Gov. Mark Dayton’s senior leadership meeting Oct. 9, calling Continuing Care’s work a model for the rest of the agency.

Continuing Care’s focus on measurement grew out of a “commitment to first-rate public service” and an understanding that “what gets measured gets done,” said key presenter Bob Meyer, Continuing Care’s director of fiscal management and performance measurement. 

Having started with professional training in January 2008, Continuing Care began its “Hall of Results” later that year to display posters showing progress on a number of measurements that relate to four key Continuing Care Administration goals:

• Support and enhance the quality of life for older people and people with disabilities.
• Manage an equitable and sustainable long-term care system that maximizes value.
• Continuously improve service administration.
• Promote professional excellence and engagement.

 

Valerie Cooke, Alternative Payment System Project director in the Nursing Facility Rates and Policy Division, and Krista Boston, Consumer Choices director in the Aging and Adult Services Division, presented on two measurements from their areas:

•  A comparison of residents’ quality of care scores in nursing facilities participating in the Performance Incentive Payment Program (PIPP) versus non-PIPP nursing homes. Since 2008 scores for the PIPP homes, which are rewarded for projects to improve the quality and efficiency of nursing home care, have consistently ranked higher than those of facilities not participating in the program.
• The number of people living in a nursing home for less than 90 days who have been directly assisted by a Senior LinkAge Line® community living specialists. Since the “Return to Community” effort began in 2010, the number of consumers directly helped to return home has exceeded goals.  The project is on track to exceed its 2012 goal by 40 people, currently assisting with more than 80 nursing home discharges per quarter. This effort meets the goals of helping seniors who want to return home do so while also helping them avoid spending down assets on more expensive housing models.

 

Loren Colman, assistant commissioner for Continuing Care, noted that having spent much of his career in the private sector he was surprised, coming to DHS,  at how specifically government focused on two- or four-year planning cycles. Even with the private sector’s keen focus on quarterly results, private sector boards of directors want at least five-year strategic plans for the organizations they oversee, Colman said.

“We began to try to influence our culture and blend five-to-10-year and even 20-year planning while respecting the two-year biennial state budget realities,” Colman said. “Taking time to create a vision for what senior services and services for people with disabilities may look like in the future helps us arrive at shorter-term initiatives that move us toward that strategic vision.”

In addition to supporting policy direction, Continuing Care’s focus on performance measurement has proven to be satisfying, engaging and empowering for staff, Meyer said.

In next steps, Continuing Care will be working more closely with external stakeholders and partners to improve results.

Continuing Care’s Hall of Results outside the elevator bank on the Elmer L. Andersen Human Services Building's third floor includes posters with updated results on 10 measurements, which also include:

• Percentages of seniors and people with disabilities receiving services in home and community-based settings versus institutions
• Percent of seniors receiving services through the Elderly Waiver and Alternative Care Program
• Percent of people with disabilities receiving services through home and community-based waiver programs
• Number of adult Minnesotans with disabilities moved to homes of their own through the Housing Access Services program
• Percent of people receiving services through the Telephone Equipment Distribution program who feel more independent because of the program
• Percent of vulnerable adult maltreatment reports forwarded to lead agencies within two days
• Rates of overall job satisfaction among Continuing Care staff members.

More information on Continuing Care measurements is available in CCA Performance Reports, CCA Interactive Public Reports and the DHS Dashboard.