As the U.S. attempted to control the first wave of COVID-19 infections back in March, long-term care and nursing homes quickly took the brunt of the virus. But, while one-third of all COVID-19-related deaths to date have been long-term care facilities, residents or staff people, some facilities managed the outbreaks better than others.
In a recent MarketWatch column, the American University School of Public Affairs cited quality of management and adherence to government regulations as key factors for determining success levels of disease outbreak mitigation at long-term care facilities.
More specifically, their research showed that management quality seems to be higher at long-term care facilities where administrators serve for longer periods of time, work to maintain lower costs, and actively address organizational problems. Additionally, care is improved where management wants to maintain compliance with government regulations. Disease outbreaks have been better contained at facilities that adhere to voluntary regulations like the National Background Check Program, a program that provides grant money to states which develop systems for criminal history background checks on long-term care job candidates. In short, tougher staffing regulations lead to stronger staffing which leads to fewer health violations and better-rated care.
Regardless of a state’s choice to comply with voluntary regulations, every long-term care facility staff has the same opportunity to meet the needs of the residents in their care. Facility administrators who employ strict pre-employment screening of their management candidates and thorough criminal background checks of all their job candidates will find themselves with better-qualified teams and healthier facilities across the board.
Eventually, COVID-19 will no longer be a pandemic wreaking havoc on healthcare facilities. But there will always be a need for disease mitigation strategies that start with highly engaged, trustworthy, skilled workers. ClearStar can help individual facilities and entire systems manage healthcare industry background checks and pre-employment screening that can lead to employees who’ll deliver 5-star care.
