5/6/2021
May 6 12, 2021, is Nurses Week. CARF recognizes the profound impact the nursing field has across health and human services.
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11/13/2019
With a growing aging population, many adult children and other loved ones step up to provide care, but family caregivers take on a significant amount of work in addition to regular jobs and family responsibilities, which can lead to extreme burnout.
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7/25/2019
Social determinants of health (SDH) are the conditions in which people live, work, and age and include factors like housing stability, employment status, geographic location, education, and other socioeconomic circumstances. SDH, often determined by distribution of wealth and resources, has proven responsible for inequities in healthcare and has become its biggest cost-driver.
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6/7/2019
Using options like acupuncture, physical
fitness, pottery, and more within an organized community-based program can help
people reduce reliance on opioids
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4/16/2019
In
October, we highlighted some emerging medtech options
that may help reduce reliance on opioids for pain management. Next in our
series on pain management in the context of the current opioid crisis, we examine
the deeper issue of the nature of pain itself.
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3/14/2019
By CARF International
The CARF Connection blog often discusses integrative
services and ways to approach a person in a holistic way. In other words, we
focus on many of the things that social workers have been advocating since the
era of Jane Addams in the 1890s. It is no wonder that CARF’s workforce is
teeming with social work professionals.
This March, CARF joins the National Association of Social
Workers in celebrating social workers.
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2/25/2019
By CARF International
With healthcare information more
widely available than ever, consumers are boosting their health literacy,
taking the initiative to educate themselves more thoroughly on how to take care
of themselves. Here are some suggestions for taking control of your own health
literacy.
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2/13/2019
By CARF International
CARF shares best practices related to outcomes management through
its standards. To complement that effort, here are some recent field examples
of outcomes systems’ improving performance.
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1/3/2019
By CARF International
As providers, regulators, and payers in health and human
services around the world seek value and efficiency, many are adopting new
standards, integrating new methods, reviewing existing regulations, and
exploring innovative practices from other countries.
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12/20/2018
By CARF International
As 2018 comes to a close, we thank the many stakeholders who
spent another year advancing the goals and values close to CARF’s mission. In a
brief look back, here are some of the most consequential stories from 2018.
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11/29/2018
By CARF International
Many payers are exploring value- and performance-based
payment models in which providers are reimbursed for positive outcomes. Most
analysts believe such payment systems, which offer lower costs for payers, are
the wave of the future.
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10/16/2018
By CARF International
In the past, a concussion sustained while playing sports may
have been dismissed as just a bad headache. These days we understand a bump,
blow, or jolt to the head (or even the body) can affect brain function and
impeding an athlete’s ability to participate in sports for some time afterward.
In worst-case scenarios, coma or death can result.
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10/4/2018
By CARF International
Partly in response to the opioid crisis, medtechs across the
nation have ramped up development of devices that aim to manage pain without
exposing patients to the risk of drug addiction.
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8/15/2018
By Amy Ryan, MS, CCC-SLP and Dana Read, MS, CCC-SLP; CBIS-T
Screening for dysphagia and risk of aspiration in stroke patients
As speech pathologists and leaders in the stroke rehabilitation
acute care setting, we know that a reliable swallow-screening tool is essential
in treating patients at risk for dysphagia. Early detection of dysphagia and
the risk of aspiration are critical in improving swallowing function during a
patient’s hospital course. This is especially important with stroke patients, a
population in which oropharyngeal dysphagia occurs in 42%–67% of patients
within the first 3 days.
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6/19/2018
By Jing Walker, International Advisor, CARF Europe
Healthy China 2030 (HC 2030), healthcare reform launched in 2016, has put China’s relatively young but fast-growing rehabilitation and aging services industries back in the spotlight. In this article, Dr. Jianan Li discusses trends in China’s health and human services and the role CARF accreditation has in advancing quality
healthcare in China.
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5/24/2018
By CARF International
Take advantage of the professional development resource
offered to CARF-accredited organizations, and encourage your emerging leaders
to become CARF surveyors.
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5/17/2018
By CARF International
A recent report discusses the future of community-based
human services. The first four initiatives are directly supported by CARF
standards, meaning, if you’re a CBO applying the standards for accreditation,
you’re likely strengthening the overall ecosystem. Here are the standards and
other CARF resources that can offer guidance to your organization.
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4/10/2018
By CARF International
Surveyors representing health and human service organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada attended the 2018 CARF Surveyor Continuing Education Conference on March 24 and 25 at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort in beautiful Tucson, Arizona.
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3/22/2018
By T. Kent Keyser, Public Policy Fellow, United Spinal Association
Kent spent more than three decades working for a
prominent member of the U.S. House of Representatives. That experience coupled
with his natural resilience and optimism helped him overcome rehabilitation
obstacles following a severe spinal cord injury from a freak accident in his
home. Kent took charge of his own recovery and is now a national advocate for
others with spinal cord injury or other paralyzing conditions.
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3/20/2018
By Alexandra Bennewith, M.P.A., Vice President, Government Relations and Jane Wierbicky, RN, Information Specialist, United Spinal Association
Recent CMS actions provide welcome clarity to providers, insurers, and individuals with chronic conditions who need rehabilitative therapies and other skilled services, even when their underlying condition will not improve.
The actions include revisions to the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, a CMS webpage devoted to the topic, and a nationwide education campaign.
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2/28/2018
CARF’s winter Transforming Outcomes Institute concluded on February 24.
It hosted more than 100 participants in Tucson, AZ. Here’s a visual breakdown of the
training.
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1/3/2018
By Jing Walker, International Advisor, CARF Europe
In 1996, Lund University Hospital in Sweden became the first organization outside North America with a CARF-accredited program. Since then, the organization has restructured into Skåne University Hospital. The organization is preparing for its seventh accreditation survey in early summer of 2018.
Already one of the largest rehabilitation medicine clinics in Scandinavia, what makes Skåne University continuously committed to CARF accreditation?
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9/1/2017
We at CARF are deeply concerned about the many lives
affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, natural disasters of significant scope and scale.
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8/23/2017
We spoke with three former CARF
surveyors who are now CARF staff members. They shared some interesting context
on themselves and why they first got into surveying
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7/11/2017
Halfway into the 1971 classic film Willy
Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Gene Wilder, wearing an orange top hat
and oversized bow tie, excitedly shows off a special wall covered in
fruit-decorated wallpaper. “Lick a pineapple,” he implores. “It tastes like a
pineapple. Try some more! The snozzberries taste like snozzberries!” While
snozzberries and lickable wallpaper are the stuff of fiction, the interactive
wonderland of Wonka’s chocolate factory is not far from reality at Riley
Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis, Indiana.
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6/7/2017
By Brad Contento, Corporate Communications, CARF International
Gathering consumer feedback with uSPEQ survey tools has been gaining
traction within hospitals across China over the past two years. It is part of a
larger quality improvement groundswell happening in the country.
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1/10/2017
Beginning in 2017, CARF’s Medical Rehabilitation unit will offer 101
trainings exclusively in a downloadable recorded format rather than conducting
physical-locations trainings. Here is the information you need to know about
the change.
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9/16/2016
Responsible, quality-based practitioners in the health and human services industry should educate and train themselves to act in a responsible and timely manner when presented with a person at risk for suicide. We know through research that applying evidence-based practice and delivering comprehensive and integrated prevention programs can reduce the rate of suicide. In regard to Suicide Prevention Month, please access CARF’s Quality Practice Notice on Suicide Prevention for first step resources to saving a life.
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9/13/2016
As part of CARF’s 50th year anniversary celebration in 2016,
we are sharing snapshots of the industries in which we offer accreditation.
This is part 4 of a series: Medical Rehabilitation. TIRR Memorial Hermann was
one of the first providers to receive CARF accreditation in 1967.
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8/31/2016
Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia, is beginning to share the results from a three-year research project on the outcomes of an enhanced person-centered care initiative (including spinal cord injury peer mentorship) and how those strategies can be affordably replicated elsewhere.
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6/21/2016
Telecommunications and data management technology has
unavoidably made its way into healthcare industries because it can increase
consumer access to services and providers’ ability to provide them. Many
providers are successfully incorporating technological solutions, which is why
CARF has made an effort to highlight practices related to this topic in the Promising Practices newsletter series. This blog
post features some articles that highlight successful uses of technology to
improve business practices or service delivery.
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5/31/2016
A major story so far in 2016 has been the change in service
delivery models toward larger systems and networks through affiliations,
mergers, and various other types of integrations. Providers are forming
relationships across multiple sectors to expand their reach and provide services
more efficiently to a broader population. The changing environment poses
challenges for providers as they find themselves operating within a new service
infrastructure or environment. This trend is of particular interest to CARF
because it poses quality questions for providers across a spectrum of
industries.
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4/8/2016
After your programs or services have earned CARF accreditation, you will want to market and advertise your achievement to your community and stakeholders. CARF provides resources that can help you promote your accreditation, including guidelines for citing your accreditation, example news release and letter text, and several CARF seal options. This blog post explains how to properly use and display the CARF seals of accreditation in your online and printed materials.
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11/6/2014
With a renewed focus on both survivorship and quality of life, the medical community now recognizes that rehabilitation can serve an important role in improving care for the more than 14 million people currently living with cancer. This renewed focus allows for new opportunities of growth and clinical development in which the skills and tools commonly used for more traditional rehabilitation populations are now being applied to underserved individuals with significant needs.
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7/23/2014
When CARF International conducted market research and analysis in 2012, a consensus emerged that CARF was at a critical juncture for bridging a gap in the cancer field. Many acute care and oncology specialists had limited experience and expertise in providing rehabilitation care, and cancer rehabilitation professionals were seeking a framework for integrating their specialty into the cancer care continuum.
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