Pathway Health Announces Friendship Village of St. Louis has Achieved INTERACT™ Center of Excellence Designation

LAKE ELMO,  Minn. and ST. LOUIS, Jan. 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pathway Health is pleased to announce that Friendship Village Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation of St. Louis is the first organization to achieve INTERACT^™ Center of Excellence status. To achieve this status, the organization committed to a rigorous certification program that promotes reducing unnecessary hospital readmissions utilizing the INTERACT^™ Quality Improvement Program (QIP). This includes interventions designed to improve the identification, evaluation, and communication about changes in resident status. INTERACT^® (Interventions to Reduce Acute Care Transfers) was first designed in a project supported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Now, thousands of post-acute providers across the U.S. are using INTERACT.

“The staff at the Skilled Nursing Facilities at Friendship Village of St. Louis have worked hard to earn the honor of becoming an INTERACT Center of Excellence.  All of our associates are fully committed to providing our residents the highest level of quality, utilizing the evidence-based INTERACT Quality Improvement Program,” stated Terry Walsh, President and CEO of Friendship Village Senior Services. “This positions our organization as the recognized leader in the St. Louis region with the knowledge and skills to reduce unnecessary hospital readmissions and help care for our residents closer to home.”

In order to achieve this designation, Friendship Village Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation of St. Louis committed to an intensive focus on the following:

• Delivering leadership and direction for embracing full INTERACT QIP implementation.
• Identifying best practice approaches for utilization of the INTERACT QIP.
• Maintaining INTERACT™ Certified Champions.
• Monitoring data and clinical outcomes to identify areas for performance improvement. 
• Providing ongoing training and support for your care delivery team.

“Congratulations to Friendship Village Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation of St. Louis for being the first to achieve this important designation,” stated Dr. Joseph G. Ouslander, Project Director for INTERACT^® and Senior Medical Advisor for Pathway Health.

About Pathway Health
Pathway Health offers expert consulting services, strategic technology implementation and education solutions for the post-acute care continuum. Pathway Health holds the exclusive, global training license with Florida Atlantic University and provides high-quality training, education and consulting services to the post-acute providers using the Interventions to Reduce Acute Care Transfers (INTERACT™4.0) Quality Improvement Program (QIP). Since 1997, Pathway Health has been keeping a pulse on industry clinical, regulatory, quality and reimbursement trends to keep clients on the path. Learn more at www.pathway-INTERACT.com.

About Friendship Village
Friendship Village Senior Services is a faith-based, not-for-profit organization devoted to providing a full range of senior living options. As the only provider of the Life Care program in the St. Louis metro area, Friendship Village guarantees residents access to all levels of health care—all on one campus—at a predictable cost for life. Friendship Village continually invests in wellness programs and technology to keep residents living well and independent, longer. From independent living, to assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing and in-home care, Friendship Village continues to build the future of senior living. Friendship Village at Home brings the extensive experience and quality care of Friendship Village services to the homes of area seniors and includes Medicare home health and private duty care. Our mission-driven board of directors and highly experienced staff encourage a culture of friendship and loving care through the highest quality services and a focus on residents’ spiritual, emotional, physical and social wellbeing. For more information about Friendship Village Senior Services, please visit www.FriendshipVillageSTL.com.