Daniel Mathis

In 2012, Daniel Mathis became president and CEO of the Nevada Health Care Association, a nonprofit organization that works to improve the quality of care in Nevadas nursing homes. Among his duties: advocating for the organizations member institutions to legislators in Carson City.

The Nevada Health Care Association has grown significantly over the past year. What is the expected growth over the next few years?

We expect to represent post-acute care providers in Nevada to help improve care in the state. With the passing of the IMPACT 14 legislation in Congress last fall, we are drawn together more than ever and will be measured by the quality of care we deliver.

How has care in nursing facilities changed over the past year?

Our quality measures have improved across the state. One reason has been the evidence-based education weve been able to provide, specifically targeting facilities that werent performing as well as others. One example is the improvement of the Minimum Data Set (MDS) accuracy rate for such facilities in Nevada from 74 percent to 82 percent. The MDS is part of the federally mandated process for clinical assessment of all residents in Medicare or Medicaid-certified nursing homes. This process provides a comprehensive assessment of each residents functional capabilities and helps nursing home staff identify health problems. We still have much work to do, but weve been making solid progress recently.

What does the NVHCA Perry Foundation do?

The Perry Foundation analyzes compliance and Online Survey, Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) data and then formulates specific education for providers. Sometimes education is engineered specifically for a single provider when asked.

How can people advocate for better nursing home care?

Consumers can affect care in a post-acute setting by participating in the providers care plan programming and having open communication with the caregivers. People who want to advocate for residents or patients in a post-acute care setting such as local nursing homes should focus on outcomes or quality measures. In looking at the data and knowing the reimbursement history for Medicare and Medicaid, what needs to happen is obvious. We need to increase the reimbursement rate the state provides to such facilities, which is something we are encouraging state leaders to do during the legislative session this year.

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When it comes to health care, Nevada needs more of just about everything