NARA Recognizes Member Organizations for Innovative Programs

The NARA Innovation Award is presented each Fall at the NARA Fall Conference to a member organization who has submitted a Rehab Industry Innovative Program.  This award recognizes the talents of the organization or an employee of the organization who demonstrates excellence in the creation of an innovation that has made a demonstrable difference in their rehab business.  NARA believes ideas, change, passion and trends are key elements in driving innovation which provides for growth in the rehab industry. The results of the innovation can be in renewal, change, or reinvention in the rehabilitation industry.  The innovation award is based upon two broad criteria – the results of the innovation and the process by which it occurred.  The innovation must:

• ?Be presented by a  NARA member: business or individual
• ?Exemplify innovation by demonstrating a new dimension of performance
• ?Have made a demonstrated difference in outcomes: financial, clinical, staffing, employee and customer satisfaction
• ?Serve as a model that can be replicated or adapted by other rehab businesses

This year NARA had an overwhelming response for this award with 7 submissions.  Our Awards and Nominating committee had a difficult time deciding which innovation should receive the award.  We would like to recognize all the organizations who submitted applications:

• Brookdale Senior Living:  Documentation Performance Tool – An electronic compliance management tool, as well as a documentation trend tracking tool
• Community Physical Therapy:  Creating Constancy of Purpose in Healthcare – Using the patient centered Ozer Payton Nelson (OPN) method to improve outcomes
• First Choice Physical Therapy:  Checkmate:  A Documentation Chart Review Software
• Guardian Rehabilitation:  Bridging the Gap on Quality -  Interdisciplinary approach using Five Star Ratings a Quality Improvement Plan
• PT Northwest:  A Data Driven Coaching Model
• Therapy Specialists:  Atherton Brainiacs – Inclusion of web based Brain HQ into treatment to address cognitive issues
• Transitional Care Management:  Orientation Program Development – CMS regulations combined with Point of Care documentation

The 2016 NARA Innovation Award was presented to PT Northwest located in Salem, Oregon.  Their innovation came with the passage of the Affordable Care Act and the realization that collecting meaningful data and using it to drive improvements across their business would be the only way to survive.  In 2013, they began to identify key performance indicators, systematically collect data on those KPIs, share the data throughout the organization, and work collectively to coach individuals to achieve KPIs.  As of 2015, they have been able to make improvements in 4 out of the 5 areas they initially identified.  Not only has NARA recognized the achievements of PT Northwest but they were recently recognized by The Oregonian as one of the Top 100 Places to work in Oregon and Southwest Washington!  Congratulations to PT Northwest and their staff for their drive to stand out and be innovative through change!