MECHANICSBURG, PA – Bethany Village in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania has been awarded Gold Certification for Excellence in Person-Centered Care by Planetree International. This Person-Centered Care Certification recognizes Bethany Village’s achievement and innovation in the delivery of person-centered care. Bethany Village is one of only 85 healthcare organizations worldwide to receive the Person-Centered Care Gold Certification since the program’s launch in 2007, and the first continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in the United States to do so.
Gold Certification for Excellence in Person-Centered Care represents the highest level of achievement in person-centered care, based on evidence and standards. Person-centered healthcare prioritizes the active participation of residents and their families throughout the healthcare process with an emphasis on partnership, compassion, transparency, inclusion, and quality.
“The Planetree Certification is the only award that recognizes excellence in person-centeredness across the continuum of care,” said Susan Frampton, President of Planetree International, a not-for-profit organization that has been at the forefront of the movement to transform healthcare from the perspective of residents and patients for 40 years. “This Gold Certification signals that Bethany Village is an organization where staff partner with residents and families, and where patient and family comfort, dignity, empowerment and well-being are prioritized as key elements of providing top-quality clinical care.”
“I’m incredibly proud of our team here at Bethany Village for achieving this distinction, and even more proud to know that those who call Bethany Village home are being provided not just a high level of quality care, but just as importantly a level of care that meets their individual needs and preferences,” said Brian Grundusky, executive director of Bethany Village.
“We’re honored that Bethany Village is now recognized as the first CCRC, not only in Pennsylvania, but in the United States, to achieve Gold Level Excellence in person-centered care,” said Sue DaCamara, chief operating officer for Asbury Communities, Inc. “The certification committee’s unanimous assessment reinforces that we’re not just meeting the intent of Planetree’s standards, but exceeding them in a way that translates to excellence in care for those we serve at Bethany Village, as well as across the Asbury system.”
The criteria that Bethany Village satisfied to achieve Planetree Gold Certification reflect what residents, family members and healthcare professionals in hundreds of focus groups say matters most to them during a healthcare experience. This qualitative data aligns with the growing evidence-base for person-centered care, and establishes the Person-Centered Care Certification Program as a concrete framework for defining and measuring excellence in person-centeredness.
The criteria address components of a person-centered healthcare experience, including the quality of resident-provider interactions, access to information, family involvement and the physical environment of care. Importantly, the criteria also focus on how the organization supports staff, opportunities for staff, residents, and families to have a voice in the way care is delivered, and the ways that Bethany Village is reaching beyond its walls to care for its community.
As part of the Certification process — which included a site visit by representatives from Planetree — discussion with recent Bethany Village residents, families and current staff validated that specific person-centered policies are in place, including non-restrictive visiting hours and a shared medical record policy; that staff members at all levels are involved in the implementation of person-centered care; and that the organization’s physical environment supports resident and family engagement in their care. The process also included a review of the organization’s performance on resident experience and quality of care measures, and how measurement of these indicators improves organizational outcomes.
For more information on Planetree’s Person-Centered Certification Program, including the criteria, the application process and more, visit www.planetree.org/certification
Bethany Village is affiliated with Asbury Communities, Inc., and operates a CARF-accredited continuing care retirement community in Mechanicsburg, Pa. Affiliates of Asbury Communities, Inc., operate in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Tennessee, and the Asbury system is ranked by LeadingAge and Ziegler Capital Markets Group’s LZ150 as the 15th-largest not-for-profit multi-site senior living organization in the country. For information about Bethany Village, please visit www.bethanyvillage.org.
Planetree International is a mission based not-for-profit organization that has partnered with over 700 healthcare organizations around the world and across the care continuum to transform how care is delivered. Powered by over 50,000 focus group attendees comprised of patients, families, and staff, and 40 years of experience working with healthcare organizations, the Planetree approach emphasizes the quality of human interactions that occur within healthcare settings, the importance of connecting healthcare personnel to the purpose and meaning of their work, and practical strategies for engaging patients and family members as true partners in care. These elements have been consolidated into the Person-Centered Care Certification Program, which provides organizations with a structured process to guide culture change efforts that yield improvements in clinical and operational outcomes. Drawing on this experience, in 2017 Planetree partnered with the National Academy of Medicine to introduce an evidence-based Guiding Framework for Patient and Family Engaged Care.
FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Contact: Eric Anderson, Director of Communications
Asbury Communities, Inc.
C: 301.250.2057 or [email protected]
