According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 58,000 paid, regulated long-term care (LTC) providers delivered services to approximately 8 million people in the United States in 2012. Policymakers and health care organizations are using innovative approaches and policies to promote quality improvement and enhance care for residents of long-term care facilities.

The featured policy Innovations describe two programs designed to improve the quality of care in LTC facilities—a health system’s initiative to transition vaccination-related policies and processes for LTC facilities to a regional pharmacy, leading to increased influenza vaccination rates among workers; and a State program that used financial incentives to fund nursing home quality improvement projects through a competitive bidding process.

The featured QualityTools include a guide to LTC options for veterans, a toolkit to help LTC facilities enhance the quality of care for elderly residents with Alzheimer’s disease, and a manual for embedding quality improvement strategies in nursing homes.