Local Area Networks for Excellence (LANEs)

The Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes Campaign supports statewide coalitions of stakeholders called Local Area Networks for Excellence (LANEs).

Role:

The LANE is the statewide organization that helps participating nursing homes achieve Campaign goals, and that provides resources to actively engage nursing home staff and consumers in Campaign activities.

Responsibilities:

The LANE is responsible for:

• Convening, and fostering constructive relationships among, major stakeholders in the state that share a commitment to improving quality of care and life for nursing home residents. The LANE recognizes the importance and value of nursing home staff and consumers in this process.
• Coordinating Campaign activities throughout the state, including public awareness activities, recruitment efforts, the sharing of best practices, and the communication of Campaign key messages. The LANE:
  • Raises awareness about the Advancing Excellence Campaign and its goals. LANEs share and leverage materials developed by the national Campaign Steering Committee, host local events such as information forums and press conferences, and participate in community health fairs and educational programs to spread the message of the Campaign.
  • Recruits nursing homes, nursing home staff, and consumers into the Campaign and supports their efforts to enhance quality of life for residents and staff. LANEs throughout the country have promoted the Campaign by hosting web conferences about Campaign goals and quality improvement, developing online learning communities for sharing information about key events and best practices, and hosting conference calls for nursing homes that have not yet enrolled in the campaign.
  • Identifies, disseminates and/or develops practical and evidence-based technical assistance resources to help nursing homes achieve their quality and organizational goals. The national Campaign’s Technical Assistance Work Group makes available targeted resources to support Campaign goals, which the LANE is able to promote and disseminate to Campaign participants. In addition, LANEs develop and host local educational events for participating nursing homes, staff, and consumers and encourage the sharing of best practices among all participants.
  • Communicates key Campaign messages to participating nursing homes, staff members, and consumers about national Campaign activities. These include notifications about upcoming webinars, recently published newsletters, and significant updates to the website

Composition:

The LANE is composed of a broad spectrum of long term care stakeholders and typically includes representatives from nursing home provider associations, the state long term care ombudsman office, the state survey agency, and the quality improvement organization. Other members may include consumer advocates, union representatives, practitioners (nurses, administrators, medical directors and others who work in nursing homes and other individuals and groups interested in quality of life for nursing home residents and staff.
LANE membership is voluntary. All members are expected to attend regularly scheduled meetings. Meetings typically include review of statewide data to identify areas of concern, planning of educational programs focused on one or more of the Campaign goals where the state needs improvement, development of action plans that support Campaign participants, updates on state and national progress made toward Campaign goals, and sharing of best practice recommendations, issues, solutions, and lessons learned.

Governance (Conveners):

Each LANE designates one or more participating organizations as a LANE Convener. The LANE convener is the facilitator of the LANE or statewide coalition. As such, he or she is responsible for bringing LANE members together and for maintaining their focus on Advancing Excellence Campaign goals.

The LANE Convener in each state is the primary “point of contact” for the Campaign, and acts as liaison between the state coalition and the national Campaign staff and Steering Committee. The Convener may be called upon to communicate key Campaign messages to LANE members, to respond to critical issues, and to provide updates to the National Campaign about recruitment progress, accomplishments, challenges, innovative approaches and best practices.

The Campaign’s Steering Committee welcomes feedback from the LANEs regarding opportunities for improvement as well as accomplishments and best practices. This feedback will enable the national Campaign to address any issues and provide the support needed to ensure success.

To find a LANE Convener in your state, please click here.