CMS Selects Upstairs Solutions eLearning Programs for National Course Federal Agency Features Companys Unique Effective Train



When the feds see something they like, they go for it.

So when the U.S. agency responsible for nursing home certification and quality put together a national training session, they turned to Upstairs Solutions and its innovative and effective online training and compliance services.

A three-part Webcast, presented by the Centers for Medicine and Medicaid Services (CMS) and titled "Physical Restraint Use in Nursing Homes: The Exception Not the Rule," highlights the benefits that Upstairs Solutions' e-Learning capabilities bring nursing homes throughout the country. Portions of the Webcast are mandatory viewing for long term care surveyors.

"From all the companies that could have been chosen to help deliver its message, CMS selected Upstairs Solutions," said Upstairs Solutions LTC Principal Tamar Abell. "Our training programs are unique to the industry, and we're very proud that CMS felt it important to acknowledge the good that we do for administrators, nurses and aides, and the residents themselves."

Upstairs Solutions was founded by nursing home owner Abell and Ben Klein, another nursing home owner, to provide training solutions for other long term care providers in an industry where regulations and best practices are always changing. Today, Upstairs Solutions' Web-based education provides economical and efficient training; a turnkey approach for orientation, compliance training and in-service instruction; and a Learning Management System (LMS) for integrated tracking and reporting.

The CMS Webcast, which features several examples of Upstairs Solutions' online training, includes an interview with a nursing home administrator who used the company's training to create a zero-restraint facility. The program also highlights how Upstairs Solutions' training results in fewer and less-serious survey tags, helps lower staff turnover, increases nursing homes' ability to track training, and allows facilities to address current issues as needed. The Webcast also explains how Upstairs Solutions was formed to address the need for consistent training in the long term care industry and highlights the company's LMS, noting that its online learning modules were field tested by real staff.

"It can be time- and cost-prohibitive to keep employees trained to the proper levels," Klein said. "Programs like ours and training sessions like the CMS Webcast give nursing homes a cost-effective and efficient way to ensure seniors receive the quality care they deserve."

Offered in multiple sessions, the Webcast explores the definition of physical restraints and their negative outcomes, surveying compliance issues with today's physical restraint requirements, and MDS coding issues. For information on the Webcast, visit



CMS Selects Upstairs Solutions eLearning Programs for National Course Federal Agency Features Companys Unique Effective Train