Having this already established framework for Catholic identity enabled the project to progress quickly into the data collection and benchmarking phases. The principles and values embodied in the ERDs are the same, but the lived experience and operations of acute care facilities differ from those of nursing facilities. In some cases, they collect similar data. Both acute and long-term care data collection tools use employee and consumer satisfaction surveys as indicators of mutual respect among caregivers. Sometimes the way they deal with an issue operationally is very different.
Most Catholic providers have a strong commitment to serve poor and vulnerable persons.
In an acute care facility, that often means subsidizing care for uninsured people. In long-term care, virtually every resident's care is covered in some way. The issue here may be dealing with low reimbursement rates or limits on reimbursable care. Although each aspect of the continuum of care is important, the operation, regulation, and experience of nursing facilities is different from those of assisted living and independent living facilities. Comparing data from each care setting would be like apples, oranges, and bananas.