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| Reid Hosp & Hlth Care Services |
| 2007 Winner I Columbus (Ind.) Regional Hospital |
| Date : - 23/04/2009 |
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Resting on Laurels Is Never an Option
Columbus Regional Hospital’s goal is admirably immodest: “to be the best in the country at everything we do.” Executives and staff at all levels of the organization share the belief that there is always room to improve performance.
To that end, the 225-bed, county-owned hospital looks to national frameworks of excellence, including the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program and the Magnet status program of the American Nurses’ Credentialing Center.
“We want to measure against the best tools available,” says former President and CEO Doug Leonard. [In June, Leonard became president and CEO of the Indiana Hospital & Health Association, Indianapolis. He had been at Columbus Regional for 29 years, the last nine and a half years as president and CEO.]
Columbus Regional is the 2007 winner of the AHA–McKesson Quest for Quality Prize, which honors leadership and innovation in patient care quality, safety and commitment. The winner receives $75,000 and two finalists receive $12,500 each. This year, two citations of merit were presented.
Ten years ago, Columbus Regional’s senior leadership and physicians were engaged in a public dispute about the strategic direction of the organization. The hospital’s public image suffered and patient satisfaction scores fell from “average” to a low of 14 percent. When Leonard became CEO, his first priority was repairing the relationship with physicians and restoring the organization’s standing in the community.
He won over physicians partly through increased transparency. Doctors are now directly involved in the strategic planning process. The chief of staff attends every board meeting and at least one board member attends every physician executive meeting. “The board won’t meet unless the chief of staff is there,” Leonard says. “The physicians, and our nurses, know we are interested in things that are important to them.”
The improved relationships are sustained through a very structured process, says Thomas A. Sonderman, M.D., vice president, chief medical officer and patient safety officer. Physician leaders, board members and the executive staff attend a yearly leadership retreat to discuss strategic issues facing the organization.
The hospital formally adopted a mission that focuses on the patient and quality, and “that resonates with everyone,” Sonderman says.
To advance the mission, Columbus Regional embraces the Institute of Medicine’s six Aims for Improvement, which call for safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient and equitable care. “We’ve been working for over a decade to build a platform for clinical quality excellence,” says Cherona Hajewski, senior vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer. “We’re getting an understanding of best practice care.”
Education plays a big role. Among other things, a large group of employees each year—up to 25 at a time—attend the Institute of Healthcare Improvement’s National Forum. The group includes board members, senior executives, nurses and physician leaders. “It creates instant alignment,” says Sonderman. Everyone hears the same message and is able to meet and discuss the issues later. “It’s a team-building opportunity.”
Columbus Regional has invested heavily in technology, including implementing an electronic medical record, to improve efficiencies and patient safety. The information services department has grown from 13 employees in 1997 to 40 today. “IS exists to support the core business of patient care and our strategic objectives,” says Diana Boyer, R.N., vice president and chief information officer. All IT projects have a physician champion and an executive sponsor.
In 2006 and 2007, Colubmus Regional won Hospitals & Health Networks’ Most Wired Innovator Awards for an electronic medication reconciliation process and for a wireless communication and nurse call system, respectively. The medication reconciliation process improved timeliness, efficiency and patient safety by reducing the process from 42 to seven steps. The wireless communications and nurse call system allows patients, physicians and other care team members to contact nurses directly through portable phones. The system is integrated with an RFID tagging and bed turnover system. “We are really proud of the Innovator Awards,” says Leonard, “because they show how well our departments work together. There are no silos here.”
IT projects are no longer based upon what’s best for a department. “The first consideration is what’s best for the hospital,” says Ben Caughey, director of pharmacy services.
That’s generally the theme for all quality projects. “By taking care of the patient first, everything else falls into place,” says Leonard. Performance measures are shared throughout the organization, and evidenced-based processes and best practices are promoted to ensure an effective team approach to process improvement.
Since the dark days a decade ago, patient satisfaction scores have climbed above 90 percent. “We don’t accept status quo with the system,” says Kathy Wallace, director of medical quality management. Staff feel eencouraged to improve quality. “That assurance has led employees to provide innovative ideas to enhance patient care,” she says
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| Reference : - www.crh.org |
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