Client News•
on February 26th, 2010•
Mary Washington Healthcare
In September 2009, Mary Washington Hospital received the Magnet award for excellence in nursing services from the American Nurses Association. It’s one of the highest levels of recognition a hospital can achieve and demonstrates superior nursing. In fact, this award places Mary Washington Hospital in an elite group of only 15 Virginia hospitals that have attained this status.
Magnet designation is provided by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the world’s largest nurse credentialing organization and a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association (ANA). The recognition is achieved by healthcare organizations that meet designated performance benchmarks regarding the quality of nursing services they provide to patients and the caliber of their professional nursing environment. Only five percent of the nation’s hospitals have achieved Magnet status to date.
Read more:
http://www.marywashingtonhealthcare.com/nursing
Client News•
on February 26th, 2010•
MLive.com
GRAND RAPIDS — Do you want to track results of past cholesterol tests? Or monitor a chronic condition such as diabetes?
If your doctor is affiliated with Metro Health Hospital, the answer is a mouse click away.
The “My Chart” program, however, is just part of an integrated electronic medical record system, or EMR, that provides a database of patients’ history — linking records from doctors, the emergency room or hospital, neighborhood outpatient centers and laboratories.
Read more:
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/02/doing_away_with_paper_metro_he.html
Client News•
on February 26th, 2010•
Inova Healthcare
Fairfax, VA — Inova Fair Oaks Hospital’s Spine and Joint Replacement Surgery programs have earned the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval™ for healthcare quality. The Joint Commission awarded the hospital “Disease-Specific Care Certification” for its Cervical and Lumbar Spine Surgery, and Knee and Hip Joint-Replacement Surgery programs.
To earn this distinction, a disease management program undergoes an extensive, unannounced, on-site evaluation by a team of Joint Commission reviewers every two years. The program is evaluated against Joint Commission standards through an assessment of a program’s processes, the program’s ability to evaluate and improve care within its own organization, and interviews with patients and staff.
Read more:
http://inova.tekgroup.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=5364
HMC News•
on February 26th, 2010•
First Year HMC Showcases Excellent Work of Clients
NEEDHAM, MASS. – February 8, 2010 – The Healthcare Management Council, Inc. (HMC) named its 2009 eight “Top Performer” hospitals. In selecting the winners, HMC scored each hospital according to seven dimensions, or criteria, including cost per adjusted admission, overall profitability, and patient satisfaction. HMC believes these criteria enable hospitals to accurately measure how effectively they are delivering healthcare value.
This is the first year HMC has assembled a Top Performer list. “We wanted to document the excellent work our client hospitals are doing using benchmark data,” explained John Whittlesey, principal at HMC. “There was stiff competition among the top contenders,” he observed.
The 2009 Top Performer was Dixie Regional Medical Center (DRMC), a 245-bed referral center based in St. George, Utah. The other three Top Performers were St. Joseph Mercy Saline Hospital, based in Saline, Mich.; Howell, Mich.-based St. Joseph Mercy Livingston Hospital; and American Fork Hospital, in American Fork, Utah.
For judging, HMC applied seven performance criteria. They are:
- Overall cost per adjusted admission in lowest one-half of peer group
- Overall quality score in best one-half of peer group based on the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) rankings
- High quality and low cost performance in the upper left quadrant versus peers
- Overall profitability > 5 percent
- Overall patient satisfaction score in best one-half of the peer group
- Overall cost per adjusted admission improved over previous benchmark
- Cited savings potential decreased from previous benchmark
We also gained some valuable insights,” Whittlesey said of the judging. “For instance, most of the Top Performers were part of health systems, and tended to be smaller-to-medium size hospitals, as opposed to big tertiary teaching facilities. Some people think big and complex is always better, and that’s not always the case.”
Other Top Performers
The “Honorable Mention” category included Sentara Leigh Hospital, in Norfolk, Va., and Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, based in Provo, Utah. In the “Most Improved” category were Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center, based in Williamsburg, Va., and the Greeley, Colo.-based North Colorado Medical Center.
Case Studies•
on February 18th, 2010•
| Dixie Regional Medical Center Nurse Internship Program Results in New Hires, Better RN Retention, Increased Committment, Lower Costs, and Fewer Errors Patricia Hansen, Internship Hiring Manager, explains how Dixie Regional Medical Center achieved this success. |
| What challenge did you face or what process did you change?
The challenge that we as well as everyone else is facing right now is a shortage of nurses. We began doing a New Grad Internship 5 years ago. We started out with a handful of nursing students. Each year we go to the schools and recruit with flyers and luncheons. We promote the Internship as a transition into their nursing career. We provide opportunities to help them grow and weekly meetings as a supplement to their training. With this process, we are seeing the numbers of nursing students continue to grow. Last year we recruited 64 new graduate nurses. This was the highest number of new grads that we have put into the program. This year we expect to exceed that number. |
| Who was involved in the improvement/change process?
Many people have been involved in training, you know the saying that “It takes a whole tribe to raise a child”, well, it takes a whole hospital to train a nurse. Significant key players have been staff in Human Resources, the Internship hiring manager, staff in the Education Department, the Director of Human Resources and the Director of Education. |
| What improvements occurred?
This year we changed the program from an 8 week program to a 12 week program. Before the end of 2006, we will have completed 5 small Internships, instead of one big Internship. Because of this change, we were able to accomodate the people and schools. |
| What is the estimate of costs, FTE’s, time, etc., saved?
Where we have seen the most valuable savings is in the staff that we have and the committment they have to our hospital. We have found that they are more confident in their abilities because they were not just turned loose as a new grad. Our savings come from the reduced amount of errors that we see in their work and the way they perform as nurses. We have also used this program for nurses who have taken time off to rear a family and have now returned to the work force or for someone who has worked outside the hospital setting, for example; a long term care facility, and is now ready to come to an acute care setting. This program has been instumental in the way our nurses are trained. We have had positive evaluations on the outcome of the Internship and we continue to fine tune it to meet our needs as well as the new grads needs.The New grad internship continues to evolve. As the hospital goes through changes, we are able to pass along those changes in our training of the new grads. |
Featured Clients•
on February 18th, 2010•
Sentara is an eight (8) hospital system in Virginia, anchored by its flagship hospital in Norfolk, a 563-bed tertiary care teaching facility, and home to the area’s only Level I Trauma Center and burn trauma unit. Sentara Norfolk General is responsible for the region’s only heart, kidney and pancreas transplant programs and a certified primary stroke center. A growing younger population toward the south in Princess Anne is driving Sentara’s current growth strategy, which includes the addition of a new hospital, a cancer center and medical arts buildings.
For more information: http://www.sentara.com
Featured Clients•
on February 18th, 2010•
Intermountain Health Care, Inc. (IHC) is the largest hospital chain and health care organization in the Intermountain West. With 23 hospitals, it serves more than 425,000 individuals in Utah (its main market), Idaho, and Wyoming. It has pioneered innovative management methods for the nonprofit health care industry, resulting in cost-effective quality care. The approach focuses management attention not only on the facilities where care takes place but also on physician decision making and the care process itself, with the aim of boosting physician productivity and improving care quality, while saving money.
For more information: http://www.intermountainhealthcare.org
Featured Clients•
on February 18th, 2010•
Inova Health System is a health care system based in Northern Virginia that consists of seven (7), including 833-bed Inova Fairfax Hospital. Fairfax includes Northern Virginia’s only Level 1 trauma center for treating the most critically injured patients with 70,087 Emergency Department visits, the nation’s sixth busiest obstetrics program, a level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and is the region’s only hospital to offer the full spectrum of organ transplantation, including heart, lung, liver, kidney, pancreas and bone marrow. Continually facing competition from the profits, Inova’s vision is to maintain their number 1 or 2 position in all of its markets and to have a physical presence in emerging markets through structural expansion which of course requires significant capital investment.
For more information: http://www.inova.org/
Client News•
on February 17th, 2010•
Suffolk News-Herald
For the second time in 10 years, Sentara Healthcare has been ranked as the top integrated health care system in the nation, according to SDI Health and “Modern Healthcare” magazine.
The annual ranking measures eight performance indicators, such as clinical integration, technology integration, services offered, financial stability and more. Sentara is the only health system that has been listed in the top 10 each of the 13 years the list has been compiled.
“It’s a nice recognition, I think, of a lot of hard work by a lot of people in our health system over the years,” said David L. Bernd, chief executive officer of Sentara Healthcare. “It’s just a recognition of Sentara’s work to provide more seamless services.”
Read more at:
http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/news/2010/feb/01/sentara-ranks-top-nation/
Testimonials•
on February 17th, 2010•
“It is obvious, without saying, that you all are into your product and that energy is infectious.”
Katherine A. Raker, MT(ASCP)
Laboratory Director
Washington Court House, OH
