Qualis Health Recognizes Organizations Improving Quality of Healthcare

SEATTLE –Whether reducing the number of readmission rates among congestive heart failure patients, minimizing the emotional stress of a hospital stay or upgrading electronic medical records for diabetics, the care patients receive in Washington medical facilities is improving, thanks to organizations committed to making change. Qualis Health, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of healthcare, recognized seven of these organizations during an award ceremony on Monday, May 23 at Bell Harbor Conference Center.
 
Qualis Health presented its 2004 Award of Excellence in Healthcare Quality honors to outstanding organizations across the state – for their innovations in making measurable improvements. Organizations receiving the awards were Lakewood Healthcare, of Lakewood; Evergreen Hospital Medical Center, of Kirkland; Providence SoundHomeCare and Hospice, of Olympia; Island Hospital Central Washington Family Medicine, of Yakima; Sacred Heart, of Spokane; and Ida Culver House Nursing Care Center, of Seattle.

''As an organization dedicated to improving healthcare in Washington, Qualis Health applauds the tremendous commitment demonstrated by each of these organizations,'' said Jonathan Sugarman MD, MPH, president and CEO of Qualis Health. ''Their accomplishments serve as proof that measurable change in the quality of healthcare is possible across a variety of medical settings.''

Dr. Sugarman presented the awards as part of Qualis Health’s “Transformational Strategies” Conference.

The first organization to receive an award was Evergreen Hospital Medical Center, a 244-bed acute care hospital which serves Kirkland, Redmond, Bothell, Woodinville, Kenmore, Duvall, Sammamish and surrounding areas. Accepting the award were Mark Vossler, MD, medical director of the CHF Clinic and Nancy Bartholomew, MN, ARNP, program coordinator. In 2002, the hospital recognized that it needed to solidify communications between its inpatient and outpatient departments to improve the quality of care for chronic heart failure patients. By adopting a patient-centered approach that integrated systems and processes, the hospital was able to reduce their heart patient readmission rates. The hospital standardized its care and assigned a nurse practitioner throughout the inpatient and outpatient experience, resulting in a reduction of readmissions to 11 percent -- and patient length of stay to 26 percent.

Research has demonstrated that accounting for the emotional and spiritual needs of a patient has as much impact on an outcome as does medicine or physicians. For implementing a winning Pastoral Care Service, Island Hospital received the 2004 Award of Excellence in Healthcare Quality.  Accepting the award on behalf of the organization was Anita McCoy, RN, MN, Quality Improvement director and Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton, Pastoral Care coordinator. Island Hospital is a 43-bed hospital located on Fidalgo Island that serves the San Juan Islands and Skagit and Island Counties. The hospital trained staff to assess spiritual needs, included the hospital chaplain on the patient healthcare team, increased resources for meeting patient spiritual needs, and hired a board-certified chaplain. The end result was a program with more in-depth charting of spiritual assessments, a focus on improved holistic care, and greater satisfaction for staff and patients.

For improving the quality of life for its Special Care Unit residents, the Ida Culver House Broadview Nursing Care Center was presented the 2004 Award of Excellence in Healthcare Quality. Accepting the award were Judith Tracey, DNS and David Jones, administrator. Part of ERA Care, Inc. the organization’s primary mission is to respect and honor older adults by enhancing the quality of their lives. Very much consistent with this mission, Ida Culver House committed to transforming its surroundings to a more home-like environment.  The 74-bed urban long-term care facility in North Seattle painted walls with more vibrant colors, created interest areas, removed restraints and expanded social interaction space. The impact of these ideas not only had an immediate impact on patients, but sparked greater creativity among staff for new ways to improve the surroundings.

For reducing their in-house wound rates over a five-month period, Lakewood Healthcare Center was awarded the 2004 Award of Excellence in Healthcare. The facility, which accommodates 80 residents, provides skilled nursing care with a focus on rehabilitation services.

To address what they believed were unsatisfactory pressure sore (bed sore) rates and other quality indicators, staff made many improvements in procedures, training and evaluation. As a result of these actions, staff is now required to complete weekly patient skin checks, a “backup” system by other staff members is utilized and the Norton Scale is applied in place of a previous, ineffective skin assessment tool. Overall in-house wound rates declined from 26.3 percent to 5.9 percent – a praise-worthy achievement! Patty Wood, executive director, accepted the award.

Central Washington Family Medicine, a non-profit family practice residency program, began transitioning from paper records to electronic medical records (EMR) nearly three years ago. For upgrading and improving their original EMR systems, and making process improvements, the hospital increased efficiencies and better leveraged the EMR. System changes included integrating American Diabetes Association guidelines into the EMR flow sheet, upgrading nursing staff software and hardware to ensure that patient information was updated in the registry database, and accelerating lab orders by implementing an “e-order” function. As a result of the system upgrades, Central Washington Family Medicine demonstrated better reliance upon evidence-based medicine and improved patient registrations in tobacco cessation counseling, documented foot checks and blood pressure examinations. Nurse Manager, Angela Garza, RN, CWS and Medical Director, Vicki Black, MD, accepted the 2004 Award of Excellence in Healthcare honors.

For improving medication management and ensuring that safety education, wound care assessment and management training were better geared toward its diverse population, Providence SoundHomeCare and Hospice received the 2004 Award of Excellence in Healthcare. A certified home health and hospice agency serving a wide range of cultural and ethnic groups in rural and urban communities, the organization improved their processes by consolidating patient education materials, customizing patient instruction and retraining clinicians. They also revised their medication profile form to be more inclusive and comprehensive. Pam Knudsen, director of Home Health, accepted the award.

Overcrowding is a problem many of today's emergency departments face. For changing their approach to this national dilemma, Qualis Health presented Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, with the 2004 Award of Excellence in Healthcare. The hospital, a 623-bed facility which serves parts of Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon, better leveraged technology, overhauled their patient care procedure and redesigned workflow. By implementing these changes, ambulance diversions were reduced, increasing emergency unit admissions. The time from patient admission to bed assignment decreased and beds were made available more quickly after patient discharge. Accepting the award was Denise Dominik, director of Performance Improvement.

About Qualis Health
Qualis Health is dedicated to improving the quality of healthcare delivery and health outcomes for individuals and populations across the nation. In operation since 1974, the non-profit, healthcare quality improvement organization (QIO) is headquartered in Seattle, Washington and has offices in Idaho and Alaska.