Seattle - Qualis Health presented five local healthcare organizations with the 2005 Award of Excellence in Healthcare Quality during its annual “Transformational Strategies for Quality Improvement in Healthcare” conference on Tuesday. The awards are given by the healthcare quality improvement organization to facilities that have demonstrated innovation in achieving measurable improvements in healthcare quality.
Winners of the 2005 awards were Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, of Seattle; Northwest Kidney Centers, of Seattle; Sound Family Medicine, of Puyallup; Providence Hospice & Home Care, of Everett; and Swedish Physicians, of Seattle.
“The accomplishments achieved by these organizations were meaningful and important to patients," said Jonathan Sugarman MD, MPH, president, and CEO of Qualis Health, who presented the awards. “The improvements required considerable effort, a collective and sustained commitment to change and the vision to collaborate around a shared goal. Qualis Health is pleased to recognize these organizations for achieving measurable change and impacting the health of the communities they serve.”
Winners were selected by an independent panel based on objective measurement of clinical outcomes and improvement data over the previous year.
Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, a 250-bed facility ranked as one of the top children’s hospitals in the nation, serves as the pediatric referral center for Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Washington state. Qualis Health awarded the Seattle-based organization the 2005 Award of Excellence in Healthcare Quality for measurable improvements made in its Parenteral Nutrition (PN) program.
While PN programs are used by hospitals to coordinate complex prescription orders, they are often associated with incidences of medication error. Applying lean, a performance improvement methodology designed to increase staff productivity, Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center standardized and improved their PN ordering system and created a model designed to reduce the risk for medication errors. Accepting the award was Polly Lenssen, RD, CD, MS, manager, Clinical Nutrition, and Lizabeth Postetter, RN, BSN, manager, IV Team and Acute Care Float Pool.
Seattle's non-profit Northwest Kidney Centers, the largest provider of dialysis services in the Pacific Northwest, was presented with the 2005 Award of Excellence in Healthcare Quality. The organization received this award for improvements made in dialysis care in addressing underlying issues in optimizing correction of metabolic acidosis. In 2002, after identifying potential causes of suboptimal correction and the introduction of new equipment into two facilities, the organization, which serves more than 1,200 patients, implemented a program that progressively improved the overall degree of acidosis correction organization-wide.
The award was accepted by Dr. John Stivelman, chief medical officer, Northwest Kidney Centers, and associate professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, University of Washington School of Medicine.
Sound Family Medicine, a private, single-specialty family practice based in Puyallup, was recognized with the 2005 Award of Excellence in Healthcare Quality for their adoption and use of health information technology to improve the quality of care for hypertension patients. Nationwide, electronic medical record (EMR) systems are being adopted by hospitals and smaller practices to improve care, reduce inefficiency, and address healthcare costs.
As an early adopter of this new technology, Sound Family Medicine began using an electronic medical record system in 1997. In 2005, use of the database in their EMR coupled with process changes allowed SFM providers to more effectively track and prescribe treatments for patients with high blood pressure. Within a four-month period, the practice managed to decrease the percentage of patients with uncontrolled diastolic hypertension. Through use of the EMR, the practice was able, to realize improved tracking, communication, and follow through in patient care. Sound Family Medicine Medical Director, Edward Pullen, MD and Julie Wright, chief operations officer accepted the award.
Providence Hospice & Home Care of Snohomish County, a non-profit agency based in Everett, earned the 2005 Award of Excellence in Healthcare Quality for improvements made in wound care for patients. Recognizing that advances in technology presented an opportunity to make comprehensive improvements in wound care for pressure ulcers, diabetic ulcers and surgical wounds, the organization embarked on a program to identify barriers to providing effective wound care, establish standardized practice protocols, develop a full time wound care specialist position, and adopt technological, scientific, and evidence-based “best practices.”
From 2003 to 2005, the organization’s improved wound care resulted in fewer wound treatment visits, decreased complications, enhanced documentation, and analysis to prevent wounds as well as the full adoption of the Braden scale, used by the industry to better predict pressure ulcer risk in patients. Teri Berger, RN, wound specialist of Home Care and Pat O’Maley-Lanphear, Quality Management coordinator, accepted the award.
The wide-ranging care provided by Providence Hospice and Home Care includes the service of physicians, registered nurses, medical social workers, rehabilitation therapists, home health aides, chaplains, and volunteers. The collaboration and teamwork that is demonstrated by these qualified individuals provides a comprehensive and caring medical experience for patients who receive care in their home. Providence Home Care has been serving the home health care needs of Snohomish County and Camano Island since 1986.
In recognition of the efforts to build upon their quality diabetes care, Swedish Physicians received the 2005 Award of Excellence in Healthcare Quality. Consisting of 12 primary care clinics and more than 80 board certified physicians and registered nurses, Swedish Physicians sought to expand their grassroots diabetes care program in early 2005 by integrating and sharing medical best practices, driving continued adoption of the chronic care model (an integrated approach to improving care for chronic diseases such as diabetes), and building a diabetes clinical information system framework to improve patient care.
Due to the changes implemented, many improvements were made across the Swedish Physician system, including increased participation by patients in creating their own treatment plans (self-management), better blood pressure readings, improved cholesterol tests, and more. The award was accepted by WarrenFein, MD, medical director at Swedish Physicians.
