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Beebe Medical Center recognizes employee and physician quality initiatives

Three teams receive awards at Quality and Safety Awards Banquet
The Coordination of Care Initiative team leader was Megan Williams, FNP-COPC, director of Population Health. Other team members were Dianne Bane, RN; Andrew Lightfoot; Linda Sapienza, RN; and Beth West, RN.  Shown are (l-r) Dr. Stephen Fanto, Dianne Bane, Megan Williams and Jeffrey M. Fried.
November 26, 2012
The 3MS Hand-Off Communication team leader was Margaret Porter, RN, nurse manager of the third-floor Medical-Surgical Unit. While all members of the unit have taken part in the initiative, the original eight core team members were Amy Balasus, RN; Tara Bower, RN; Linda Butts; Jen Gray; Colleen Murphy; Joanna Robertson, RN; Maryann Kishanuk, RN; and Michelle Robertson. Pictured are nurses from the 3MS Unit who are among the nearly 100 nurses actively participating in the initiative.  In back (l-r) are Denise Hill, Lisa Collard, Joanna Robertson and Jen Hedrick; middle group, Michelle Robertson, April Benta, Jessica Neville, Maryann Kishanuk, Linda Abbott, Angie Cottingham, Lydia Manu and Margaret Porter; in front, Dr. Stephen Fanto, Amy Balasus, Janice Ayers, Rita Rickards, Tara Bower and Jeffrey Fried. SOURCE SUBMITTED
Medical Staff Quality Measures team member and presenter was Rochelle Spriggs-Hall, RN, BS, BSN, medical staff quality coordinator. Other team members were Vikas Batra, MD, chairman; Ellen Bahtiarian, MD; Gregory Bahtiarian, DO; Steven Berlin, MD; Mouhanad Freih, MD; Nancy Gideon, MD; Joydeep Haldar, MD; Jeffrey Hawtof, MD, FAAFP; Michael Ingerski, MD; Paul Minnick, RN, MSN, NEA-BC; Richard Palmer, MD; Ronald Sabbagh, MD; Michael Salvatore, MD; Ann Smith, RN, BS, CPHQ; and Kristie Zangari, DO. Shown (l-r) are Dr. Stephen Fanto, Ann Smith, Rochelle Spriggs-Hall, Jeffrey Fried and Dr. Jeffrey Hawtof. SOURCE SUBMITTED

Beebe Medical Center recognized employees and physicians for their dedication and commitment to high-quality patient care during the 3rd Annual Quality and Safety Awards Banquet recently held at Kings Creek Country Club.

The three award-winning teams included the 3MS Hand-Off Communication team, which focused on improving the method of how nurses share patients’ medical information with other nurses and patients at shift change; Medical Staff Quality Measures, which focused on the creation of a Medical Staff Committee that is responsible for the measurement, evaluation and oversight of the competency and performance of medical providers through a multi-specialty approach with an emphasis on the pursuit of excellence and collegial learning; and Coordination of Care Initiative team, which implemented actions to improve and maintain the health of patients with chronic illnesses such as heart failure after they are discharged from the hospital.

The evening represented the culmination of a year’s work by 11 teams made up of a total of more than 75 Beebe team members that had designed and implemented process improvement initiatives impacting the quality of patient care. A member of each team presented information on each project. Stephen Fanto, MD, chairman of the Board of Directors' Quality and Safety Committee, then officially recognized the three winning teams by presenting them with their awards.

“Beebe Medical Center is an excellent hospital with exceptional people,” said Jeffrey M. Fried, president and CEO of Beebe Medical Center. “We set very high standards for ourselves at Beebe and establish our goals with the intent of being among the very best hospitals in the United States.  We are here to celebrate our people who come to work to make a difference in people’s lives. We applaud their accomplishments, and thank them for their commitment and dedication to our patients.”

In his remarks,  Fried noted that according to the new federal quality rating system of hospitals - Hospital Value Based Purchasing - Beebe Medical Center’s 73.3 rating was 32 percent higher than the national average of 55.5, and 53 percent higher than the Delaware hospital average of 47.9.

This rating system is extremely important to U.S. hospitals because beginning in October 2012, it directly impacts how much money the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will reimburse hospitals for the care they give patients. If the quality of care is inferior, hospitals will be paid less. If the quality of care is superior, hospitals will be paid more. The rating is based on an analysis of such factors as patient outcomes related to how the hospital treated them for heart failure, heart attacks and pneumonia; how patients fared in regard to their health during and after surgery; and patient satisfaction.

“Healthgrades gave Beebe Medical Center more 5-star ratings for quality than any other hospital in Delaware,”  Fried said.

Healthgrades, the leading provider of information to help consumers make informed decisions about physicians or hospitals, recently announced that Beebe Medical Center is one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Overall Orthopedics, Joint Replacement, Spine Surgery and Coronary Interventions. It gave Beebe Medical Center 5-star ratings, which represent above-average quality, for several types of care including overall orthopedic services; joint replacement; total knee replacement; total hip replacement; hip fracture treatment; back and neck surgery; spine surgery; spinal fusion; overall pulmonary services; carotid surgery; treatment of patients with pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; and sepsis.

The 2013 performance outcomes are now available free to the public at www.healthgrades.com.

During Beebe Medical Center’s 3rd annual Quality and Safety Awards Banquet, the other teams that presented their initiatives were Administration of IV Drips – Improved staff education; Baby Friendly Hospital – Initiative to make Beebe Medical Center designated as a Baby Friendly hospital; Cardiac Team Initiative – Focused on improving documentation in Cardiac Rehab; Education of Coumadin Patients – Improved the education of patients about the use of Coumadin; Home Health Workplace Culture – Improved communication amongst home health staff; Ordering and Issuing Supplies – Computerized supply ordering and distribution within the organization; Rehabbing Rehab – Improved the efficiency of the Rehab Department; and Scabies Initiative – Developed and implemented controls to avoid the spread of the scabies infection that is brought into the hospital by infected patients.

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