Friday, October 5, 2018
SJRMC Honored with Two Quality Improvement Awards
From left: Jeff Bourgeois, Suzanne Smith and Starla Barela accept the Quest for Excellence Award as a Leader in Quality and Patient Safety from Jeff Dye, NMHA President & CEO and Andrew Shin, COO, Center for Health Innovation, American Hospital Association
San Juan Regional Medical Center is one of just three New Mexico hospitals to earn the Quest for Excellence Award, the New Mexico Hospital Association’s premier honor in hospital quality and performance improvement. San Juan Regional Medical Center is also a recipient of the 2018 Hospital Innovation Improvement Award, a multi-year initiative that aims to ensure better care for individuals throughout the state. The awards were presented in a ceremony last week at the 73rd Annual Meeting of the New Mexico Hospital Association in Albuquerque.
San Juan Regional Medical Center received the competitive Quest for Excellence award for work conducted between August 2017 and August 2018 on a project that used a collaborative and comprehensive approach to prevent surgical site infections. The effort began with a strategic planning process that focuses heavily on patient safety and a decision to apply Six Sigma methodology to the problem of surgical site infections. Infections at or near the site of a recent surgery are one of the most common and costly healthcare-related harmful conditions, according to the CDC.
“Risks for surgical site infections are extensive and varied. Our multi-disciplinary group made a focused effort to review the available literature and develop a scientific approach to decreasing infections after elective colon surgery,” said surgeon Melania Yeats, MD, MBA, FACS.
Professionals from multiple teams within the hospital were engaged to examine even the smallest variations in processes before, during and after surgeries, carefully analyzing any point where a difference occurred. Using that data, staff were able to streamline processes, collaborating to ensure each adhered exactly to best practices. Hospital staff also enhanced the education provided to surgery patients.
“Our Colon Surgery Protocol involves the patient, their families, and the professionals who care for them before, during, and after surgery. Individual surgeons have worked for years to decrease infections after colon surgery; this project made it clear that a team approach and organizational commitment is needed to for measurable and sustainable improvement,” said Dr. Yeats.
“We are very pleased the collaborative work performed on this process has resulted in such improved outcomes for our patients,” added Starla Barela, Perioperative Services Program Director.
Team members included: Melania Yeats, M.D. (Executive Sponsor/Process Owner); Dwayne Gibbs, M.D. (Physician Champion); Starla Barela; Penny Hill; April Stovall; Christen Sandefer; Julie Branch; Coty Sewell; Heather Richmond; Karon Lyon; Jared Fuller, DO; Melissa Hartwig; Karen Huxley; Danette Nunez; Cheryl Cothern; Lucia Naranjo; Deb Brown; Michelle Nakai-Gale. Not all team members were available at the time of the photograph.
Commitment to quality and patient safety is central to the mission of San Juan Regional Medical Center and the New Mexico Hospital Association. San Juan Regional Medical Center is proud of achieving high marks in patient safety programs administered by the New Mexico Hospital Association, and is one of fifteen New Mexico hospitals receiving the 2018 Hospital Innovation Improvement Award (HIIN). This extensive, multi-year program supported by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has a goal to improve patient outcomes and reduce readmissions by 2019. San Juan Regional Medical Center is currently exceeding those goals on several measures.
“We are in a constant pursuit of improving our organization and programs like HIIN engage hospital leadership and clinicians at all levels to build on successes and spread best practices. Our staff played a critical role in implementing and sustaining important quality measures that ultimately benefit our patients and our community,” said Dr. Robert M. Underwood, Chief Medical Officer.