Patient Safety
We have a saying here at Methodist Richardson:
"Our patients' safety is not just a job; it's our way of life."
It's true. Our team members emphasize the safety and well-being of our patients from the first day on the job. Every nurse, administrator and staff member undergoes proven patient safety training during new hire orientation. This sets a foundational focus on service excellence that reflects in our patient satisfaction survey scores. In addition, we participate in two nationwide hospital programs that help us continually polish our patient safety procedures: the Leapfrog Group and the 5 Million Lives Campaign. We've recently received several quality awards that demonstrate our excellence in patient care.
"Get With the Guidelines" Gold Medal
Methodist Richardson has received national recognition from the American Heart Association (AHA) and American Stroke Association (ASA) for providing high quality care to patients with coronary artery disease, heart failure, and stroke. We are proud to be among the hospitals that the AHA/ASA recognized in the July 2009 issue of U.S. News & World Report for our excellence in implementing the "Get With the Guidelines" quality improvement program.
Texas Health Care Quality Improvement Achievement Award
Methodist Richardson has won the Quality Improvement Achievement Award from the TMF Health Quality Institute, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for Texas. The award honors hospitals that have improved their performance on specific national quality measures (heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, and surgical care).
Out of 227 participating Texas hospitals, 27 have met the criteria and have been presented with the Texas Health Care Quality Improvement Award of Excellence and 66 have been presented with the Quality Improvement Achievement Award.
Infection Prevention Performance
The MedMined system monitors the entire hospital for early signs of an emerging infection issue. This helps combat deadly infections, improves patient care, and dramatically reduces infection-related costs. Recent benchmarking by MedMined shows that out of the 180 hospitals using the system, Methodist Richardson is the #1 hospital in Texas with the lowest health care associated infections, and ranks as #13 in the U.S.
Leapfrog
Methodist Richardson Medical Center is one of Texas’ top health care institutions participating in the Leapfrog Group initiative. The Leapfrog Group began in November 2000 when organizations that purchase health care services wanted to recognize and reward facilities that pride themselves on providing safe, affordable and quality health care for their consumers. Currently, the Leapfrog Group uses several measures (or “leaps”) to determine overall quality and patient safety at a health care facility: Computer Physician Order Entry (CPOE), Evidence-based Hospital Referral (EHR), ICU Physician Staffing (IPS) and the National Quality Forum-Safe Practices (NQF-SP), which consist of 27 practices that should be used universally in appropriate settings to reduce the risk of harm to patients.
Methodist Richardson Medical Center fully implemented the 27 National Quality Forum-Safe Practices. Some of those practices include the following:
- Protocol established to ensure adequate level of nursing based on patient mix, experience and training of nursing staff
- Standardized methods for labeling, packaging and storing medications
- Vaccination of healthcare workers against influenza to protect both them and patients from influenza
- Ensuring that each patient or legal surrogate can recount what he or she has been told during the informed consent discussion
For more information on the Leapfrog Group, visit www.leapfroggroup.org.
5 Million Lives Campaign
Methodist Richardson is a member of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s 5 Million Lives Campaign, the national initiative to save a specified number of lives by a certain date, using proven clinical practices and methods. Health care facilities that choose to participate in the campaign, including Methodist Richardson, commit to implement some or all of the following six quality improvement changes:
- Deploy Rapid Response Teams – by allowing any staff member, regardless of position in the chain of command, to call upon a specialty team to examine a patient at the first sign of decline;
- Deliver Reliable Evidence-Based Care for Acute Myocardial Infarction – by consistently delivering key measures – including early administration of aspirin and beta-blockers – that prevent patient deaths from heart attack;
- Prevent Adverse Drug Events – by implementing medication reconciliation, which requires that a list of all of a patient’s medications (even for unrelated illnesses) be compiled and reconciled to ensure that the patient is given (or prescribed) the right medications at the correct dosages – at admission, discharge and before transferring a patient to another care unit;
- Prevent Central Line Infections – by consistently delivering five interdependent, scientifically grounded steps collectively called the “Central Line Bundle”;
- Prevent Surgical Site Infections – by reliably delivering the correct perioperative antibiotics, maintaining glucose levels and avoiding shaving hair at the surgical site;
- Prevent Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia – by implementing five interdependent, scientifically grounded steps collectively called the “Ventilator Bundle” – such as elevating the head of the hospital bed to between 30 and 45 degrees – thereby dramatically reducing mortality and length of stay in the Intensive Care Unit.
For more information on the 5 Million Lives Campaign, visit www.ihi.org.
