HSHS Holy Family Hospital issued the following announcement on April 12.
A number of quality improvement initiatives undertaken by HSHS Southern Illinois Division hospitals were on display in the State Capitol on April 3 as part of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association's (IHA) Quality Advocacy Showcase. The HSHS Southern Illinois Division includes HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in O’Fallon, HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital in Effingham, HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital Breese, HSHS Holy Family Hospital in Greenville and HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital Highland. These hospitals’ leaders met with legislators to share how their initiatives have benefited patients, families and communities while reducing health care costs.
The HSHS Southern Illinois Division leaders were among over 100 hospital and health system leaders from across Illinois who met with legislators about their efforts to improve patient care and safety. In sum, 90 hospitals and health systems showcased their improvement projects at the event.
Quality Initiatives Impact
The HSHS Southern Illinois Division hospitals showcased the positive impact of their individual quality initiatives:
HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital highlighted their infection prevention process to reduce Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infection rates through appropriate testing. A multidisciplinary team instituted interventions including a Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation (SBAR) tick sheet to guide bedside nursing; secondary review by Infection Prevention and Pharmacy on a daily basis; Infectious Disease consults as needed; and having the ordering physician or nurse practitioner determine when to test for C. diff.
HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital shared their social determinants of health initiative to increase screening for colon cancer, a highly treated cancer when caught early. The hospital offered community screening events at various area locations, where they provided free screening kits and followed up with the attendees.
HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital Breese shared their infection prevention initiative to reduce surgical site infections by deploying an infection control risk assessment at every level of facility construction projects. An infection preventionist collaborates with facility management on these projects and they use a checklist to complete infection risk assessments.
HSHS Holy Family Hospital shared their proactive approach to decreasing patient harm events. Their “Stop the Line/Good Catch Program” is a monthly award to a staff member who prevented a potentially poor patient outcome.
HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital Highland highlighted their care coordination process where they screen all patients on admission to assess if the patient qualifies for end-of-life care or requires an acute care admission. This screening process allows them to assess patients' health goals and determine the appropriate care model for each individual patient.
These quality initiatives have positively affected patients, their families and each hospitals’ communities by:
Decreasing patient length of stay.
Increasing patient and family experience and satisfaction.
Improving patient safety.
Enhancing quality of care.
Promoting collaboration in the community.
Reducing the use of unnecessary antimicrobials.
Reducing patient costs.
Increasing access to care, screening rates and improving community health.
IHA’s Quality Advocacy Showcase, in its fourth year, visually demonstrates the work of physicians, nurses, quality improvement leaders and hospital administrators to develop and implement solutions to improve care. IHA produced one 30-by-42-inch poster per hospital or health system project for the event.
“The Showcase gives hospital leaders and frontline staff an important opportunity to share their efforts to advance quality care,” said IHA President and CEO A.J. Wilhelmi. “It’s essential that policymakers and elected officials see how Illinois hospitals are doing more to serve their patients and communities—through innovation and practical strategies that improve outcomes.”
The HSHS Southern Illinois Division is comprised of HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, O’Fallon; HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital, Effingham; HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital Breese; HSHS Holy Family Hospital, Greenville; and HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital Highland.
Original source can be found here.
Source: HSHS Holy Family Hospital
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