Beebe Healthcare presents quality and safety awards

Quality and safety are important organizational priorities at Beebe Healthcare, and hospital leaders are committed to recognizing those who are going above and beyond the call of duty in this arena.

Each year, Beebe’s quality and safety committee presents awards to teams that have worked to resolve operational roadblocks through the implementation of new quality and safety initiatives. Teams present metrics along with sustainability plans to assure their problem-solving approaches can be operationalized.

“Our annual awards program encourages staff to think outside the box and take the lead on developing new approaches that can optimize quality and safety in our patient care environments,” said Marcy Jack, JD, BSN, CPHRM, CPHQ, chief quality officer at Beebe. “We are incredibly proud of the ways our team members have come together to develop, present, and apply impactful ideas and solutions.”

The committee presented 2023 Quality and Safety Awards to two teams in recognition of initiatives for expansion and growth of Beebe’s population healthcare coordination program and for dietary supplements to support nutritional deficiencies in the prevention or healing of pressure injuries.

Care coordination for patients with congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease following discharge from the hospital has been a concentrated priority for Beebe’s population healthcare coordination program. However, it was determined that patients from other service lines – especially those who face issues including barriers to healthcare and social determinants of health – could also benefit from care coordination following medical visits or hospital discharge.

Systems were developed and operationalized to allow the population healthcare coordination program to expand and serve patients diagnosed with a broader range of chronic health conditions. Care coordination is managed by multidisciplinary teams rather than a primary, single-care coordinator, with support from skilled nursing facilities and home health. Information sharing and patient monitoring are key coordination processes that aim to reduce acute-care hospitalizations, emergency department visits and hospital readmissions within a 30-day window.

Dietary supplements can support nutritional deficiencies as pressure injuries are prevented or treated. A team of clinical experts from Beebe identified a gap in documentation of supplement usage as patients with these conditions were being treated. Increasing knowledge about the importance of the supplements and the corresponding documentation was necessary, with specific goals in mind.

The team developed new protocols to identify and develop standardized processes for documenting supplement use in each patient’s electronic medical record, while also creating streamlined workflows. Standard operating procedures were also developed, along with a reliable measurement system to understand the impact supplements can have on reducing pressure ulcers. The team also worked to eliminate waste and variation in electronic medical record workflows, while capturing data to allow for more advanced reporting and analytics. These systems support continued education and learning, and may lead to future interventions.