In this issue:
Partnership for Patients initiative is improving patient care
Mark your calendars for MHA Advocacy Days at the Capitol
Rice Regional Dental Clinic celebrates five years of service to its community
New River Medical Center, CentraCare sign management agreement
Rural Palliative Care Networking Group to meet Jan. 29
Congressman Erik Paulsen to host job fair
Wishing you a happy
and healthy New Year! The office will be closed on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. Newsline
will return to its regular publishing schedule on Monday, Jan. 7.
MHA is concluding the first year of a two-year contract from the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Minnesota’s hospitals
participating in the Partnership for Patients Hospital Engagement Network
recorded the prevention of more than 3,200 readmissions, 463 fewer patients
experiencing a fall, and 158 fewer patients experiencing a pressure ulcer. The
initiative builds on MHA’s award-winning Call-to-Action framework launched in
2007 and the statewide Reducing Avoidable Readmissions Effectively (RARE)
campaign.
A report issued to the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS) outlines the accomplishments of the participating
hospitals. The 104 MHA Hospital Engagement Network participating hospitals are
committed to focusing on the top 10 hospital-acquired conditions: adverse drug
events; health care-associated infections (catheter-associated urinary tract
infections, central-line-associated bloodstream infections, surgical site
infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia); injuries from falls and
immobility; obstetrical adverse events; pressure ulcers; preventable
readmissions; and venous thromboembolism. Key accomplishments include:
- A nearly 32 percent improvement
in patient falls since 2010
- 45 percent reduction in
pressure ulcers since 2010
- 3,200 fewer readmissions since
2009
- National attention for the Road
Map to a Medication Safety Program; to be rolled out to more than 500
hospitals nationwide
- 94 percent of patients receive
appropriate venous thromboembolism preventative treatments within 48
hours
MHA has helped hospitals prevent adverse events by promoting the
implementation of evidence-based strategies to reduce health care-acquired
conditions. This innovative approach prevents patient harm and provides the
clinical best practices as well as the infrastructure necessary to help
hospitals achieve quality measurement goals and to support implementation and
sustainment.
Now that a strong infrastructure has been established, the second year of the
contract will focus on consistent implementation of the established best
practices and reporting on all relevant measures across hospitals to reach the
goal of a 40 percent reduction in hospital-acquired conditions and a 20 percent
reduction in readmissions by the end of 2013.
Click here to read the entire 2012 Annual Report.
More information about the Partnership for Patients work can be found on our website. Return to top
Make plans to participate in MHA’s Advocacy Days at the Capitol,
Wednesday, Jan. 30
and Wednesday, Feb. 20.
This is a great opportunity to meet face-to-face with your legislators to
discuss issues of importance to hospitals. The Minnesota Organization of
Leaders in Nursing (MOLN) will also be at the Capitol on Feb. 20 so we
encourage you to bring your nurse leaders for this Advocacy Day.
We’ll meet at MHA at 11 a.m. for lunch and a briefing, followed by legislator
visits in the afternoon. Watch for more details in the New Year. Please contact
Carol Eshelman, 651-603-3539, if you need assistance in scheduling your
meetings with your representative and senator. Return to top
The Rice Regional Dental Clinic in Willmar, which operates as a
partnership between Rice Memorial Hospital and the University of Minnesota,
celebrated its fifth anniversary last week. The clinic is a unique delivery
model joining medical and dental services. It serves as a training site for
University of Minnesota dentistry and dental hygiene students—the first of its
kind in the U.S.—and provides quality dental care for low-income and
underserved residents in west central Minnesota. The clinic serves a 17-county
region and to date the clinic has seen nearly 7,000 patients and provided
79,000 dental services and procedures. More than 90 percent of the patients are
public program patients that have difficulty accessing dental care elsewhere.
At its anniversary celebration, the clinic announced the receipt of a $175,000
grant from Delta Dental of Minnesota to help support operations.
Congratulations to Rice Regional Dental Clinic on five years of service to its
community! Return to top
CentraCare Health System will begin managing operations of New
River Medical Center in Monticello on Jan. 1, 2013 under an agreement signed by
both organizations. New River voted in November to affiliate with St.
Cloud-based CentraCare.
“New River Medical Center carefully analyzed the benefits that a health system
affiliation would bring to our patients and community,” said Marshall Smith,
CEO of New River Medical Center. “We believe CentraCare Health System is
the best partner for our organization, and we are looking forward to working
together to expand our local health care services for our patients and their
families.”
“We are excited to partner with New River Medical Center to strengthen and grow
health care services in the Monticello/Big Lake areas,” said Terry Pladson, MD,
president of CentraCare Health System.
Return to top
The Rural Palliative Care Networking Group will meet on Tuesday,
Jan. 29 from 10 a.m. – noon to discuss providing palliative care to veterans.
As rural American veterans face life-limiting conditions or even end of life,
they have unique and special needs. Learn about these needs and how several
rural palliative care programs are assisting veterans in their communities.
You can participate in person at Glacial Ridge Hospital in Glenwood or via
conference call (conference call information will be provided after
registration). There is no fee to participate, but registration is required. To
register, contact Mary Montury, 952-853-8541 by Jan. 22. Return to top
Hospitals are invited to participate in
Congressman Erik Paulsen’s Fourth Annual Job Fair at Normandale Community
College in Bloomington on April 19. For registration information or questions,
contact Luke Hellier. Return to top