Medical Teams Talk Quality Improvements At Nashville Conference

NEW MILFORD — Two quality improvement teams at New Milford Hospital saw their hard work displayed as clinical poster presentations at the 20th Annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care sponsored by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). The Forum was held in Nashville December 8-11.

The presentations outlined improvements in care related to patients diagnosed with heart failure, as well as infection surveillance for hospitalized patients.

“Concurrent Review Improves Teaching for Heart Failure,” conducted by the hospital’s Heart Failure Education Team, dramatically improved compliance with discharge instructions by combining concurrent chart review with an electronic prompt and documentation process. Thanks to an outstanding response by the nursing staff, documentation has improved to place NMH among the top ten percent of hospitals.

A multidisciplinary Infection Control Team developed “A Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) Whole House In-Patient Hospital Surveillance Program.” Over an eight-month period, the surveillance program screened hospitalized patients for MRSA, allowing for early intervention with transmission-based precautions to decrease the spread of the bacteria. Early results for this program suggest a trend toward improvement, and additional studies will include targeted surveillance to improve screening and monitoring moving forward.

Joseph P. Frolkis, MD, PhD, hospital president and CEO, said, “We are working to improve the lives of patients, the health of communities, and competencies of the health care workforce by focusing on the goals adopted from the Institute of Medicine, which include safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency, and equity. 

“We are delighted to join our peers in the national forum where IHI helps accelerate change in health care by cultivating promising concepts for improving patient care and turning those ideas into action,” Dr Frolkis explained.

IHI is an independent not-for-profit organization helping to lead the improvement of health care throughout the world. Founded in 1991 and based in Cambridge, Mass., IHI works to accelerate improvement by building the will for change, cultivating promising concepts for improving patient care, and helping health care systems put those ideas into action.