Health Care Quality Week is the week dedicated to celebrating the contributions professionals have made in the field and bringing greater awareness to the profession of health care quality. Health care quality professionals work in every health care setting to enhance care delivery, optimize value and improve outcomes by leading activities in one or more of the following core quality functions:

Patient safety Regulatory and accreditation Quality review and accountability Performance and process improvement Health data analytics Population health and care transitions Take a moment this week to thank your quality and patient safety team for the work they do every day to help your hospital care for patients and have the best outcomes possible for the patient, their family and the health care team! For more information, visit http://nahq.org/about/healthcare-quality-week.

KIPSQ members making care safer in KY by discussing Patient Identification Errors at the PSO's Safe Table Event on October 10.

KHA and the K-HIIN group recently recognized Eric Nordman, antimicrobial stewardship pharmacist at St. Elizabeth Edgewood as the latest Patient Safety Hero Awardee.  Tracie Shelton, director of patient safety/accreditation and infection control nominated Nordman for his efforts in leading patient safety improvements throughout the hospital.  

As per Shelton, Nordman holds a Bachelor’s degree and MBA from Northern Kentucky University, and he holds a Doctorate in Pharmacy from the University of Cincinnati. He served as the Antimicrobial Stewardship Team Lead for the Quality Transformation C-diff initiative. He met with and educated hospitalists and gastroenterologists on appropriate testing and best practice ordering protocols for C-diff. He created an EPIC report to identify patients with...

KHA and the K-HIIN group recently recognized Sherri Boggs, quality, risk and safety manager at Our Lady of Peace Hospital in Louisville as the latest Patient Safety Hero Awardee. Boggs was nominated by Keith Rankin, the hospital's director of nursing, for her efforts in leading patient safety improvements throughout the facility.  

Rankin called Boggs the "crown jewel" in the efforts that have gone into the building of a great safety culture at Our Lady of Peace over the last 5+ years. She has led the journey by taking the reins and keeping all other leaders and departments on a steady track for success. When starting their "Safety First" journey, the measures that were in place to review events and prevent harm were mediocre at best Rankin noted. It seemed as though serious safety events were frequent and that processes were examined infrequently. Boggs was a key piece of transforming that culture and as a result, OLOP has grown into a facility that places safety at the front of care. Their patients feel safe and the facts show this,. The hospital has extended its time without a Serious Safety Event to over 400 days, which is an incredible feat in a facility with such a high-risk population. 

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KHA and the K-HIIN group recently recognized Brooke Roberts, Joshua Veilleux, Sam Gabbert and Sonya Downs at Saints Mary and Elizabeth Hospital as Patient Safety Hero Awardees. All were nominated by Twinetta Nusz, program manager of patient safety, for their efforts in leading patient safety improvements throughout the hospital. Congratulations to all of the awardees and the entire team at Saints Mary and Elizabeth Hospital for all of their patient safety successes.  

To nominate a member of your hospital's team, please visit the K-HIIN Patent Safety...

KHA and the K-HIIN group recently recognized Tim Trottier, chief executive officer of Spring View Hospital, as the latest Patient Safety Hero Awardee.  Trottier was nominated by Linda Hunter, the facility's chief nursing officer, for his efforts in leading patient safety improvements throughout the hospital. According to Hunter, Trottier was instrumental in helping Spring View improve quality, safety and satisfaction within the hospital. His achievements include improved patient, physician and employee satisfaction and decreased patient harms. 

To demonstrate his commitment to quality and patient safety he became a “Certified Professional in Patient Safety” CPPS. He most recently engaged a Patient Family Advisory Board (PFAB) that will lead the hospital’s mission to “Make Communities Healthier.”

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The Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services (KY DMS) is clarifying coverage for early elective deliveries (EED) including non-medically necessary inductions and cesarean deliveries. Claims submitted for labor inductions or cesarean sections on or before 39 weeks gestation that are not properly documented as medically necessary will be denied by Kentucky Medicaid including Kentucky Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs).

KY DMS's goals are to: 1) guide providers and hospitals to sound practice recommendations made by AGOG; 2) reduce morbidity in neonates from birth trauma and fetal immaturity; 3) reduce non-medically necessary deliveries less than 39 weeks gestation and; 4) encourage greater collaborations between hospitals and their physicians in developing quality improvement initiatives aimed at improving birth outcomes in Kentucky.

Medicaid delivery claims submitted, with dates of service on or after 9/1/2017, from enrolled hospitals and practitioners for elective inductions...

This week, KHA and the K-HIIN team are conducting a two-day TeamSTEPPS program at Clark Regional Medical Center in Winchester. Twenty-seven hospital employees from Clark Regional Medical Center and Bourbon Community Hospital are attending the program. TeamSTEPPS is a program of teamwork tools aimed at optimizing patient outcomes by improving communication and teamwork skills among health care professionals. 

If you are interested in learning more about TeamSTEPPS or if you are interested in hosting a program in your facility, please contact Donna Meador at KHA (dmeador@kyha.com).

KHA and the K-HIIN group recently recognized Amy Griffith, RN, from Rockcastle Regional Hospital as the newest Patient Safety Hero Awardee. Griffith was nominated by Tammy Brock, the hospital's quality/patient safety director, for her efforts in leading patient safety improvements throughout the hospital. Brock noted that Griffith has taken the lead role in reducing readmissions in the organization and discharge phone calls are a huge part of that. 

Griffith was instrumental in instituting a new discharge call system, training and implementing the system, analyzing the data from the system and more. Griffith discovered the hospital's patients did not understand the medication sheet that was sent home with them, so she worked to create a better discharge medication sheet. She has taken over the role as a "care manager" and makes sure the discharged patients have everything they need to be successful at home. In one instance, a wife could not get her husband to his follow-up doctor's appointment, so Griffith worked with the doctor's office and the office's nurse practitioner was able to make a home visit.  

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KHA and the Kentucky Hospital Improvement Innovation Network (K-HIIN) recently recognized Donna Davis, chief nursing officer at Georgetown Community Hospital with a Patient Safety Hero. Davis was nominated by Georgetown's CEO William Haugh for her efforts in leading patient safety improvements throughout the hospital. 

Per Haugh, Davis was the first CNO within LifePoint Health to become a Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS) by the National Patient Safety Board. In 2016, she led way for Georgetown Community Hospital to reduce the overall HEN HAC rate to 3.719 per 1,000 patient days, which was a 35% reduction from 2015. She also lead the organization to an overall readmission rate of 4.1% in 2016, which is below the national average and the 2015 GCH rate of 5.5%. Finally,...

The Kentucky Institute for Patient Safety and Quality (KIPSQ) will hold two Safe Table meetings in April on Disinfection and Cleaning Reusable Items. Gail Horvath of the ECRI Institute will present, and 2.4 hours of nursing CEUs are available.  

April 12  Registration deadline: April 10  1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. (ET) Hardin Memorial Hospital  Elizabethtown

April 19  Registration deadline: April 17  10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. (ET)  Saint Joseph East-Women’s Hospital Lexington

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is collaborating with the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF), which will merge with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in May, to celebrate Patient Safety Awareness Week (March 12-18) through a series of activities recognizing the importance of keeping patients safe in all health care settings:

An ...

The K-HIIN Kick-Off Meeting will provide insight into how the Kentucky Hospital Improvement Innovation Network (K-HIIN) will use the successes of the Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) to launch the next phase of this national initiative for quality and outcomes improvement in hospitals. Attendees will learn about the goals and requirements of the HIIN and how the innovations, virtual learning opportunities and hospital-level techniques of the program will take your improvement work to the next level.

View the brochure for agenda details, and register online today to reserve your seat for this important meeting.

If you have any questions, please contact Sharon Perkins at KHA (sperkins@kyha.com).

On August 29-30, the Kentucky Hospital Engagement Network (K-HEN) will conduct a Patient Safety TeamSTEPPS Master Trainer Workshop, hosted by KHA in Louisville. Patient Safety TeamSTEPPS training will provide participants with the skill sets needed to build a culture of safety within their organization. Participants will learn to organize the work of patient safety and empower clinicians with the use of tools to effectively manage conflict and implement change.

For details, view the brochure. Reserve your spot today by registering online.

If you have any questions, please contact Sharon Perkins at KHA (sperkins@kyha.com).

The KIPSQ Safe Table Meeting scheduled for tomorrow, January 21, in Madisonville has been cancelled. There is no rescheduled date at this time. If you have questions, contact Sharon Perkins (sperkins@kyha.com) at KHA. For more information on upcoming Safe Table Meetings, view the brochure and registration information on the KIPSQ website at http://www.kipsq.org/Portals/26/EventBrochures/SafeTableMeetings.pdf.

KIPSQ will conduct a Safe Table topic every month in three different locations thoughout the state for members of the PSO. Participants will:

Generate candid discussion and share organizational experiences on patient safety and quality issues Exchange information about bet practices relative to patient safety Encourage coordinated/collaborative efforts and new partnerships Network and communicate A brochure and registration information are available on the KIPSQ website at http://www.kipsq.org/Portals/26/EventBrochures/SafeTableMeetings.pdf.

For more information on the benefits of your facility joining KIPSQ, visit www.kipsq.org or contact Nancy Galvagni (ngalvagni@kyha.com)  or Sharon Perkins (sperkins@kyha.com)...

The Kentucky Institute for Patient Safety and Quality (KIPSQ) is partnering with the Anthem Foundation to provide education, tools and resources to improve care and long-term outcomes for mothers and newborns. The Anthem Foundation has provided grant funding for hospitals to engage in a collaborative patient safety and quality program aimed at reducing early elective deliveries (EEDs), reducing obstetrical harm by preventing unnecessary cesareans, reducing adverse outcomes from oxytocin use and reducing OB hemorrhage. Additionally, resources will be provided to hospitals to improve the rate of breast feeding.

The program's first newsletter is now available. The first edition shares details about the program, successes the participating hospitals have already achieved, upcoming educational events, information on...

The Connecticut Hospital Association shared the following incident with the Kentucky Institute for Patient Safety and Quality (KIPSQ), KHA’s Patient Safety Organization, for distribution to its members in the hopes that it will prevent a harm event in hospitals.

On May 16, Griffin Hospital in Derby, Connecticut, announced that during a daily safety huddle (begun as part of the hospital’s participation in their statewide high reliability collaborative), it had identified an issue regarding the use of insulin pens — devices intended to make insulin injections more efficient and accurate. They consist of a cartridge and needles. While needles were never reused, a few staff used the cartridges for more than one patient. Despite changing the needles, there is still slight risk of blood contamination of the pen reservoir or cartridge, which could result in transmission of blood-borne pathogens from the previous patient.

Griffin has used the insulin pens for several years and has identified approximately...

KHA has received a grant from the Anthem Foundation to support the “Improving Patient Safety for Mom and Baby” initiative. The project kicks off March 28 with a webinar at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

Kentucky hospitals that offer birthing services already strive to provide the best and safest care for moms and babies, and want Kentucky to show the best possible outcomes, both short term and long term. Unfortunately the commonwealth still has lower rankings in several areas:

Kentucky's most recent six-month rate of Early Elective Deliveries is 10.9 percent, which is still significantly higher than the Centers fore Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) goal of 3 percent or less; Kentucky's “ever breastfed” rate is 52.6 percent compared to the national rate of 76.5 percent; Kentucky’s overall C-section rate is 34.6 percent compared to the national Cesarean rate of 31.8 percent; and Obstetrical hemorrhage is an increasing problem across the nation. To help Kentucky hospitals...