Achieving 95% - Procedure and Process

Last month, the Joint Commission released their annual report on quality and safety, highlighting the top-performing hospitals for 2012. Much of the post-release buzz has centered around the number of facilities on the list (620 this year compared with 402 last year) and the fact that 244 are repeat achievers. Looking at the extensive catalog of hospitals got me to thinking about how a hospital makes this exclusive list to begin with. 

As humans we like these kinds of lists – they represent an organized platform of recommendations we can start with when selecting a service provider whether they are a university program or a physician group. And while not all lists are created equal, the Joint Commission’s list is exclusive. This is because making the cut is based on specific treatment procedures and evaluates well-developed protocols for things like administering aspirin to heart attack patients, appropriately using antibiotics for surgical patients, and creating a continuing care plan for psychiatric patients. These are concrete items, and achieving a 95% in each measurable specialty category clearly indicates that these facilities know how to execute their procedures. 

How do hospitals consistently treat patients so effectively? More than having a standard procedure is having a solid process, and this is where I get excited – communication is a big part of these processes. Coordinating the continuum of patient care requires lots of ‘cooks in the kitchen’ – but they’re not all in the kitchen at the same time to talk with each other or pass messages. I get excited because I work for a company that enables these messages to be sent among a mobile group of individuals. We help deliver test results quickly from the Lab or Radiology back to the ordering physician so patients can receive faster treatments. We help physicians find one another for impromptu phone consultations. We help nurses monitor their patients, and we help hospitals notify groups of people quickly in an emergency. Doing our job correctly means people often don’t even know our software is there.

 Hospitals are continually evolving and improving their processes, and I hope to see the 2013 list of Joint Commission top performers expand even further. Is your hospital on the list? Are you aiming to join the list in future? What campaigns at your organization are focused on improving a qualifying measure? How do communications fit into the process? I welcome your thoughts and comments.