River Park awarded by QSource

Lesley Hays, left, hospital specialist with Q Source, presents a certificate of achievement in the quality improvement process to Kaye Davenport, RN, right, Quality Risk manager for River Park Hospital. (Photo provided)

River Park Hospital was recently recognized for its outstanding efforts to improve care for its patients with congestive heart failure by QSource Center for Healthcare Quality. The hospital has changed its processes to better diagnose and treat patients with this condition.

QSource is Tennessee’s only federally funded Quality Improvement Organization, an independent not-for-profit organization working under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which provide technical assistance to hospitals in their data abstraction and submission and with quality improvement activities.

Quality improvement personnel from the local hospital attended a series of four “Innovative Quality” workshops over the last year where they worked with representatives from other hospitals in the region. The hospitals networked, shared ideas, materials and best practices and then put the improvement concepts to work in their facilities in a “breakthrough” or “transformational” way.

The specific clinical topics were chosen because they are related to serious medical conditions that are common among people with Medicare and that result in hospitalization.

“Our hospital partners have accomplished measurable improvements in process of care,” according to Judy Weddle, RN, CPHQ, QSource Hospital Program Manager. She explained that while the “Innovative Quality” workshops are designed to improve care for the 900,000-plus Tennesseans with Medicare, all patients benefit. “Our ultimate goal is the right care for every person, every time,” she said.

“We stand ready to assist hospitals to successfully improve the quality of care they deliver. We are a Tennessee-based grass roots organization that facilitates healthcare providers to improve the quality of patient care,” explained Weddle. “All of our efforts with healthcare providers are taking us to one end — high quality care for people with Medicare.”

Kaye Davenport, quality/risk manager at River Park Hospital reports these improvements in patient care were made at the bedside by the nursing and cardiopulmonary caregivers. Patients who reported smoking cigarettes in the last year receiving smoking cessation counseling increased from 0% in March 2003 to 100% in January 2004. The use of tobacco and tobacco products has been linked to cardiac as well as lung problems making this step towards prevention all the more important.

One symptom to monitor in the CHF patient is rapid weight gain. This could indicate a worsening in the patient’s condition and should be reported to the physician immediately. Discharge instructions given to the CHF patient include specific diet, exercise and daily monitoring of weight. It is recommended by the AHA that a rapid weight gain of three pounds or more should be reported to the physician as soon as possible. The percentage of documented discharge instructions given to patients at River Park increased from 0% in March 2003 to 100% in January 2004.

These efforts are only two of the many areas focused on daily by the caregivers at River Park Hospital in their ongoing efforts to provide the utmost in quality care to patients, Davenport stated.