River Park Hits Triple With Quality Groups
River Park Hospital has experienced a busy — and rewarding — summer when it comes to notable healthcare accreditation and certification processes.
Since Memorial Day, River Park’s quality of care has been commended by:
The Joint Commission
The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits nearly 15,000 healthcare organizations and programs around the country. Joint Commission accreditation is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to meeting certain performance standards.
The Joint Commission staff recently visited River Park for an unannounced survey of the hospital’s patient care and safety procedures — a process that holds healthcare facilities accountable on a continuous basis. To the credit of the hospital’s administration and staff, River Park was awarded full accreditation.
“Our result validates the level and quality of care received by River Park patients,” said Kaye Davenport, River Park’s Quality and Risk Management Director. “We should all be proud of the outcome. Every River Park staff member has ownership in our successes.”
The Society of Chest Pain Centers
In late July, the SCPC awarded River Park’s Chest Pain Center full Cycle II accreditation, meaning that the hospital met or exceeded a wide set of stringent quality criteria established by the SCPC for acute cardiac medicine.
“We’ve worked to enable ourselves to be able to be the first line of our care for our community when an emergency arises,” said Wanda Hart, River Park’s Emergency Services Director. “The accreditation from the SCPC shows that we have achieved a certain level of success when dealing with emergency situations.”
River Park’s Chest Pain Center received Cycle I accreditation in 2004 and is the 36th accredited Chest Pain Center in the nation.. Each cycle runs for three years and features updated quality criteria.
The American College of Pathologists (CAP)
The CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program seeks to improve patient safety through education, standard setting and ensuring that labs meet or exceed regulatory compliance.
In an unannounced review in July, River Park Hospital Laboratory Services received high marks from CAP, which measures labs’ adherence to some 1,500 standards. The facility performs about 180,000 tests annually and is staffed by 12 licensed medical technologists and three phlebotomists.
“CAP holds unannounced surveys every other year,” said Peggy Hardcastle, River Park’s Director of Laboratory Services. “This was our best in several years and it’s due to the hard work and high standards of our lab staff.”
In addition to clearing these accreditation hurdles, River Park — one of five hospitals in the Capella Healthcare family — also has been adding talent and equipment to its lineup this summer.
Two community leaders have joined the hospital’s board of trustees: Dr. Jerry Hale, Director of Warren County Schools, and Greg Sweeton, General Manager of the Oster Professional Products plant in McMinnville. Both men will add their experience and leadership skills to the board’s mix, said River Park CEO John McLain.
Early this summer, River Park also unveiled a new Picture Archival and Communication System (PACS) that digitally stores and sends files taken from the hospital’s imaging systems. These include CT, MRI, X-ray and other scans that, when digitized, enables those involved with patient care to have better access to clearer images.
Along with PACS, River Park also implemented a virtual private network (VPN) to enable caregivers to remotely access the system, increasing diagnosis speed and patient satisfaction.
About River Park
River Park Hospital is a 125-licensed bed facility that is accredited by the Joint Commission. River Park serves more than 115,000 residents in an eight-county region of Middle Tennessee. The hospital also owns Middle Tennessee Surgical Care and features a Chest Pain Center with a Cycle II accreditation from the Society of Chest Pain Centers. For more information, please visit www.riverparkhospital.com.
About Capella Healthcare
Capella Healthcare partners with communities to build strong local healthcare systems. Capella’s leadership team has more than 200 years of combined experience and has overseen $2.5 billion in hospital construction projects. With the financial backing of GTCR Golder Rauner, the company has access to significant resources for the expansion and improvement of its hospitals and the services they provide. Capella operates five hospitals across the nation. For more information, please visit www.capellahealth.com.