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Twenty-One Hospitals Across the Rocky Mountain States Come Together to Focus on Improving Clinical Quality and Patient Safety

Posted on: Monday, 25 August 2008, 12:01 CDT

Twenty-one hospitals across six states have come together to focus on improving clinical quality and patient safety by eliminating barriers to nurses spending more time in direct patient care. A VHA survey showed that many nurses spend less than 30 percent of their time in direct contact with patients. Studies indicate that increasing nursing involvement in direct patient care improves the quality and safety of the care that is delivered.

The 21 hospitals have joined what's known as a Rapid Adoption Network (RAN), a virtual network that will allow them to share information about their clinical practices for the purpose of accelerating the pace of clinical improvement, cutting improvement time to less than one year. The RAN is sponsored by VHA Inc., the national health care alliance. A unifying focal point for the RAN will be the clinical blueprint VHA has developed to help its members focus on increasing direct patient care time for nurses.

The participating member hospitals, from Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming, include:

 --  Billings Clinic, Billings, Mont. --  Bozeman Deaconess Hospital, Bozeman, Mont. --  Campbell County Memorial Hospital, Gillette, Wyo. --  Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, Cheyenne, Wyo. --  Community Medical Center, Missoula, Mont --  Exempla Lutheran Medical Center, Denver, Colo. --  Glendive Medical Center, Glendive, Mont. --  Gunnison Valley Hospital, Gunnison, Colo. --  Longmont United Hospital, Longmont, Colo. --  Portneuf Medical Center, Pocatello, Idaho --  Regional West Health Services, Scottsbluff, Neb. --  Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services, Gallup, N.M. --  San Juan Regional Medical Center, Farmington, N.M. --  St. John's Medical Center, Jackson, Wyo. --  St. Luke's Magic Valley Regional Med Center, Twin Falls, Idaho --  St. Luke's Regional Medical Center, Ltd., Boise, Idaho --  St. Luke's Wood River Medical Center, Ketchum, Idaho --  St. Peter's Hospital, Helena, Mont. --  Vail Valley Medical Center, Vail, Colo. --  Wyoming Medical Center, Casper, Wyo. --  Yampa Valley Medical Center, Steamboat Springs, Colo.      

"I firmly believe the key to improving quality is having nurses at the bedside. Our current practice has created diversions that pull nurses from consistent bedside nursing," said Yvonne Kirk, BSN, Ph.D., vice president of patient care and chief nursing officer at St Peter's Hospital, Helena, Mont. "I was thrilled to learn about VHA's Rapid Adoption Network. Our participation in this initiative has opened a door of networking for our staff that is invaluable."

"VHA's clinical improvement platform focuses on helping members become leading performers," said Trent Haywood, M.D., J.D., chief medical officer at VHA. "Our programs and services will help guide members towards success and improve clinical care across the country."

"Hospitals are working hard to improve the quality and safety of their nursing care. Return to Care is one critical strategy to help them do so," said Karen Smit, Director of Performance Improvement, VHA Mountain States regional office in Denver, Colorado. "By focusing on nursing issues, we are having an immediate impact on the quality of care that is delivered to all patients."

A Rapid Adoption Network is one component of VHA's overall clinical improvement platform, which also includes:

 --  Leading Practices Portal -- a Web-based tool specifically designed to     provide hospitals with a faster and more efficient path to adopting leading     practices.  Hospital members can view Leading Practice Blueprints(TM) and     can also compare the gaps in their processes against the leading practice --  Leading Practice Blueprints(TM) -- Sophisticated, yet simple to     follow, process maps based on ethnographic research at top performing VHA     members. These blueprints were developed by carefully studying the     clinical, engineering and design factors that are important to each leading     practice hospital and integrating these elements into a powerful visual     format --  Clinical Educational Series -- Multimedia formatted educational     programs provide year-round access to leading performers and leading     practices      

About VHA -- VHA Inc., based in Irving, Texas, is a national alliance that provides industry-leading supply chain management services and supports the formation of regional and national networks to help members improve their clinical and economic performance. With 16 offices across the U.S., VHA has a track record of proven results in serving more than 1,400 not-for-profit hospitals and more than 23,000 non-acute care organizations nationwide.

 Media Contact: Lynn Gentry 972/830-0798 Email Contact

SOURCE: VHA

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