June 2016 Department Discovery: Quality, Risk and Care Management

The June 2016 Department Discovery shines a light on the Quality, Risk and Care Management Department.

Quality is commonly defined as a "standard measured against other things of a similar kind". Therefore, in health care, quality refers to the extent that healthcare services are provided to patients to improve their health. Generally speaking, CCH's Quality department monitors and evaluates trends within the organization, and uses that information to improve our patients' experiences and increase patient satisfaction. This 12-person team is comprised of many different entities and coordinates the following:

• Care Managers coordinate patient discharges and post discharge resources
• Medical Staff Coordinator manages the credentialing and re-credentialing process for all providers with privileges at CCH facilities
• Process Improvement Facilitator helps departments and staff eliminate wasteful practices and improve upon processes within the organization
• Quality staff coordinates survey activities, patient safety initiatives and risk activities including incident reporting and physician peer reviews among others.

"We all love contributing to the CCH mission of Excellence Every Day and having some fun along the way," says director Sue Ulrich, RN. "We are a wonderful team, and we work together to always improve CCH. Sometimes even a small tweak can make all the difference in the world."

This year, this department is excited to be working on a joint boot camp for patients who need joint replacement surgeries, improving incident reporting for patients and staff throughout the organization, and continuing to work with community resources to provide needed services for our patients after discharge.

CCMH, like all hospitals in the nation, voluntarily reports quality data to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The public may find this data at www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov. Simply enter a zip code, and the database searches for every hospital within a 200-mile radius, and it allows you to compare up to three hospitals to one another.

FYI: Reguarly, this department convenes for a themed luncheon. This month's theme was Hawaiian, as you can tell by their photo. They not only dressed the part with grass skirts, leis and coconuts, they also made some delicious island styled grub to enjoy.

A big round of applause to the Quality, Risk and Care Management Department staff! Thank you for all that you do for keeping our community healthy and safe.