Highlights from SNI’s Summit to Accelerate Operational Efficiency in California Safety Net Hospitals

California public hospital systems have made significant efficiency gains using approaches such as Lean, Management Engineering and Patient Visit Redesign. Given these successes, the pressure for hospital executives to align seemingly disparate areas of improvement work with strategic organizational priorities, and the environmental pressures to improve quality, patient experience and efficiency, SNI hosted a two-part Summit to Accelerate Operational Efficiency in California Safety Net Hospitals. Participants had all been engaged in California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF)-funded operational improvement initiatives. A new report highlights learnings from the Summit, which focused on strategies for spreading and sustaining operational efficiency efforts. Convergence Health Solutions facilitated the Summit and authored the report, with funding by CHCF. CAPH-member hospital systems are well on their way to “taking waste out and putting patients first.”

Recognizing Innovative and Significant Improvements: The 2010 Quality Leaders Awards

The CAPH/SNI Quality Leaders Awards program (QLAs) has honored hundreds of the best health care innovations among California's public hospitals over the last two decades. Awarded annually at the CAPH Annual Conference, and funded by Kaiser Permanente, the QLAs not only recognize the forward- thinking improvements taking place among the CAPH membership, but also the leadership, creativity, and hard work of those working in the public safety net. As California’s public hospitals continue to evolve into even more coordinated and integrated systems of care, and given the historic passage of Health Care Reform, there’s never been a more important time to share the achievements embodied by the Quality Leaders Awards. CAPH and SNI have just released the application for the 2010 QLAs. The deadline to submit entries is Monday, August 9.

Contact: Norma Batongbacal, (510) 874-7116

Reports Indicate Early Improvements in SNI’s Seamless Care Center Initiative

In late 2009, SNI launched the CHCF-funded Seamless Care Center Initiative, a two-year program designed to further build the capacity of California’s public hospital primary care clinics to serve as high-quality, accessible, patient-centered medical homes. All participating organizations have begun the process of reporting monthly Seamless Care data, and are already starting to see improvement in several key areas. San Mateo Medical Center clinics, through their work with consultants Coleman Associates’ unique Patient-Centered Scheduling model, have already shown a five percent reduction from the baseline in their no-show rates. They have also begun reducing their need for a dedicated “same-day provider” to see urgent or acute care patients, and are instead creating capacity within each provider’s schedule to see their own patients, thereby increasing continuity of care. Riverside County Regional Medical Center clinics have been focusing their efforts on enhancing diabetes care and increasing their smoking cessation counseling referral rates. Clinics of Alameda County Medical Center, LAC + USC Medical Center, and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center are reporting and will start trainings within the coming months.

Contact: Sasha Morduchowicz

SNI Summit on Quality Improvement in Graduate Medical Education a Success

On June 4, SNI and the UCSF/SFGH Medicine and Family & Community Medicine Residency Programs co-hosted a regional meeting for residents, faculty, and program directors. Among the first of its kind, the Summit provided an opportunity for residents to share their quality improvement (QI) projects with one another, and for program directors and faculty to share ideas and best practices for integrating quality improvement into residency program curricula. A high-level career panel was featured, including Drs. Lisa Golden of Ocean Park Health Center, Tom Bodenheimer of the SFGH Center for Excellence in Primary Care, Lyn Berry of Alameda County Medical Center, Will Huen of UCSF, and Kelly Pfeifer of the San Francisco Health Plan. The event was an excellent opportunity for attendees from many Bay Area public hospital systems to be exposed to the top-notch quality improvement work being done in residency programs across the CAPH membership.

SNI would like to give special thanks to Drs. Claire Horton and Hali Hammer of San Francisco General Hospital for planning and co-hosting the conference. Contact: Sasha Morduchowicz

Successful Joint Effort to Train Leaders in Care Team Optimization

SNI and the California Primary Care Association (CPCA) hosted a two-part online training session in June on “Care Team Optimization," conducted by Catherine Tantau, BSN, MPA, principal at Tantau & Associates. The webinars provided CAPH and CPCA members with exposure to current trends and best practices for optimizing care teams in both primary and specialty services. Participants were provided with an introduction to the “Golden Rules” of care team optimization, exposed to models of exemplary work, and introduced to several critical tools. Resources included a work analysis tool, a demand/supply analysis for determining care team needs, and a process for accelerating the development of high performing care teams. Attendees of both sessions received 3 CME credits from the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Contact: Mary Gregory

California Patient Medication Safety Act: New Standards for Pharmacy Care

Senate Bill 472 created the California Patient Medication Safety Act of 2007, which mandates the State Board of Pharmacy to require use of a standardized, patient-centered prescription label that addresses the needs of elderly, low literacy, and limited-English-speaking patients. The new law will go into effect January 1, 2011. In light of this new legislation, SNI is working with researchers and other experts to pursue an initiative to implement cost-effective methods of complying with the new regulations and taking the lead on addressing pharmacy translation issues. A survey will soon be distributed to CAPH-member hospital pharmacy directors to assess hospital interest and capacity to meet and even exceed these new standards.

Contact: Mary Gregory

New Staff Join the SNI Team in August

SNI has hired a new Senior Program Associate for Quality and Healthcare Equity, Boris Kalanj, MSW. Boris has held senior positions at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota for the past 10 years, most recently as Director of the Office of Health Care Equity. He has led significant, data-driven initiatives to improve quality and access across the system, and developed new service models and interventions, with an overall focus on eliminating healthcare disparities. He completed the Disparities Leadership Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, has conducted multiple trainings and presented on issues of health equity nationally, and is widely published. Starting August 16, Boris will lead SNI’s work on inpatient quality and core measures under the Quality First Initiative, as well as oversee SNI’s initiatives on eliminating healthcare disparities.

SNI is also pleased to announce that Denise Gonzalez, M.D. will start August 1 as SNI’s Senior Clinical Program Associate for Outpatient Improvement. She will lead SNI’s work in primary care improvement and the evolution of medical homes, including the Seamless Care Center Initiative, as well as serve as clinical consultant to all of SNI’s initiatives. Dr. Gonzalez has a decade of experience in the safety net from primary care physician to medical director, and has served as a primary care physician for Kaiser Permanente. She conducted her Internal Medicine residency training at San Francisco General Hospital.

Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit Now Available

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently released a Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit. The toolkit is based on the principles of universal precautions, or specific actions that providers can take to make health information more understandable for all patients. It is designed to be used by all levels of primary care staff. The toolkit was developed for AHRQ by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Download a copy of the Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit here or access the online version.

Public Hospital Insight into EMR Implementation

San Mateo Medical Center recently created and posted a YouTube video sharing the lessons they learned when implementing eClinical Works in their ambulatory care facilities. eClinical Works is a commonly used electronic medical record (EMR) software and is currently being utilized in several public hospitals in California. The video features candid comments from senior leaders and staff regarding their experiences.

Contact: Seraphin Nicholson

Events

-Aug. 3 & Aug. 10, 12PM-1:30PM. California Quality Collaborative webinar series on Improving the Patient Experience. Register here for this free web conference or visit the SNI Calendar. Contact: Shannon Disney.

-The following IHI opportunities are currently available. CAPH Members may apply here for scholarships and travel support for these IHI programs. Contact: Angelina Ramos.

Sept. 21-22, Washington, DC IHI’s Cracking the Code will help develop a two-year plan to improve patient flow in your hospital.
Oct. 5, Washington, DC IHI’s From the Top: The Role of the Board in Quality and Safety will improve the capability of your organization’s board to oversee quality and safety endeavors.
Dec. 5- 8 Orlando, FL IHI's 22nd National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care offers Learning Labs, mini-courses, a Scientific Symposium, and Forum Excursions, which are extended, highly interactive sessions.

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