SNI Bulletin SNI
September 27, 2011
In this SNI Bulletin:
Seamless Care Center Initiative Wraps-up for Half of Participants
Sepsis and CLABSI Collaborative Successfully Kicks-Off
SNI’s PExT Initiative Kicks-Off October 24 in Oakland
Partnership for Patients: SFGH, Harbor UCLA and ACMC host Federal Leaders from Health and Human Services to Highlight Local Patient Safety Examples
California Public Hospitals Receive Recognition from U.S. News Best Hospitals and the Joint Commission
SNI Welcomes 3 New Staff, Says Goodbye to Another
8 CAPH Clinical Leaders Accepted into Prestigious CHCF Clinical Leadership Program

Seamless Care Center Initiative Wraps-up for Half of Participants

Half of Seamless Care’s participants, San Mateo Medical Center and the Community Health Agency (CHA) clinics of Riverside County, completed their work this month with great improvements in Patient-Centered Scheduling, including:

· San Mateo Medical Center now boasts an average no-show rate of 10% and third-to-next-available-appointment (TNAA) of 8 days, and has sustained these results for a full year since its last Patient-Centered Scheduling Learning Session.

· Having just completed Patient Centered Scheduling, the Riverside CHA clinics are celebrating an average no-show rate of 8% and TNAA of 1 day.

Besides improving access for their patients, these organizations also did amazing work with their diabetic patients in the clinics to maximize use of their disease registries, increase the number of diabetic patients with recorded A1c tests, and in San Mateo, 73% of patients had an A1c of less than 8%. These results could not have been possible without generous funding from the California HealthCare Foundation. SNI expects equally great outcomes from LA County and Alameda County Medical Center as they complete their Seamless Care work over the next severalmonths.

Contact: Denise Gonzalez

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Sepsis and CLABSI Collaborative Successfully Kicks-Off

SNI hosted the kick- off learning session for its Sepsis and CLABSI collaborative on September 9th in Oakland, with funding from the Blue Shield of California Foundation.More than 100 participants from all CAPH-member hospitals participated to learn about Sepsis and CLABSI from experts Drs. Sean Townsend and Ron Elkin to share learnings, insights and best practices related to reducing these serious infections, with a goal of overall reduction of 15%. Improvement advisors from the Altos Group and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) were on hand to help teams devise small tests of change to implement upon returning their hospitals. The next learning session will be held on Feb. 15, 2012 in Southern California (location TBD). Participants may visit the Sepsis and CLABSI program portal for more information or for a list of resources.

Contact: Seraphin Nicholson at (510) 874-7221

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SNI’s PExT Initiative Kicks-Off October 24 in Oakland

SNI’s Patient Experience Transformation (PExT) Initiative is a partnership of leaders and staff from California public hospital systems, SNI, and nationally recognized patient experience experts aimed at helping public hospitals create positive health care experiences for their patients, families, and employees. PExT will formally kick-off at an in-person learning session on Oct. 24 in Oakland, open to all participating public hospital systems. Registration for this event is available here. The following day, on October 25, will be the kick-off for the PExT Action Collaborative. The Collaborative will offer an opportunity for select public hospital teams to rapidly transform patient and staff experience in a specific service line over an 8-month period from October 2011 to June 2012. The Action Collaborative application provides more details about programming, and the deadline is Wed., Sept. 28th.

Contact: Boris Kalanj at (510) 874-7119, or Norma Batongbacal at (510) 874-7116

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Partnership for Patients: SFGH, Harbor UCLA and ACMC host Federal Leaders from Health and Human Services to Highlight Local Patient Safety Examples

The Partnership for Patients Initiative is a national effort launched by the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to improve quality and patient safety in hospitals throughout the country by reducing hospital acquired infections by 40% and decreasing hospital readmissions by 20%, both by the end of 2013.The initiative was launched at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center this spring and over the last few months, HHS leadership has sponsored three more events at public hospitals throughout California to highlight successful efforts to improve patient safety. In June, San Francisco General Hospital hosted an event with HHS Secretary Sebelius to highlight the innovative work underway to reduce readmissions and emergency room visits for seniors, which include a particular emphasis on patients with limited English proficiency.On Sept. 9th, Herb Schultz HHS Region IX Director joined leaders at Harbor-UCLA to celebrate 393 consecutive days without a CLABSI infection in their NICU. On Sept. 15th, Mr. Schultz traveled to ACMC to learn more about the success of their harm reduction effort which seeks to reduce harm by 50% between July 2010 and Dec. 2011, and has already shown significant improvement in the prevention of central line infections, maternal infections, and falls. All California public hospital systems have signed on to the Partnership for Patients and additional patient safety events will likely be scheduled later this year or in early 2012.

Contact: Sarah Muller

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California Public Hospitals Receive Recognition from U.S. News Best Hospitals and the Joint Commission

America’s Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report is the annual ranking of almost 5,000 of the nation’s top-notch medical centers, comparing how well a hospital handles complex and demanding situations. This year, seven CAPH members made the list, all of whom were either nationally ranked or listed as high-performing for their respective specialties. SNI congratulates Kern, Arrowhead Regional, LAC+USC, Harbor-UCLA, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC San Diego medical centers, as well as Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, for making the 2011-2012 Best Hospitals list.

Also in the news is Alameda County Medical Center (ACMC), which has been recognized by The Joint Commission as one of the Top Performers on Key Quality Measures, putting it in the top 14% of Joint Commission accredited hospitals. Out of the 3,099 hospitals submitting accountability measure data to The Joint Commission, ACMC was one of only 405 to meet or exceed the target rates for performance for 2010 and was awarded 95% or above in the two performance thresholds of accountability and performance in the areas of heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care. Details of ACMC's achievement will be on The Joint Commission’s Quality Check website shortly, and can currently be found here.


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SNI Welcomes 3 New Staff, Says Goodbye to Another

SNI is pleased to welcome three new staff members to the team: John Semerdjian joins SNI as the new Data Analyst. Most recently, John worked with the California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control on a nationwide meningococcal disease vaccine efficacy study, in addition to coordinating pertussis-related data activities. At SNI, John will leverage his unique skill-set to support the Incentive Program’s data repository. Contact: John Semerdjian, (510) 874-3405.

Program Associate Nermeen Iskander comes to SNI from the community clinic setting, most recently as a project planner for clinical quality improvement projects and initiatives. Nermeen has experience using and optimizing clinical applications, including population health management systems and telehealth applications. Her quality improvement experience includes leading teams through small tests of change, process redesign, and spreading and sustaining best practices. Contact: Nermeen Iskander, (510) 874-3402.

Additionally, SNI welcomes Tramaine Lott as the new Web and Communications Technology Coordinator.Tramaine has an extensive multimedia and web development background, working for a range of clients and organizations for the past four years.He is also in the final stages of completing a masters degree program in instructional technology, which he will utilize to further support and enrich SNI’s program offerings. Contact: Tramaine Lott, (510) 874-3409.

Lastly, SNI announces that Senior Program Associate, Mary Gregory, has decided to leave SNI to spend more time with her family. Since coming to SNI three years ago, Mary has led initiatives in the areas of specialty care access, electronic prescribing, HIT and operational efficiency. We are grateful for her hard work and humor in the face of an ever-changing health care landscape, and wish her all the best in her future pursuits.

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8 CAPH Clinical Leaders Accepted into Prestigious CHCF Clinical Leadership Program

The California HealthCare Foundation(CHCF) Health Care Leadership Program is a highly-selective, two-year fellowship that offers clinically trained health care professionals the experiences, competencies, and skills necessary for effective vision and leadership of today’s health care system. Graduates of the program acquire broadened management and sharpened leadership skills, and they gain unique insight into the trends and challenges facing health care leaders in California. SNI wishes to congratulate the following public hospital leaders who have been accepted into the 2011-2013 Cohort: Taft Bhuket, MD, Vice Chief of Medical Staff/Chief of Gastroenterology/Director of Endoscopy at Alameda County Medical Center; Jennifer Carton-Wade, MOT, OTR/L, Director of Occupational Therapy at Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center; Ellen Chen, MD, Associate Director for the SFGH Center of Excellence in Primary Care at the UCSF Department of Family and Community Medicine; Cyndie Cole, MSN, Chief Nurse Executive at Ventura County Medical Center; William Huen, MD, MS, MPH, Associate Chief Medical Officer and Hospitalist at San Francisco General Hospital; Sara Levin, MD, Chair, Internal Medicine Department at Contra Costa Health Services; Laura Mosqueda, MD, Director of Geriatrics, Interim Chair of Family Medicine at the UC Irvine School of Medicine; and Neel Patel, MD, Medical Director of Pediatrics at San Mateo Medical Center.

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