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GEORGETOWN HOSPITAL SYSTEM
Georgetown
Memorial Hospital (GMH) and
Waccamaw Community Hospital (WCH) are among
120 hospitals nationwide to receive the QUEST 2011
Top Performing Hospital award. The award is based
on three years of results (2008 through 2010) related
to mortality, evidence-based care and cost of care.
QUEST hospitals are a group of Premier Health
Alliance, which represents 2,500 hospitals and
78,000 care sites nationwide. In 30 months, QUEST
hospitals saved 25,235 lives and reduced health care
spending by $2.85 billion through the delivery of
high-quality, evidence-based care to 63,094 patients.
The QUEST award is different from other quality
awards because there are no defined standards
for top performance. QUEST applies a systematic
approach to performance improvement, allowing
top performance standards for all hospitals to be
set nationwide based on what the evidence shows is
possible.
QUEST hospitals work together and share ideas,
best practices and strategies to improve performance
in all the measured areas. When documented, these
improvements serve as a blueprint for better patient
care in all of health care. Both GMH and WCH used
the projects below to achieve this award:
EVIDENCE-BASEDCARE
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Part of the OPPE (physician report card) process.
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All physician core measure defects are reviewed by
medical staff.
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Performance improvement committee.
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All core measure defects and physician outlier
statuses are communicated to providers.
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Case reviews identify system process issues for
micro system work.
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Ongoing physician performance education.
MORTALITY
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Sepsis screening tool.
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Use of sepsis alert.
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Sepsis order set/protocol use and bundle
compliance.
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Clinical documentation specialists query
physicians on comorbidities.
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Implementation of palliative care program.
COSTOF CARE
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Daily bed huddles for planning discharges.
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Hospitalist program.
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Inpatient status review for early identification of
discharge.
“QUEST has provided us a tremendous foundation
of focus for continuous quality improvement,” says
Bruce P. Bailey, CEO of GHS. “QUEST metrics were
chosen by our board as system dashboard measures;
the comparative information helps us as we face
our newest opponent: value-based purchasing.
The dashboard as a visual goal is shared at all our
management meetings and supports alignment of
goals across the organization, from the C suite to the
front line.
“QUEST collaborative and sprints not only have
provided great content and best practice ideas,
but also have served as a platform to support
systemization efforts and physician-led improvement
initiatives.”
Hospitals honored for excellent care
RECOGNITION