The Health Care Recruiters Committee at the Greater Cincinnati Health Council held a new all-inclusive meeting on April 23. Recruiting representatives from the entire health care network, including hospital, long-term care, physician recruiters, home health, hospice and physician practices, were in attendance. The recruiters group has been expanded to include representatives from across the continuum of care in order to more efficiently and strategically address recruiting issues and challenges in a changing health care environment. Topics of discussion included adequate supply and demand, recruiting for hot jobs and competency and education. Barry Elkus, Baldwin Gilman, LLC, presented on recruitment trends, tools and talent.

The Supply Chain Executive Committee met in April and shared practices regarding management surplus of supplies and equipment and agreed to develop a standardized response to the Minority Business Accelerator (MBA) goal setter tracking process. Additionally, goals for 2013 were outlined, which include building relationships with MBA companies.

Members from the Sustainability Committee met in April and agreed on three focuses throughout 2013: maximizing current co-mingled recycling programs through staff wide communication and education and identifying departments with specialized opportunities; working to maximize current paper recycling programs through proper contracting with vendors; and launching a regional blue wrap recycling program. Contact Maurie Hanauer for more information.

The Trauma Committee has developed a working sub-committee jointly with local public health and Emergency Medical Services (EMS). This multi-disciplinary group will come together to review current programs and practices and take away best practices as opportunities of spreading more positive outcomes. The most prevalent mechanism of injury and initial regional focus will be reducing falls of the elderly. The state trauma system is being reviewed by the American College of Surgeons in early May. Trauma centers will be participating in discussions and outlining goals for enhancing Ohio’s trauma system.

The Tristate Health Care Supplier Diversity Consortium celebrated an achievement of exceeding all 2012 supplier diversity spending goals. Members received a report conducted by the University of Maryland that highlights hospital systems nationwide that are analyzing their community engagement strategies to better strengthen local health and economies. Consortium executives gathered for a CEO breakfast roundtable at the South Central Ohio Healthcare Supplier Diversity Symposium. In addition to Health Council Consortium and supply chain leaders, attendees included community and business leaders who assembled for diverse supplier networking, sharing best practices, informative breakout sessions and the Spirit of Diversity awards luncheon.

People

Casey Liddy has joined The Christ Hospital Health Network as Executive Director and Chief Business Improvement Officer.

Lee Ann Liska has been appointed the new CEO of University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Liska replaces Brian Gibler, who held the role since 2010 and will be taking a faculty position at the UC College of Medicine.

Colleen O’Toole, PhD, acting governance and operations lead, Greater Cincinnati Health Council, will be honored at the 2013 Healthcare Leadership Awards Banquet this week for her outstanding leadership with the Greater Cincinnati Health Council.

Members

The American Society of Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) recognized five Greater Cincinnati hospitals for their leadership in reducing energy consumption: TriHealth’s Bethesda North Hospital, St. Elizabeth Edgewood, St. Elizabeth Florence, St. Elizabeth Fort Thomas and TriHealth’s Good Samaritan Hospital. TriHealth’s Good Samaritan Hospital reduced their energy consumption by 30 percent, and TriHealth’s Bethesda North Hospital and St. Elizabeth Edgewood each reduced their energy consumption by 25 percent, respectively.

Catholic Health Partners (CHP) was named the winner of the 2013 South Central Ohio Healthcare Supplier Diversity Symposium in the Health System category. CHP was recognized for increasing its supplier diversity spending to $93 million in 2012. Additionally, TriHealth and UC Health were named as finalists for the award.

The Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences is launching two new programs in 2013, an RN to BSN program and a Community Healthcare Worker program. Both new programs are geared toward preparing students to help fill health care jobs of the future.

The Christ Hospital has been named among the Top Hospitals for Safety in the April/May 2013 edition of AARP The Magazine.

Margaret Mary Community Hospital has changed its name to Margaret Mary Health.

St. Elizabeth Healthcare has partnered with Advanced ICU Care, the nation’s largest provider of tele-ICU services, to deliver monitoring by trained intensivist physicians and critical care specialists 24 hours a day.

Truven Analytics, a leading provider of information and solutions to improve the cost and quality of health care, has announced that Mercy Health and TriHealth are among the 15 Top Health Systems in the nation. Mercy Health was named among the best five small health systems in the nation, and TriHealth was named among the best five medium health systems in the nation.

The program, sponsored by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, is proving successful. Last year in 2012, 25 students participated and 18 of those 25 confirmed that they will be pursuing medical school after graduation. This is an increase over 2011 in which eight students chose to pursue a medical career out of 14 participants.

Participating students can observe physicians as they provide patient care services in a variety of settings, including hospitals, emergency rooms and physician offices. Students will also have a chance to view physicians as they perform live surgeries, an option that has become popular in each of its first two years.

Tayyab Diwan, MD, is a transplant surgeon at The Christ Hospital Health Network and is serving as this year’s physician champion. Dr. Diwan will be available to mentor students this year, answer any questions they may have and will also perform a live surgery for students in October. As a physician, he understands the challenges medical students face.

“Becoming a physician takes hard work and perseverance,” said Diwan. “TAP MD can help identify students who are willing to undertake this task and provide them early exposure to the world of medicine.”

TAP MD’s mission is to find “untapped” high school students interested in medicine. The annual career exploration runs from January to December, and students attend monthly events where they interact with clinicians.

For 2013, 33 qualified students were selected out of over 60 applications to participate in the TAP MD program. The students represent a wide range of Tristate communities throughout Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

The program also benefits the Tristate region as it addresses a shortage of doctors as the health care community prepares to provide care for additional individuals who will gain access to health insurance under federal health reform in 2014 and beyond.

The criteria used to select high school students for the TAP MD program is having ACT and SAT scores which meet application requirements for the University of Cincinnati’s Bachelor of Science in Medicine program: at least 29 ACT and 1300 SAT. Each application also provides a personal essay, list of extracurricular activities and three reference letters.

For more information, contact Mary Duffey.

Several health care providers are now using MyChart, a secure, online health management tool that connects a hospital/provider organization’s patients to portions of their personalized health information. Particular measures of focus include increasing the number of patients given access codes, increasing the number of patients logging on to MyChart and increasing the number of electronic messages sent by patients. The task force is collecting baseline measures, interviewing office patients to determine usage and spreading the successful national and regional strategies among users.

One highly successful example of engaging patients with MyChart has been Stephen Hensley, MD, specialty division medical director at St. Elizabeth Physicians. Dr. Hensley has implemented MyChart within his Obstetrics and Gynecology practice and notes that time efficiency and patient satisfaction are two reasons he embraces MyChart.

“Electronic health records are not going away,” said Dr. Hensley. “Of course, everything isn’t seamless yet but in the future we will not know how we lived without it. It is a lot like how we feel about our smart phones.”

Dr. Hensley personally discusses MyChart with his patients, and this conversation assures patients that lab results will be sent to patients in a timely manner and that he will respond to any questions they might have through MyChart. Staff members, including medical assistants who meet with patients during office visits, reinforce and encourage MyChart usage.

Additionally, Dr. Hensley notes that MyChart eliminates some miscommunication problems that might occur through trying to reach patients by phone.

“I can look in MyChart and see at any time what the patient and I have discussed online,” Dr. Hensley said. “I know what they were told, and I can also see in the record that they opened and viewed my recommendations or if they did not receive the messages.”

Dr. Hensley notes that for some patients the ease of communication over e-mail messages is much simpler.

“My younger student population is very busy at school and work so e-mailing results and having MyChart discussions is perfect for their lifestyle,” he says. “It is so much more efficient for me and my entire staff.”

Dr. Hensley estimates that he sends nearly 10 messages each day and receives approximately five e-mails every day from patients. Incoming messages are screened by his medical assistants and receptionists before he personally receives them. Basic questions, such as regarding refills and appointments, oftentimes do not need to be forwarded to the physician while patients with very complex problems will be scheduled for an office appointment. Dr. Hensley responds to his patients within 24 hours and his staff covers his messages while he is away on vacation.

Despite all the advantages of MyChart, however, some types of test results, such as biopsies, or more complex medical conversations do still need to occur in person or on the phone.

“There are many conversations that need to occur on the phone or in person whether they are positive or negative,” said Dr. Hensley. “In some situations, patients need reassurance and the ability to ask questions in real time. It is important that conversations concerning negative findings never occur electronically.”

He believes that MyChart utilization will increase well beyond routine functions and explains that his practice has a lot of routine work, such as annual testing, which lends itself well to MyChart messaging. Not all physician practices have the same quantity of routine testing so activity could vary among practices, but Dr. Hensley experiences the benefits firsthand and can envision how MyChart would help other practices.

“It is easy,” he said. “If I see patients have not accessed their account and they are getting labs drawn, then I can easily remind them to log on to MyChart to access their results quickly.”

“This is a process that is here to stay, and it works well for patients and providers,” he added.

“Our customers told us that they want more information about health care quality from a trusted resource, particularly now that the prevalence of high deductible health plans means patients pay more out of pocket when they need care,” said Judy Hirsh, director of consumer strategy and programs at the Health Collaborative.

The reports measure 16 elements contributing to patient experience and effectiveness at 23 local hospitals. Website visitors can view individual reports or compare several hospitals at a time. The hospital reports were part of an upgrade to the YourHealthMatters.org website in January 2013 which previously reported only on the performance of primary care physician performances. YourHealthMatters.org is an initiative of the Health Collaborative and was developed in partnership with the Greater Cincinnati Health Council.

“This commitment to transparency and collaboration is unique,” said Craig Brammer, chief executive officer of the Health Collaborative, Health Council and HealthBridge. “It is clearly raising the quality of care not only at individual hospitals but for our entire community. People in Greater Cincinnati should be proud that local hospitals are performing at or above Ohio and national averages in all categories.”

Greater Cincinnati hospitals use these same data elements to make internal decisions about how to improve the quality of care patients receive. Additionally, hospitals also use this data to collaborate and share best practices of those hospitals that perform particularly well on any given set of quality measures.

YourHealthMatters.org compiled the hospital ratings using data hospitals are required to report to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). Although CMS has made this data public for a number of years, the reports are hard for most people to navigate and understand. YourHealthMatters.org set out on a journey to display the reports in a manner that is designed to be consumer-friendly and easy to understand.

Consumer research indicated that patients wanted information about patient experience, so categories show ratings for communication with doctors and staff, responsiveness, pain management, quietness and even cleanliness. Effectiveness ratings look at the most common reasons for hospitalization including surgical care, pneumonia, heart attack/chest pain and heart failure, plus readmission rates. Site visitors will see scores for each local hospital as well as the national average of all hospitals. By providing this information, consumers will become better informed about the hospital their doctor recommends or it will help them in selecting one.

The website also includes resources to empower patients and caregivers who want to participate more fully in their care. There are easy to use checklists for before, during and after a hospital stay complemented by short, informational videos.

CINCINNATI, OH: The innovative work aimed at improving equity in health care by members of the Greater Cincinnati Health Council is gaining national recognition through a new video produced by Equity of Care, a national initiative to end health care disparities. A new white paper produced by the Health Council provides additional details and insights on this community-wide effort to collect and standardize reliable data on patients’ race, ethnicity and language (REL) preferences – a critical step in ensuring the integrity of data used to evaluate equity of care.

“Greater Cincinnati is the only community in the country doing this consistently and successfully across a region,” said Craig Brammer, CEO of the Health Council. “The country is watching what has been accomplished here to learn how competing health systems can come together to benefit a community.”

The 18-minute video, “Race, Ethnicity, Language: Pathway to Better Patient Healthcare,” focuses on challenges and solutions to address national findings that document reduced access to health care for certain racial and ethnic groups, and poorer care outcomes for these groups even when given equal access to health care services. Health Council members, staff and project leaders tell the story of the groundbreaking work being done in Greater Cincinnati’s hospitals, with the broad perspective offered by national experts.

The white paper summarizes the process and lessons learned through the project, entitled Cincinnati Expecting Success (CES). The Health Council facilitated the project on behalf of the Health Collaborative as part of Cincinnati Aligning Forces for Quality, an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Health Collaborative. Partial support was provided by the Beacon Community Program under cooperative agreement with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

To view the video and download the white paper, click here. “As part of our leadership in transforming health care, we’re pleased to provide these resources to other communities just starting on this journey,” said Brammer.

Hospitals in Greater Cincinnati do much more than care for sick people and this initiative is one example of the many ways they are working together to improve population health and wellness, according to Nancy Strassel, senior vice president of the Health Council who led the CES initiative. “Competing hospitals have been collaborating since 2009 to improve equity in health care. Across our community, we’ve changed the way we gather and standardize patient data — a huge and necessary first step in improving the equity of care.”

With this milestone achieved, Strassel notes that Greater Cincinnati is now taking the next step toward improving equity of care. Health system executives and quality experts are reviewing the data — stratified by race, ethnicity and language — for use in their quality improvement efforts. “The Health Council expects to begin highlighting this work in 2013,” Strassel says.

Equity of Care, producer of the video, is a national initiative to end health care disparities and increase the collection of race, ethnicity and language preference data; cultural competency training for clinicians and support staff; and diversity in governance and management. Partners are the American Hospital Association, Association of American Medical Colleges, American College of Healthcare Executives, Catholic Health Association of the United States, and National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems.

Lisa Sloane, V-Formation, assisted the Council with coordination and facilitation of the work associated with Cincinnati Expecting Success.

Hospitals participating in Greater Cincinnati’s Cincinnati Expecting Success initiative include: Adams County Regional Medical Center, Atrium Medical Center, The Christ Hospital Health Network, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, CMH Regional Health System/Clinton Memorial Hospital, Dearborn County Hospital, Fort Hamilton Hospital, Highland District Hospital, Lindner Center of HOPE, Margaret Mary Community Hospital, McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital, Mercy Health – Anderson Hospital, Mercy Health – Clermont Hospital, Mercy Health – Fairfield Hospital, Mercy Health – Mt. Airy Hospital, Mercy Health – Western Hills Hospital, The Jewish Hospital – Mercy Health, Regency Hospital of Cincinnati, St. Elizabeth Edgewood, St. Elizabeth Florence, St. Elizabeth Ft. Thomas, St. Elizabeth Grant, Select Specialty Hospital, TriHealth’s Bethesda North Hospital, TriHealth’s Good Samaritan Hospital, UC Health – Drake Center, UC Health – University of Cincinnati Medical Center, UC Health – West Chester Hospital and Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

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The Greater Cincinnati Health Council is a widely recognized association that provides a unique forum where hospital and health care leaders connect to create a stronger health care community. For more than 50 years, the Council has served as a trusted voice on hospital and health care issues for the Tristate region.

The Community Health Needs Assessment was funded by and conducted on behalf of a group of Health Council member hospitals, public health departments and community organizations in order to provide a more detailed and complete profile of community health needs. All Council member hospitals are welcome to join in this next phase of work to collaboratively address these two priorities. For more information, please contact Tonda Francis at the Council.

The goal of COOP is twofold:  to ensure that health care providers are able to aptly protect their organization’s infrastructure and client population during an emergency and to reduce the strain on hospital emergency departments during an event.

“COOP training provides health care providers an opportunity to better plan and prepare for an emergency and keep their operations running smoothly,” said Tonda Francis, vice president and regional health care coordinator of the Health Council. “It also provides a substantial benefit to hospitals, because when other community health care providers are properly prepared for an emergency then it lessens the burden on hospital emergency departments.”

COOP focus areas include backing up servers and infrastructure, water mitigation and maintaining an ability to continue providing critical care operations during an emergency.

Classes for this spring are full, however, the next available class – funded by the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response – will be offered on Tuesday, August 6 at the Health Council. In addition to long-term care and physician practice representatives, any health care providers responsible for emergency response at their facilities are encouraged to attend. The program has been approved for 6 CEUs through BENHA (# 199-C-12) for licensed nursing home administrators and nurses. For more information, contact Nakia Paris.

Greater Cincinnati EPIC Connect was launched in June 2012 with a goal of improving the efficiency and use of EPIC across the region through collaboration. The committee provides a neutral setting for hospital IT directors and EPIC representatives to share best practices, provide support and training and share resources. As part of EPIC Connect, an online forum has been created for hospital technical staff to communicate with their EPIC peers through the community.

Meanwhile, EPIC Providers is a regional online general EPIC training for health care providers who work at multiple institutions (physicians, rotating residents, advanced nurse practitioners and physician assistants). It provides a basic introduction to EPIC through training modules and test taking. This reduces the need for a health care professional to take the required, duplicative EPIC training at every hospital.

CareEverywhere, a secure EPIC application, allows doctors and nurses from different organizations to electronically exchange patient medical information in a safe, secure manner. The Health Council formed a group that is investigating how the community can minimize individual patient consent by developing and adopting a community-wide HIPAA umbrella consent.

Similar to how CareEverywhere allows nurses and doctors to exchange patient medical information, MyChart is a secure, online health management tool created by EPIC that connects a hospital/provider organization’s patients to portions of their personalized health information. The Health Council formed a group that is investigating how to make MyChart more consistently available throughout the community.

The Health Council recently conducted an in-depth analysis of member needs and regional opportunities for cost and time efficiency around EPIC and will be evaluating the best way to continue to support members in this area.

People

Yousuf Ahmad, DrPH, FACHE, chief transformation officer for Mercy Health, has won the prestigious 2013 Tomorrow’s Leader Award from the Catholic Health Association which honors young leaders who will guide the Catholic health ministry in the future. Dr. Ahmad won the award based on the role he’s played in preparing Mercy Health for health care transformation.

Gary Blank has been appointed senior vice president/chief patient services officer/chief nursing officer for St. Elizabeth Healthcare.

After serving as President of Mercy Health Select and Interim President and CEO of Community Mercy Health Partners (CMHP), it has been announced that Paul Hiltz, FACHE, has accepted the role of Market Leader and President of CMHP. Most recently, Hiltz has worked with Yousuf Ahmad to start and lead Mercy Health’s Accountable Care Organization (ACO), Mercy Health Select, the Cincinnati region’s only ACO. Ahmad will continue to provide leadership and oversight for Mercy Health Select as the organization seeks to identify a new, permanent president for the ACO.

The Christ Hospital Health Network Board of Directors appointed Mike Keating as its president and CEO. Keating is a respected business and civic leader, has been a member of The Christ Hospital Board for more than 21 years, previously chaired the Board for five years and has been serving as its president and CEO since Susan Croushore stepped down from the position last September.

Dave Pike has been named vice president of mission integration and community outreach for Mercy Health. Pike was previously director of mission integration for Mercy Health and he replaces Don Rohling, senior vice president of mission integration and community outreach, who is retiring this month after 42 years of service.

Paul Poparad is the new chief nursing officer (CNO) and Jan Blair is the new director of human resources at Clinton Memorial Hospital. Poparad had been the interim CNO since August 2012. Blair most recently served two years as head of Human Resources at King’s Daughters Health System in Ashland, Ky.

The Business Courier honored its 2013 Health Care Heroes award winners in March, including Dr. Yash Patil, a head and neck surgeon and associate professor at University of Cincinnati College of Medicine/UC Health (Provider category) and Dr. John Hawkins, chief of psychiatry and director of transcranial magnetic services for the Lindner Center of Hope (Innovator category). The Lifetime Achievement award was given to Dr. Beatrice Lampkin, professor emeritus and faculty member at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

Members

The Christ Hospital Health Network has purchased two sleep centers from Sleep Management Institute, a local sleep diagnostic and treatment provider. One is located in The Christ Hospital Medical Office Building in Mt. Auburn and the other is located on Red Bank Expressway in Madisonville. Bruce Corser, MD, will serve as medical director of the Red Bank location, and Karthikeyan Kanagarajan, MD, will serve as medical director of the Mt. Auburn location.

The Christ Hospital Health Network has received the American College of Cardiology Foundation’s NCDR ACTION Registry–GWTG Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2012 – one of only 164 hospitals nationwide to do so. The award recognizes commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients, as compared to standard levels of care outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center has announced its agreement with ConnXus, an online service that helps corporations to locate, evaluate and engage small, minority- or woman-owned businesses.

Mercy Health has opened two new wound care centers, one at Mercy Health – Fairfield Hospital and the other at The Jewish Hospital – Mercy Health. It also has opened a new HealthPlex and medical care facility operated by Mercy Health Physicians in downtown Cincinnati as well as a Liver Center at The Jewish Hospital – Mercy Health which helps patients manage the unique dynamics and symptoms of a wide array of liver diseases. Also, the American College of Radiology has designated Mercy Health – Anderson Hospital a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence.

TriHealth opened its first Priority Care location in March on Glenway Avenue in Western Hills that provides unscheduled, walk-in care for non-emergency illness and injuries. A Mason location is scheduled to open in May. Staffed by full-time physicians, the new facilities offer extended weekday, weekend and holiday hours and also are open during the day to accommodate patients who are not yet established with a physician or unable to get a last minute appointment with their doctor.

Opioid drug abuse is now an epidemic in the region, which is resulting in the unfortunate outcome of babies being born addicted to drugs. The Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Leadership Group is exploring best practices in identification and treatment methods that can be shared statewide. Children’s hospitals throughout Ohio – at the request of Ohio Gov. John Kasich – have also joined in researching best practices for treating Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). Hospitals have come together to work on solutions of identifying babies that are affected and identifying appropriate treatment. To learn more about NAS, visit the Council’s NAS page.

The Public Relations and Communications Committee discussed plans to publicly release results of the Council’s Harm Reduction Collaborative project that resulted in a 64 percent reduction in serious patient falls in participating hospitals; the Health Council’s membership agreement regarding the sharing of proprietary membership data and market share data with the public; and hospitals’ efforts to address TrueCost, a health care program being marketed in the region like an insurance product despite the fact that there have been no negotiations with providers regarding reimbursement. They also heard a presentation about various payment reform pilots underway in the region and discussed how hospitals can work with Hoxworth Blood Center on its plan for a consumer awareness campaign.

The Supply Chain Executive Committee recently met to conduct a first-review of select companies from the Minority Business Accelerator (MBA) – a Cincinnati USA Chamber initiative that targets minority-owned companies with one million in annual revenue to help accelerate their growth and development. Supply Chain executives were tasked by the Tristate Health Care Supplier Diversity Consortium (SDC) to determine their capacity to serve all seven consortium hospitals and applicability of products and services based on background information and presentations, management and operations strengths, and financial strengths. Committee members will research these companies with internal stakeholders and provide final recommendations of vendors to the SDC in 2013.

The Trauma Committee has been busy working on a number of initiatives early in 2013. The Health Council offered a Trauma Nurse Core Curriculum (TNCC) Course as well as an Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course for physicians and nurses. Additionally, a small workgroup is analyzing falls among Cincinnati’s elderly population, which is the number one trauma-related injury in the Tristate region. The work group hopes to provide a resource guide that contains programs and resources related to fall prevention.

Hospitals this week report they are beginning to see an increase in the number of flu virus cases. Many hospitals in southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky and southeast Indiana have implemented limited visitation policies to minimize the spread of respiratory diseases to hospital patients.

The goal of limited visitation is to minimize the spread of respiratory diseases to hospital patients. For the hospitals that are limiting visitors, most are initiating the following restrictions:

• No visitation by anyone who is ill with any respiratory symptoms including      coughing, sneezing, runny nose, fever, etc.
• No visitation by anyone under age 14

Hospitals’ decisions about visiting restrictions vary with the types of patients they serve and the specific services provided. For example, hospitals serving special patient populations such as pediatric, burn, transplant or ICU patients may institute more restrictive visitation policies.

Also, hospitals that provide obstetrical services may make exceptions to the restrictions for a newborn’s siblings who have received their flu vaccination at least seven to 14 days prior to visiting. Hospitals will consider other exceptions on a case-by-case basis.

“Winter brings an increase in a number of respiratory illnesses, not just flu,” said Tonda Francis, vice president of the Greater Cincinnati Health Council. “Although we know it’s difficult for family members and friends to not be able to visit their loved ones in the hospital, we also know visitors wouldn’t want to make their loved ones even sicker than they already are.”

In addition to visitation restrictions, area hospitals have made other efforts both independently and collaboratively to protect their patients as much as possible from being exposed to respiratory illnesses including flu. Vaccination of health care workers is a primary strategy being used by all hospitals in the region to ensure that nurses and others who interact with patients have received the flu vaccine and won’t inadvertently bring flu to their patients.

Also, hospitals have put “respiratory etiquette” practices in place. Alcohol hand gel, tissues and face-masks are available to patients and visitors throughout the hospitals, particularly in emergency departments and waiting rooms, and in some cases a separate area has been established in waiting rooms for individuals with any respiratory illness symptoms.

“Please use good common sense to prevent the spread of germs that may make others sick,” said Francis. “If you have a cold, the flu or other respiratory illness, don’t visit patients in hospitals or other health care facilities. In fact, the best precaution is to stay home. If you must go out, remember to cover your cough and wash your hands frequently.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a yearly flu vaccine as the first and most important step in protecting against flu viruses. It also recommends careful hand-washing, coughing and sneezing into a sleeve or a tissue, and staying home from work or school when you are sick.

“It is not too late to get a flu shot,” said Francis. “Even though flu season has started, there is plenty of time to get protected before flu kicks into high gear.” There is no anticipated shortages of the vaccine this year.

For more information on flu prevention, go to:  http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/preventing.htm. For the most up-to-date information on flu shot availability locally, contact your physician or local health department.

Most area hospitals plan to discontinue visiting restrictions on or about March 15, 2013, unless respiratory illness is still highly prevalent in the Tristate at that time.

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The Greater Cincinnati Health Council is a widely recognized association that provides a unique forum where hospital and health care leaders connect to create a stronger health care community. For more than 50 years, the Council has served as a trusted voice on hospital and health care issues for the Tristate region.

The Greater Cincinnati Health Council, the Health Collaborative and HealthBridge are pleased to announce that Craig Brammer has been chosen to lead Greater Cincinnati’s health care transformation efforts. Brammer will be the first person to serve as Chief Executive Officer and lead the combined operations of the Greater Cincinnati Health Council, the Health Collaborative and HealthBridge. The new leadership position is a result of a reorganization of the three local nonprofit organizations which occurred over the past summer.

As the region’s reputation for leadership in health care transformation has grown through the efforts of all three organizations, so has the volume and complexity of the work. As CEO, Brammer will be responsible for overseeing the strategy and coordination of the community’s health improvement initiatives and positioning the organizations for continued growth. The work includes executing a growing number of complex programs, attracting additional funding, and showcasing the success of the region as a national model for health care transformation. For the people of Greater Cincinnati, the result will be continued progress toward better health, better care and lower costs.

Brammer, a Cincinnati native, has been working in Washington D.C. for the past 2 ½ years where he has led the Beacon Community Program in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and serves as the Director. The Beacon Community Program is a federally funded project to increase the quality, efficiency and sustainability of health care through health information technology (health IT).

Brammer is familiar to the Greater Cincinnati health care community. Prior to serving in the federal government, he worked at the Health Collaborative where he was the Director of the local Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) program grant, the signature health care improvement initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He also holds a faculty position at the University of Cincinnati.

Brammer was selected following a nationwide search that identified many well qualified candidates and his selection was approved by the executive committee of the Board of Trustees for the Health Collaborative and the Greater Cincinnati Health Council’s Board. “Craig is an excellent choice because he has deep knowledge of health care policy, has the ability to run large and complex programs, and is familiar with the local health care landscape,” said Jane Durney Crowley, Co-chair of the selection committee, Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Health Collaborative, and Executive Vice President of Catholic Health Partners.

“Craig’s energy and creativity make him uniquely qualified to get off to a fast start but also provide the steady hand needed to coordinate the tremendous resources already in place in the community and position our region to continue to lead the nation in a collaborative approach for improving health and health care,” said Will Groneman, Co-chair of the selection committee, Board Chair of the Greater Cincinnati Health Council, and Executive Vice President of TriHealth.

“I believe Craig’s proven skill in developing effective working relationships with stakeholders from across the health care spectrum here locally and recently on the state and national level will serve our region well as we take our integration of services to the next level,” said Richard Shonk, MD, Market Medical Director for UnitedHealthcare. Dr. Shonk, a member of the selection committee, is Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Health Collaborative and Co-Chair of the HealthBridge Cabinet.

Brammer will begin work in December. The current leader of the Health Council, Colleen O’Toole, and HealthBridge’s current leader Keith Hepp, will work with Brammer and continue to support the organization as the new structure evolves.

“I’ve had the privilege to be exposed to health care initiatives in cities across the country, and in many respects, Greater Cincinnati leads the way,” said Brammer. “It will be both an honor and a big responsibility to build on the excellent work that has been done to date, create additional synergies and accelerate the pace of health care transformation.”

Brammer earned his Masters in Organizational Behavior at the University of Cincinnati and has authored numerous studies on health policy, health IT, performance measurement and quality improvement.

About the Greater Cincinnati Health Council: The Health Council provides a unique forum for its members—more than 30 hospitals and 100 long-term care facilities— to come together to share best practices and collaborate on critical initiatives that create a stronger health care community. For more than 50 years, the Council has served as a trusted voice on hospital and health care issues for the Tristate region. www.gchc.org

About the Health Collaborative: The Health Collaborative assembles diverse community stakeholders; hospitals, physicians, insurers, patients, business, education, government and community members, with the goal of generating measurable, sustainable health improvement. The work of the Collaborative has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. www.the-collaborative.org

About HealthBridge: Founded in 1997, HealthBridge started as a regional effort to improve health care quality by sharing health information electronically in the tri-state area. Today, HealthBridge is recognized as one of the nation’s largest, most advanced and most financially sustainable health information exchanges (HIE). HealthBridge’s innovative information network has grown to encompass more than 50 hospitals, 800 physician practices, 7,500 physicians and five regional HIE partners in four states. HealthBridge’s secure electronic network sends more than 3 million electronic messages per month, including clinical lab tests, radiology reports, discharge summaries and other information vital to better care for more than 3 million patients. www.healthbridge.org.

The impACT subcommittee, which is comprised of hospital discharge planners and primary care physician representatives, conducted two different rounds of patient interviews in May 2012 and October 2012. Specifically, the impACT subcommittee’s questions focused on whether physician follow-up appointments were made prior to leaving the hospital and who made the follow up appointments.  Although there was a small sample size in each of the surveys – 36 patient interviews from 8 different hospitals in May and 46 patient interviews from 7 different hospitals and health systems in October – some positive trends have been noted. For example, in the first round of interviews in May 2012, only 36.1 percent of patients had a physician follow-up appointment scheduled before leaving the hospital. During the second round of interviews in October 2012, this number increased to 75 percent. Additionally, it should also be noted that the majority of heart failure patients interviewed now have a scheduled physician follow-up visit made within seven days, which is the recommended time frame for patients with heart failure to receive their follow-up visits.

These findings from the patient interviews have been presented to ACT committee members, and committee members agreed to share the survey findings with their organization’s leadership and medical staff to increase awareness of the issues and to implement internal solutions. The impACT subcommittee also began to include physician practice representatives in its meetings to improve hospital and primary care physician collaboration in overcoming barriers to making physician follow-up appointments. Like the impACT subcommittee, the ACT Leadership committee also includes physician practice representatives to help improve collaboration.

People

Misti Barnes is the new manager of Mother-Baby Care at Clinton Memorial Hospital.

Mark Brodeur, FACHE, has been appointed CEO for Regency Hospital of Cincinnati.

Ron Hitzler, Administrator at Shriners Hospitals for Children, Cincinnati Burns Unit, has retired. The Health Council thanks Ron, former board member, for his many years of dedicated service to the Health Council.

Dr. Raj Kakarlapudi has been named medical director of the St. Elizabeth Spine Center in Florence.

Brad Kennedy has been appointed CEO of HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital at Drake. Prior to joining the leadership team at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital at Drake, Brad was the CEO at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital in North Memphis, Tennessee.

Kevin Meyer, MD, FACEP, has been appointed medical director of the Emergency Department at the new Mercy Health – West Hospital. He currently serves as the medical director of Mercy Health – Harrison Medical Center

Howard Elliot, president of Elliot Management Group, and Carl Satterwhite, president of RCF Group, were recognized as honorees of the 2012 African American Men of Honor on November 17. In conjunction with the Health Council, Elliot co-created and helps facilitate the Tristate Health Care Supplier Diversity Consortium (SDC) and Satterwhite serves on the SDC.

Members

The Christ Hospital Health Network has been named a 2012 Best Places to Work winner by the Cincinnati Business Courier in the Veteran participant category with 1,000 or more employees.

Clinton Memorial Hospital Home Care Services was recognized among the HomeCare Elite for the seventh consecutive year. The HomeCare Elite is the only performance recognition of its kind in the home health profession.

Mercy Health – Anderson Hospital has received program accreditation from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Mercy Health – Clermont Hospital has been rated as one of the 100 Top Hospitals in the nation by Thomson Reuters (now Truven) for the fourth consecutive year in 2012. It is one of only 10 hospitals in the nation to achieve this accomplishment every year since 2009.

St. Elizabeth Healthcare is the newest member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network and is the first health system in Kentucky, Indiana or Ohio to have been selected as a member of the year-old network.

St. Elizabeth Florence and St. Elizabeth Fort Thomas have been recognized as among the nation’s Top Performers on Key Quality Measures by the Joint Commission.

Mercy Health – Anderson Hospital and St. Elizabeth Edgewood have been named among the Top 100 Hospitals with Great Women’s Health Programs by Becker’s Hospital Review.

TriHealth created a new organization structure and appointed John Robinson, MD, FACS, CPE, as senior vice president, hospital operations and Robert Collins, MD, as vice president, medical affairs. As part of the organizational changes, TriHealth is hiring new executive directors for each hospital that will report directly to Dr. Robinson.

TriHealth has announced the formation of the TriHealth Digestive Institute, which focuses on specialized, patient-centered care for a comprehensive range of digestive and gastrointestinal diseases and disorders. Additionally, TriHealth also announced the purchase of Gastroenterology Consultants of Cincinnati.

UC Health Women’s Center will open a 26,000-square-foot facility in West Chester in spring 2013. The center will have 47 exam rooms and will be built within the medical office building adjacent to West Chester Hospital.

Vocalink Language Services, a Health Council affiliate member, won the Supplier of the Year Class II Award (MBE with annual sales between $1M and $10M) at the South Central Minority Supplier Development Council Awards Gala in November. RCF Group, whose president serves on the Council’s Tristate Health Care Supplier Diversity Consortium, received the 2012 Class IV MBE of the Year Award (annual sales exceeding $50 million).

Hospital representatives that participate in the Community Health Assessment Leadership team met and discussed next steps for the project. Individual hospitals will be working to identify their top priorities, and the group will reconvene in January to discuss regional opportunities. Hospitals aim to identify a unique need that spans the region in order to work collaboratively on such initiatives.

The Disaster Preparedness Coalition has been working on upcoming exercises, and information was presented on upcoming possibilities. The regional annual exercise will be held on May 15, and the coalition will be partnering with the Hamilton County Mass Casualty Incident Plan. As part of the exercise, volunteer victims will be transported to the majority of hospitals in the region. Additionally, the group participated in a tabletop exercise on Hospital System Preparedness where the plan for resource management was discussed. Among participants, poster presentations from Atrium Medical Center and the Greater Cincinnati Health Council were displayed and reviewed.

Members of the Infection Prevention Advisory Group have been receiving updated information from the Ohio Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control & Prevention regarding the fungal meningitis outbreak associated with tainted steroids, and the group has taken steps to help hospitals prepare for any of these patients that may visit emergency departments. The annual health care flu vaccination season has also begun, and hospitals have implemented their flu programs. Sibling restrictions will go into effect on December 15, which requires visiting siblings to have been vaccinated for the flu. The group is also discussing implementing the new CMS guidance for tracking employee vaccination rates. Additionally, Regional Public Health shared data on the syphilis epidemic a well as the Maternal and Infant Health Assessment Chartbook. Finally, committee members shared tips and shortcuts in their EPIC EMR system for report generating.

The Public Relations & Communications Committee welcomed the Ohio Hospital Association’s media/public relations director, John Palmer, who provided an update on advocacy/media issues at the state level. Committee members also reviewed the promotions plan to support the January launch of the Health Collaborative’s enhanced YourHealthMatters consumer website, which at that time will begin to share hospital performance measures. Lastly, guests from Agenda 360 of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber and Vision 2015 provided an update on “The Story Project” – a deliberate process to “brand” the region and highlight its unique characteristics and strengths that make it an extraordinary place in which to live and work – and explained how it can be used by hospitals in their recruitment and marketing efforts.

The Supply Chain Executive Committee met in October to select a vendor to audit its diverse supplier spend data. Richardson & Associates was recommended to begin preliminary work before year-end. Members noted value in process beyond verification of data, including sharing best practices for greater report standardization among the seven hospital system participants. Other discussions included strategies for more results via national group purchasing organizations’ supplier diversity programs, progress of video and other tools for internal campaigns and maximizing volume on current Health Council contracts with diverse suppliers.

The Trauma Committee’s 2011 Annual Report has been completed, and the report is available on the Health Council’s Public Reports page. The committee actively supports community work in addressing falls, and an article on falls was produced in conjunction with Hamilton County Public Health. The article is available publicly and can be accessed on the Regional Trauma Registry page.

Cleveland’s recent urban transformation project was presented to the Tristate Health Care Supplier Diversity Consortium (SDC) as a potential model regarding the collaboration of health care, corporate employers and city leaders around economic inclusion. The SDC recommended further research and follow up to the members next quarter. Other meeting focus areas and decisions included: vetting and developing relationships with two to five top Minority Business Accelerator companies that have solutions for health care, approving Supply Chain Executives audit process/cost/vendor and developing a scorecard with national group purchasing organizations.

People

Tiffany Adams has joined Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center as director of corporate and foundation relations.

Robyn F. Chatman, MD, was announced as the 156th president of the Academy of Medicine of Cincinnati.

Amy Frankowski, MD, has been named the new medical director of Mercy Health’s accountable care organization, Mercy Health Select. She will also continue to serve as senior medical director for Clinical Integration for Mercy Health Physicians and as a practicing primary care physician.

St. Elizabeth Healthcare Emergency Department nurse Linda Robinson, BSN, RN, CEN, CFN, was recognized as the National Magnet Nurse of the Year™ by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Steven Squires has been appointed director of ethics for Mercy Health, responsible for providing case consultation, policy review and development and education across Mercy Health’s system of care. Squires comes to Mercy Health from Trinity Health in Novi, Michigan, where he served as the director for mission and ethics.

Members

Bethesda North Hospital, The Christ Hospital and The Jewish Hospital – Mercy Health have been named by Truven Health Analytics, formerly Thomson Reuters, as among the nation’s 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals

The Christ Hospital signed a 15-year master lease at Neyer Properties’ Red Bank Crossing. The lease includes a 39,000-square-foot medical office building, another 30,000-square-foot medical office building and a 10,000-square-foot retail center.

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center purchased 25 acres in Clermont County. The property is earmarked for future development, though plans have not yet been determined.

McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital, Main Laboratory in Oxford, OH and their Outpatient Laboratory at the Ross Medical Center in Hamilton, OH have both received Accreditation from the College of American Pathologists.

Mercy Health – Anderson Hospital and St. Elizabeth Edgewood have been named as one of the Top 100 Hospitals with Great Women’s Health Programs by Becker’s Hospital Review.

Modern Healthcare has named Mercy Health Physicians the hottest healthcare organization and Mercy Health a Top 10 healthcare system in its inaugural “Healthcare’s Hottest” list, which recognizes the fastest growing health care companies that are headquartered in the U.S., have at least $20M in revenue for 2011 and have been in business for five years or more.

The Blood and Marrow Transplant Center at The Jewish Hospital – Mercy Health has earned FACT accreditation. The hospital earned FACT accreditation by successfully demonstrating compliance with the FACT-JACIE International Standards for Cellular Therapy Product Collection, Processing and Administration.

Mercy Health Select, a physician-led provider network of Mercy Health, formed a partnership with Mount Carmel Health Plan, Inc. to offer new Medicare Advantage plans to seniors.

TriHealth has received the Wellness @ Work Award from the Foundation for Healthy Communities of the Ohio Hospital Association that honors an Ohio hospital or health system for innovative and effective employee wellness promotion.

TriHealth has announced that Samaritan Obstetrics and Gynecology has joined to become the newest TriHealth Physician Partner. The office has physicians who see patients at their office on TriHealth’s Good Samaritan hospital campus, and these physicians will continue to deliver newborns at both Bethesda North Hospital and Good Samaritan Hospital.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded UC Health – University Hospital and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center the Gold Medal of Honor for achieving and sustaining national goals for organ donation.

The Cincinnati Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of Cincinnati have been selected by the Office of Academic Affiliations at the National Department of Veterans Affairs for the Chief Resident in Quality and Patient Safety Initiative. This initiative provides continuing funding to train a physician for one year to focus on principles of quality improvement and safety improvements for patients.

The Visiting Nurse Association of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky was an honoree in the Better Business Bureau’s annual Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics.

The impACT subcommittee agreed to a new strategic direction on September 20. Every organization present at the meeting completed a self-assessment of the T5 implementation stage and shared results with the entire group (note: the T5′s are a set of best practices for care transitions). The subcommittee also moved forward with the creation of the Heart Failure Warning Zone magnet/resource, which will provide heart failure patients consistent information on the heart failure warning zones and what to do when in each warning zone. Further, the subcommittee helped create a survey of nursing facilities to better determine their reasons for hospital readmissions.  Although there was a relatively small sample size, the results provided insight into several topics, including nursing facilities’ needs for improved collaboration with hospitals, education of their staff, especially around criteria for readmission, the need to set up and manage patient and family expectations around the stay at the nursing facility and the need for complete, accurate and relevant patient information from the hospitals.

Patient and Family Centered Care

Karen Bankston from the University of Cincinnati College Of Nursing was on hand September 5 to present Diversity: The Culture of the Hospital. Bankston engaged attendees in a discussion on their organization’s journeys with cultural competence and potential regional diversity opportunities. Borne from Bankston’s presentation, a regional task force will be created to discuss a regional diversity education initiative. Additionally, the committee discussed use of the It’s OK to Ask patient safety videos and reviewed the recent Rapid Response data.

Patient Financial Services Committee

The Patient Financial Services Committee held its third quarter meeting on September 12 at the Health Council. The meeting primarily focused on best practice and information sharing, including EPIC learnings and challenges related to EPIC implementation and insurance claims processing, transitioning to a new Medicare Administrative Contractor and reporting requirements related to out-of-state Medicaid patients. The committee’s final meeting of 2012 is December 12.

Greater Cincinnati EPIC Connect is part of a multi-tiered effort led by the Council to better prepare and provide guidance to Greater Cincinnati hospitals and patients as EPIC is implemented throughout providers in the community.

With many hospitals at various stages of EPIC implementation and investing a tremendous amount of resources into various aspects of EPIC, there is a vast opportunity for hospitals to work together, enabling significant EPIC cost and time savings through this collaboration. As more local hospitals implement EPIC within their own organizations, the need for community-wide support and resources has grown substantially. The workgroup provides a neutral setting for hospital IT directors and EPIC representatives to share best practices, provide support and training and share resources. Clinical staff input on EPIC-related issues may also be solicited when appropriate through other existing Health Council committees.

“The key short-term goal is to engage our member hospitals using EPIC in collaborative activities that will improve their overall efficiency using EPIC within the hospital,” said Dora Anim, assistance vice president of quality and data at the Health Council. “Once our hospitals have identified some innovative ways to get the most out of EPIC, we can work together and spread these ideas and learnings.” How to optimize the exchange of information with non-EPIC and non-acute care organizations will also be evaluated.

One immediate plan for the committee is to implement and encourage the use of an online Forum, which will provide a setting for hospital technical staff to communicate with their EPIC peers through the community. Additionally, the workgroup will be able to collectively brainstorm and develop a community wish list of EPIC enhancements that would further improve efficiencies throughout hospitals.

Community-wide EPIC training modules and standardized tools could also be developed, enabling Greater Cincinnati hospitals to more efficiently train medical staff how to use the electronic medical records system. Some of this is already underway:  “Epic for Providers” is regional general EPIC education for health care providers that decreases training duplication across multiple hospitals.

Other efforts underway include:

• CareEverywhere: Investigating the opportunity to enable sharing of patient information on EPIC systems across the community and minimize individual patient consent by developing and adopting a community wide HIPAA umbrella consent
• MyChart: Investigating how to enhance patient experience by facilitating consistency of content and access for patients communitywide and evaluating whether to centralize patient education and training

“The EPIC committee will identify key common focus areas across the community, and they will have the means to form appropriate workgroups to accomplish the work,” said Anim. “This is a group that is empowered to make recommendations and decisions to further enhance the use of EPIC throughout our community.”

An effort to increase the amount of blood donated locally through hospital blood drives has produced outstanding results, as area hospitals exceeded their combined community collection goal in fiscal year 2012. Four hospitals in particular were recently recognized for their outstanding results.

The Hoxworth Blood Center, Greater Cincinnati Health Council and area hospitals once again collaborated this year to increase blood donations at hospital blood drives, which helps ensure hospitals have a reliable and safe blood supply at the most economical price. Area hospitals exceeded their community collection goal of 7,500 units by collecting a combined 7,528 red blood cell donations.

Winners of the Hoxworth/Health Council Blood Drive Awards were announced at the Health Council’s recent Solutions in Quality and Patient Safety event, and Health Council President Colleen O’Toole, PhD, joined Jim Tinker, divisional director of donor recruitment and community relations for Hoxworth, to present the awards:

• The Award of Distinction (based on a variety of factors including overall donation rate and meeting/exceeding individual goal) was presented to Adams County Regional Medical Center who surpassed its goal by almost 36% due to promotion and collaboration within the hospital to endorse blood drives. Margaret Mary Community Hospital, who surpassed its goal by 13 percent, received the Honorable Mention award.
• The Most Improved Award (given to the hospital that increased its overall donation rate by the most substantial amount over the previous fiscal year) was presented to Mercy Health – Blue Ash Regional Office for increasing its rate of donation by more than 10 times that of the previous year! Honorable mention was given to Mercy Health – Mt. Airy Hospital for a commendable increase in its blood donation rate of 79%.

“We hope these awards highlight the great work of our hospitals to increase the blood supply in our region by engaging both their employees and their communities in the effort,” said O’Toole. “Hospital blood drive teams worked very hard to meet and exceed their individual hospitals’ goals, as well as to contribute to the overall community goal.”

The Health Council and Hoxworth provided support to hospital blood drive coordinators in various ways to positively influence the number of units donated locally both at hospital blood drives and at neighborhood donor centers on behalf of hospitals. Together they shared best practices for successful drives and strategies to increase donations, and regularly reviewed blood drive donation data.

“Each day, Hoxworth relies on nearly 400 donors to facilitate the advanced medical treatments available today in the Greater Cincinnati region,” said Tinker. “We are proud of the award winners and all other hospitals that have taken steps to increase donations and for their outstanding commitment to assuring a stable and adequate blood supply for the community. We’ll continue to work together to grow hospital blood drives and to promote blood donations at our neighborhood donor centers.”

The Hoxworth/Health Council Blood Drive Awards program continues into 2013, and hospitals have already begun to host and schedule blood drives. Individual donations may also be made on behalf of any hospital at Hoxworth neighborhood donor centers. Visit www.hoxworth.org for a complete schedule of on-site hospital blood drives or to find a neighborhood donor center and schedule an appointment to donate.

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The Greater Cincinnati Health Council is a widely recognized association that provides a unique forum where hospital and health care leaders connect to create a stronger health care community. For more than 50 years, the Council has served as a trusted voice on hospital and health care issues for the Tristate region.

Hoxworth Blood Center, University of Cincinnati, founded in 1938, serves 31 hospitals in 17 counties in Southwestern Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeastern Indiana.  Annually, Hoxworth collects more than 90,000 units of blood from local donors to help save the lives of patients in area hospitals. 

• To reduce the community rate of patient falls with moderate to severe injuries by 50%
• To reduce the community rate of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers (stage III and IV not present on admission) by 50%

So, how are we doing? The most recent data available show a significant reduction in falls with moderate to severe injuries.  In addition, overall falls (not resulting in moderate to severe injuries) have also decreased throughout the region, a positive sign indicating that the efforts by Greater Cincinnati hospitals to reduce the number of falls is having an impact.

In regards to pressure ulcers, the most recent data show a community rate that, while still short of the community goal, is improving over time through efforts by the collaborative. Hospitals remain dedicated to pinpoint specific indicators and process improvements that may be able to eliminate stage III and IV pressure ulcers that were not present on admission.

Hospital representatives continue to meet monthly (by phone) and quarterly (in person) with other representatives of the Harm Reduction Collaborative to share best practices, analyze performance, and report back on small tests of change each hospital is implementing as a means toward improvement.

Implementing small tests of change is a key strategy for this work. Time has been spent during in-person Learning Sessions to educate the group on the background and process of effectively implementing and measuring a small test.  Hospitals are encouraged to try a new tool or process on a limited scale, perhaps as small as one nurse on one floor during one shift.  The goal of this practice is to establish whether a minimal change can positively impact a process or workflow.  If the test is successful, the team may decide to expand the trial in order to ascertain if the improvement will be successful floor-, department- or hospital-wide.

Hospitals are testing many processes, products and workflows to facilitate improvement. For example:

• Several hospitals have implemented post fall huddles to assess the issues that led to a fall and put a solution in place to prevent further incidents.
• Another hospital investigated the practice of limiting the number of bedding layers as a test to slow the rate of pressure ulcer development.
• Another hospital piloted use of a new toilet seat alarm in an attempt to reduce patient falls.

Whether the tests of change are proven effective or not, hospitals are sharing findings with the entire group. It is tests such as these that are helping the community learn together. Collaborating hospitals are also engaging in additional transparency by sharing policies, resources and tools via a secure online forum that serves as a home for all collaborative-related resources.

Site visits are an upcoming focus area, and the collaborative has two site visits scheduled, one at Mercy Health – Anderson Hospital in September and the other at West Chester Hospital in October.

“Health Council staff is conducting site visits at participating hospitals in an effort to familiarize ourselves and the group with the great work being done within individual hospitals to reduce harm,” said the Health Council’s Dora Anim. “We are also working to facilitate collaborative site visits to allow members of the Harm Reduction teams a chance to visit facilities and have a first-hand look at the work being done.”

With less than four months to go, the pressure is on to continue making progress toward these aggressive, yet vital patient safety improvement goals.

The ATLS Program for doctors provides participants with a safe, reliable method for immediate management of the injured patient. The program is designed to help both doctors who treat trauma patients regularly and doctors who treat trauma patients infrequently. The course equips doctors with knowledge and techniques that are comprehensive and easily adapted to fit their needs. Among the knowledge and techniques included are assessing a patient rapidly, stabilizing the patient, determining the need for a patient transfer, arranging for a patient transfer (if necessary) and assuring that optimum care is provided through all points of the process.

For more information on the ATLS program and to register for classes, please click here.

The TNCC Course is a 16 or 20-hour course designed by the Emergency Nurses Association to provide nurses with the cognitive knowledge and psychomotor skills needed to care for trauma patients.

Overall course objectives are to:

• Describe the common mechanisms of injury associated with trauma
• Describe the pathophysiologic changes as a basis for signs and symptoms
• Describe the nursing assessment of patients with trauma
• Describe the appropriate interventions for patients with trauma
• Describe mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of nursing interventions for patients with trauma

Nurses with limited emergency nursing clinical experience, who work in a hospital with limited access to trauma patients, or who need additional time at the psychomotor skill stations are encouraged to attend courses scheduled for the 20-hour format.

For more information on the TNCC program and to register for classes, please click here.

People

Douglas Arvin, CFO, UC Health – University Hospital, has been named as a winner of the Business Courier’s 2012 CFO of the Year in the Large Nonprofit category.

Deborah Kovacs-Sturdevant, manager of the Sleep Center at Mercy Health – Anderson Hospital, has joined an international committee that sets standards for credentialing technologists and technicians in the field of sleep medicine.

Tim Maloney has been named vice president of payor relations for UC Health.

Curtis Ohashi has been named chief executive officer for Select Specialty Hospital.

Clinton Memorial Hospital announced that Paul Poparad, RN, joined as an interim nurse consultant in August and will transition into the Interim CNO role.

Mercy Health’s Leonard Randolph, Jr., MD, has joined the Health Policy Institute of Ohio board. Dr. Randolph, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Mercy Health, will begin his term in October and serve as a board director for one year.

Dr. Benjamin Schuster, a cardiac pioneer and philanthropist, passed away recently at the age of 89. Schuster was a cardiologist at Kettering Medical Center from its early years and founded Kettering’s cardiac program in 1965.

Angela Scudder has been named vice president of patient care services at Dearborn County Hospital.

Physician Julie Workman, MD, has been appointed as medical director of Palliative Care Services for Mercy Health.

Members

The Christ Hospital recently announced that Susan Croushore was stepping down as CEO effective September 3. Croushore will serve as a senior advisor to the hospital through year-end. A national search for Croushore’s successor is underway, and Mike Keating, a current board member of the hospital and a past board chair is serving as interim president and CEO until the search is completed.

Clinton Memorial Hospital won the silver level Healthy Ohio Breastfeeding Friendly Employer Award by the Ohio Department of Health. Initiatives at Clinton Memorial Hospital that support breastfeeding include a new policy for employees that supports their right to pump breast milk for their baby after returning to work and also provides a lactation room for employees.

Clinton Memorial Hospital recently became an active affiliate of the UC Health Telestroke Network. The hospital is implementing telestroke medicine into its emergency services via a robot that will use video and audio transmission to transmit a patient’s medical data to an off-site physician at UC Health.

Fort Hamilton Hospital recently announced a new $5 million expansion and renovation for its emergency services department. The expansion will add 5,000 square feet to the emergency department and give Fort Hamilton the capacity to handle more than 52,000 emergency patient visits per year.

St. Elizabeth Physicians recently announced that Select OB/GYN has joined its health care team. The Select OB/GYN offices will remain at their locations in Fort Thomas and Florence, but they now operate as part of the St. Elizabeth Physicians – Women’s Health practice. St. Elizabeth Physicians now has a total of five Women’s Health offices.

St. Elizabeth Physicians announced it has opened the organization’s first diagnostic center in the heart of Mason County. The physicians of the former Maysville Diagnostic Center entered into a joint venture agreement with St. Elizabeth Physicians in September.

Working Mother Magazine has selected TriHealth for the eighth time as one of the 100 Best Companies with family-friendly benefits. This year TriHealth ranked 11 on the list out of hundreds of companies nationally who participated in the survey. The list is based on an extensive application with more than 600 questions on a survey of benefits, women’s issues and advancement, childcare, flexible work arrangements, parental leave and company culture, both in terms of access and usage company-wide.

The Business Courier named 66 finalists for the 2012 Best Places to Work program. Among this year’s finalists are the following Health Council members: The Christ Hospital, Definity Partners, Horan and LifeCenter Organ Donor Network.

Mercy Health –Anderson Hospital, Mercy Health – Fairfield Hospital, St. Elizabeth Florence and St. Elizabeth Ft. Thomas were named to The Joint Commission’s annual Top Performers on Key Quality Measures™, its program that recognizes accredited hospitals that attain excellence on accountability measure performance. The program is based on data reported about evidence-based clinical processes that are shown to be the best treatments for certain conditions, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care, children’s asthma, inpatient psychiatric services, stroke and venous thromboembolism.

The annual CNO Breakfast Meeting held recently provided an opportunity for chief nursing officers to network and share issues of concern regarding nursing and patient care.

Energy/Utility Committee

The Health Council’s Utility Committee hosted an important dialogue with Lykins Oil, a Greater Cincinnati area fuel oil supply leader. Company representatives spoke to the needs and issues of Council members regarding management of fuel oil supply during power outages and other emergency events. Lykins also provided a comprehensive update of industry trends nationwide, which focused on the regional impact of smooth linkages with terminal locations. Additionally, members were informed about the Health Council’s continuing conversations with the local utility and Public Utilities Commission to identify gaps and solutions regarding key health care energy issues related to reliability, efficiency and cost.

Food Service Resource Committee

Drake Center hosted the Food Service Resource Committee’s summer conference and Holiday Food Show in August, offering 4 CEUs for dietary managers. Provided by Health Council food service prime vendor Ellenbee Leggett, the food show treated members to an exceptional array of new items for fall/winter holiday planning. Recycling and new organic composting opportunities in the region were presented next by the Council’s solid waste provider Rumpke. Paul Nichols’ session, “The 5 Essential Leadership Skills You’ll Need in the Next Decade,” was followed by a member best-practice sharing segment regarding leadership success stories.

Health Care Recruiters Committee

The committee convened in July for its semi-annual meeting.  Lawra Baumann from the Health Careers Collaborative (HCC) presented the mission and objectives of the HCC.  Committee members also engaged in a roundtable discussion on recruiting in 2012 and upcoming Workforce Center programs and initiatives.

Limited English Proficiency Committee

The committee met in July to hear from national best practices leader Gayle Tang of Kaiser Permanente. Tang serves as the senior director of National Linguistic, Diversity and Infrastructure Management for Kaiser, and has developed a Qualified Bilingual Staff Model as one solution for serving patients with limited English. With the need for quality health care interpreters increasing, hospitals are continually looking for additional tools to provide communication assistance. Some of these resources are within the hospitals’ walls: culturally diverse staff who can be qualified through this program to serve as bilingual caregivers or interpreters. Members also met in August with the main focus on creating regional requirements for sign language interpreters serving the deaf and hearing-impaired patient population. For more information on the work of the Limited English Proficiency Committee, please click here.

Nonviolent Culture Task Force

Linda Robinson of St. Elizabeth Healthcare shared her journey of the passing of Kentucky Senate Bill 58, which permits peace officers to make an arrest or issue a citation if a misdemeanor assault occurs in a hospital emergency room. Tammy Mentzel of the University of Cincinnati provided updates on the National Conference for Workplace Violence Prevention and Management in Healthcare Settings, which took place in May at the University of Cincinnati.

Nursing Work Force Initiative Committee

Tracy Williams and Kim Tharp-Berrie from Norton Healthcare in Louisville, Kentucky,  presented their organization’s journey to a successful patient and family centered care culture.  The committee members reviewed the 2012 Nursing Student Evaluations and moved to form a Task Force to address educational gaps related to future health care reform.

Sustainability Committee

The Sustainability Committee has been invited to tour the business offices of Toyota in Erlanger, Kentucky. Throughout its operations, Toyota has instituted environmental action plans to reduce energy usage, minimize air emissions, cut greenhouse gas emissions, identify materials from renewable resources, reduce waste and water consumption, and take every opportunity to recycle – all with the goal of sending zero waste to landfill. Through this tour, members will have the opportunity to see these energy conserving measures in action firsthand. Ongoing areas of interest and resource development for this committee include blue wrap recycling, compostable disposables, energy efficiency strategies and partnering with local businesses. Please contact Maurie Hanauer for more information.

Workforce Center Education and Events

• October  4, 2012 – Leadership Coaching WebEx
• October 25, 2012 – Health Careers EXPO

Over 1000 high school students are currently registered to attend this Sixth Annual Health Careers EXPO at Xavier University’s Cintas Center. Hospitals will exhibit health care careers with hands-on simulations and area colleges will be on-hand to provide information on their health care educational programs.