|
Managing Quality
How TriHealth integrates quality into daily management
At TriHealth, quality management is woven into our day-to-day tasks and plays an important role in every decision we make for our patients and the organization as a whole. From the corporate goals we set for quality, to the management system that helps us measure and achieve our mission and goals, quality is at the forefront of it all.
TriHealth Corporate Goals for Quality
Our goals for quality help to define our mission for TriHealth:
- Achieve "perfect care" for our patients within four diagnoses that have a universal impact on quality and cost:
- acute myocardial infarction (heart attack)
- heart failure
- pneumonia
- surgical care
- Patient orders should be free from prohibited medical abbreviations that cause confusion and medication errors.
- Documentation for reconciling proper medication and dosages must be completed.
- Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) infection rate for hip and knee replacement should be less than the national standard.
What is perfect care?
Perfect care means completing all specified treatments and education for a given patient:
- heart attack care -- eight measures must be met
- heart failure -- four measures
- pneumonia care -- seven measures
- surgical infection prevention -- five measures.
A medical team earns a perfect care score only by completing and documenting all tasks for a given diagnosis.
Compass Management System
Eight strategic directives help the TriHealth system measure and achieve its mission and annual business goals:
- processes
- safety
- quality
- growth challenges
- community outreach
- market reach
- physician relationships
- financial health
The Compass Management System's Balanced Scorecard provides a map of a unit's or a department's current performance, indicating positive and negative trends. Managers and directors monitor four important areas:
- customers and community
- quality and service
- workforce growth and development
- financial performance
The scorecard measures unit or department goals set by TriHealth or national benchmarks. Monthly reports reveal how performance numbers compare with the goal. Plans are made to address problems and unmet goals.
The scorecard also helps managers to balance cost with quality. Both are important.
|
