Quality: Save 100K Lives Campaign
Deploy Rapid Response Teams at the first sign of patient decline. At TCH, any staff member who comes in contact with a patient and has an “uneasy” feeling about the patient’s appearance or demeanor may deploy a “rapid response team.” The team at TCH is comprised of a critical care registered nurse and a respiratory therapist, who work closely with the patient’s physician. The critical care team will respond immediately, assess the patient, and if necessary, apply critical care to stabilize the patient.
Deliver Reliable, Evidence-Based Care for Acute Myocardial Infarction to prevent deaths from heart attack. At TCH, heart attack patients begin their care with us in the emergency department, where the first moments of care are often the most critical. Proven care methods are used to stabilize patients, from simple measures such as administering aspirin upon arrival to attempting to start a stopped heart. Most heart attack patients are transferred to Mission Hospitals, a tertiary “Top 100” heart center located 30 miles away, either by ambulance or air ambulance. The air ambulance is used in most cases, and will deliver patients from TCH to the heart center within 12 minutes upon take-off.
Prevent Adverse Drug Events by implementing medication reconciliation. At TCH, we have employed a system to check and re-check medications to ensure that the right prescriptions are being administered to the right patients. Across the nation, medication errors have been identified as one of the biggest contributors to adverse patient care outcomes. Why? Many medications look similar. Many patients have similar names. Confusion can occur, and the consequences can be devastating. We take the administering of medications very seriously at TCH, and have incorporated many “stop, check and re-check” points along the patient care process, which we document in the patient record. As a patient, you will be asked many times to verify your full name and birthdate. This is for your safety, and that’s hugely important!
Prevent Central Line Infections, Surgical Site Infections and Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia. Interdependent, scientifically grounded steps have been identified to improve quality in these areas. TCH has implemented all of the recommended steps, and patient care outcomes are extremely positive. In fact, our infection rate is consistently between 0% and 1%, which is extremely good news for our patients. Also, we excel at treating patients with pneumonia, which is also documented in our JCAHO Quality Check ratings.
Find out more! Visit www.ihi.org.