PMC joins VHA Inc. Hospital Engagement Network in Historic Collaboration
- Category: Community, Parrish Medical Center
- Posted On:
- Written By: Parrish Healthcare
Partnership for Patients initiative aims to reduce preventable conditions,
improve care
Parrish Medical Center is pleased to announce that it has agreed to participate in the Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) led by VHA Inc., the national healthcare network.
As part of its Partnership for Patients initiative, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) named 26 Hospital Engagement Networks to comprise a nationwide public-private collaboration focused on reducing preventable harm by 40 percent and preventable readmissions by 20 percent in the next three years. CMS/CMMI will fund the Hospital Engagement Networks with $218 million available under the Affordable Care Act.
“We want to do everything possible to ensure that all our patients continue to receive the very best hospital care and the very best outcomes possible,” said Edwin Loftin, vice president of nursing at Parrish Medical Center. “Our participation in this Hospital Engagement Network is one way we can be confident that we will improve patient safety, achieve those objectives and provide the highest quality care.”
By participating in VHA’s Hospital Engagement Network, Parrish Medical Center joins hundreds of other hospitals around the country that will leverage VHA’s industry-leading clinical quality improvement tools, including the Leading Practice Portal™, Leading Practice Blueprints™, proprietary Rapid Adoption Networks™ and demonstrated expertise in creating and supporting peer-to-peer learning networks.
Hospitals today need to improve quality and patient safety or face the risk of incurring financial penalties imposed by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). Achieving the objectives of the Partnership for Patients would save more than 60,000 lives annually, decrease hospital injuries by 1.8 million and allow more than 1.6 million patients to recover from illness without suffering from preventable complications requiring re-hospitalization.
Loftin said Parrish Medical Center began working with VHA this month (January) to develop the timetable and other requirements of the work needed to address the patient safety domains on which they will focus. Next, VHA will utilize its Rapid Adoption Networks™ (RAN), the company’s proprietary framework to help address the most pressing needs—in this case, reducing hospital-acquired conditions and preventable readmissions—and provide Parrish Medical Center the skills to rapidly realize practice changes within their organization.
This step-by-step methodology focuses on identifying and understanding specific obstacles to achieving improvements, as well as how to surmount them.
“For nearly 35 years, VHA has successfully designed, developed and implemented many clinical improvement collaboratives,” said Colleen Risk, VHA’s executive vice president, member networks. “Our participation in the Partnership for Patients initiative allows the company to put this expertise to critical use as it works, industry-wide, to achieve the Partnership’s ambitious safety objectives.”
Said Loftin, “We look forward to participating with VHA in this historic initiative and appreciate the leadership and support from CMS and CMMI to help hospitals nationwide continually improve the care we give our patients.”
About VHA
VHA Inc. is network of not-for-profit hospitals that work together to improve their clinical and economic performance. VHA includes more than 1,400 not-for-profit hospitals and 25,500+ non-acute health care organizations. Based in Irving, Texas, VHA delivers supply chain management services to reduce the cost of health care and creates regional and national networks to help members solve key clinical and operational challenges. For more visit http://www.vha.com
Parrish Medical Center is pleased to announce that it has agreed to participate in the Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) led by VHA Inc., the national healthcare network.
As part of its Partnership for Patients initiative, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) named 26 Hospital Engagement Networks to comprise a nationwide public-private collaboration focused on reducing preventable harm by 40 percent and preventable readmissions by 20 percent in the next three years. CMS/CMMI will fund the Hospital Engagement Networks with $218 million available under the Affordable Care Act.
“We want to do everything possible to ensure that all our patients continue to receive the very best hospital care and the very best outcomes possible,” said Edwin Loftin, vice president of nursing at Parrish Medical Center. “Our participation in this Hospital Engagement Network is one way we can be confident that we will improve patient safety, achieve those objectives and provide the highest quality care.”
By participating in VHA’s Hospital Engagement Network, Parrish Medical Center joins hundreds of other hospitals around the country that will leverage VHA’s industry-leading clinical quality improvement tools, including the Leading Practice Portal™, Leading Practice Blueprints™, proprietary Rapid Adoption Networks™ and demonstrated expertise in creating and supporting peer-to-peer learning networks.
Hospitals today need to improve quality and patient safety or face the risk of incurring financial penalties imposed by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). Achieving the objectives of the Partnership for Patients would save more than 60,000 lives annually, decrease hospital injuries by 1.8 million and allow more than 1.6 million patients to recover from illness without suffering from preventable complications requiring re-hospitalization.
Loftin said Parrish Medical Center began working with VHA this month (January) to develop the timetable and other requirements of the work needed to address the patient safety domains on which they will focus. Next, VHA will utilize its Rapid Adoption Networks™ (RAN), the company’s proprietary framework to help address the most pressing needs—in this case, reducing hospital-acquired conditions and preventable readmissions—and provide Parrish Medical Center the skills to rapidly realize practice changes within their organization.
This step-by-step methodology focuses on identifying and understanding specific obstacles to achieving improvements, as well as how to surmount them.
“For nearly 35 years, VHA has successfully designed, developed and implemented many clinical improvement collaboratives,” said Colleen Risk, VHA’s executive vice president, member networks. “Our participation in the Partnership for Patients initiative allows the company to put this expertise to critical use as it works, industry-wide, to achieve the Partnership’s ambitious safety objectives.”
Said Loftin, “We look forward to participating with VHA in this historic initiative and appreciate the leadership and support from CMS and CMMI to help hospitals nationwide continually improve the care we give our patients.”
About VHA
VHA Inc. is network of not-for-profit hospitals that work together to improve their clinical and economic performance. VHA includes more than 1,400 not-for-profit hospitals and 25,500+ non-acute health care organizations. Based in Irving, Texas, VHA delivers supply chain management services to reduce the cost of health care and creates regional and national networks to help members solve key clinical and operational challenges. For more visit http://www.vha.com
