Quality and Patient Safety
In 2010 a variety of individuals have been responsible for monitoring and improving the quality and safety of care provided to record numbers of patients visiting out Emergency Department. Michael Schmidt, Peter Pang, Matthew Levine, Sanjeev Malik, Christopher Beach and our Chairman, James Adams are just a few of the physicians who have continued their relentless focus and commitment to assure the highest levels of service are provided every day and every minute in our ED. In close coordination with nursing leadership, we continue to strategize and develop novel process of care that assure safe, efficient, high quality of emergency care for our community and visitors to Chicago. Additionally, regular collaboration with our operations and research sections have strengthened this work.
Quality and Safety Monitoring
Our Quality and Safety Dashboard is monitored closely and evaluated quarterly to assure critical illnesses such as pneumonia, acute myocardial infarction and sepsis are managed efficiently and accurately. A variety of other important metrics are monitored including pediatric, psychiatric, trauma, obstetric and cardiovascular disorders (stroke and syncope). Additional metrics for hand hygiene, patient satisfaction and individual physician goals are also monitored and evaluated regularly. Our success in meeting and/or exceeding these goals is due to a strong collaboration and open, frequent communication with the entire clinical and administrative team who care for patients tirelessly in the Emergency Department. Continuous improvement hinges on this same cultural belief that we work together to innovate and improve quality and safety.
Hand hygiene, ECG’s for syncope and aspirin for AMI patients are areas where we continue to hit 100% compliance.
Feinberg Mezzanine
The Emergency Department continues to aggressively utilize the Mezzanine for care of emergency patients. The availability of this area, functionally making the ED into a unique, two-level emergency care unit has been critical in reducing the number of hours of ED Diversion status and improving satisfaction scores. The observation unit also continues to provide 23-hour observation services in this area while at the same time increasing the number of hours and staffing for emergency patients seen in the Mezzanine. It is anticipated that future construction and augmented staffing on the Mezzanine level will further reduce waiting times while improving quality and safety despite drastically increasing volumes.
Physician Contribution to Quality and Safety
Ongoing Professional Personal Evaluations (OPPE)
The Joint Commission recently established the requirement for ongoing professional practice evaluations. Medical Staff Standard MS.4.40 states “ongoing professional practice evaluation information is factored into the decision to maintain existing privileges(s), to revise existing privilege(s), or to revoke an existing privilege prior to or at the time of renewal.” OPPE allows the organization to identify practice trends that impact the quality of care and patient safety. Issued biannually, this report details numerous individual metrics in accord with our practice environment with the mission to provide feedback, both good and bad and with the goal to strengthen areas in need of improvement. Metrics include number of patients seen, cases sent to peer review, clinical metrics such as EKG performed on patients with syncope, board certification status, record management and professionalism.
Physician Team
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Christopher Beach, MD | Michael Schmidt, MD | Sanjeev Malik, MD | |
