Roudebush VA Medical Center – Indianapolis
Patient Safety & Quality Performance Improvement Processes on Single Electronic Platform (Readiness Rounds)
Background
Indianapolis VAMC started using Readiness Rounds in 2007. At that time Readiness Rounds was used to conduct Environment of Care Rounding. This process assisted the facility in conducting the rounding process and achieving a high level of compliance in the environmental area. Based on the widespread and established use of Environmental rounding the facility decided to explore how to deploy all Patient Safety & Quality efforts on Readiness Rounds
The Facility, along with support from Readiness Rounds personnel identified an objective to conduct as much tracer / rounding effort as possible into the already proven Readiness Rounds process. This effort was motivated by a desire to streamline current processes and provide all levels of management with consistent reliable improvement focus.
The Solution
The following tracers/rounding were deployed using Readiness Rounds:
Closed Medical Record Review: Using the Readiness Rounds template a closed medical record review was agreed. This audit is conducted on workstation based software and transmitted electronically to Readiness Rounds for immediate processing
INTRA: Nursing tracers are conducted using the Readiness Rounds INTRA template. These tracers are conducted on a predetermined schedule and sent to Readiness Rounds for processing.
Medication Management: Areas containing medication are assessed on a regular basis to ensure that all aspects for storage and security are operational.
Leadership: Senior managements conducts regular review with front line Department staff using Readiness Rounds templates to manage feedback and analysis of employee comments
Environment Of Care: Now in a 4th year of use this assessment provide a scheduled consistent evaluation of the physical environment
The Results
The facility has significantly consolidated tracer and auditing processes starting in 2007. This has enabled a increasing focus on items that need correction ensuring a consistent proactive review of Patient Safety & Quality.
2007 – +4,000 Quality Observations / 2008 – + 16,000 Quality Observations 2009 – + 34,000 Quality Observations 2010 – Estimated + 40,000 Quality Observations
With the significant widening of Readiness Rounds deployment the Patient Safety & Quality dashboards are becoming widely accepted and used as the measure of progress.
Ensuring that tracers and rounds are scheduled and consistent which in turn increases the reliability of services continues to be a focus while ensuring that managers focus on improving their specific areas of responsibility.