Letters of Commitment were sent to each Owner Hospital supply chain management director.  Owners will have 90 days (from contract effective date of June 30, 2011) to return the LOC. If you have questions about your hospital’s opportunity specifics, please contact your supply chain leader or Sean Jeffries (sean.jeffries@chca.com).

The Adult Dilemma
In June, the journal published a research paper originating from a 2010 CHCA R&D project and presented at an  Executive Dialogue by Denise Goodman, M.D., of Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. The paper discussed the “adult dilemma.”  Adults With Chronic Health Conditions Originating in Childhood: Inpatient Experience in Children’s Hospitals examined population increases in adult survivors of childhood illness. The paper described disparate experiences based on diagnosis and the contrast between those conditions a well established transition plan (e.g. Cystic Fibrosis) and other conditions. 

The bottom line: Children’s hospitals must be proactive in partnering with adult providers to offer the highest quality care to complex patients with childhood diseases. You must evaluate both clinical outcomes and the financial impact of caring for this patient population. You will have to pay attention to resources, training and outcomes, while not endangering your mission of caring for children. And with last year’s expansion of dependent care coverage to age 26, you must determine your readiness for and willingness to adjust your age range to accommodate this growing population and expanded coverage age for dependents.

Reducing Adverse Drug Events
In early July, Pediatrics® published the results of the 2009 Adverse Drug Events Collaborative. In one year, 13 CHCA hospitals standardized medication ordering, decision support, medication administration and patient safety protocols to prevent 12,000 ADEs and saved $14 million.

• Robust comparative data across major pediatric
  subspecialties
• Automated processing and online data availability with
  consistent reporting
•  Service mix detail by CPT-code to understand benchmarks
  and track performance
• Trending and analysis

CHCA has hosted a series of webcasts with Owner Hospital CFOs, COOs and Strategic Planning and Business Development leaders. For more information, contact: Edna Rindner.

Children’s hospitals have the opportunity to work with their peers to improve the discharge process so that it is safe, effective and efficient. Please review the collaborative flyer and pass on to your team if this initiative fits your current patient safety goals.  This all-virtual, highly interactive 12-month project can help you improve care across your hospital for a participation fee of $3,500.  

Deadline to enroll is August 31, 2011.  The project will kick off with a virtual two-day Learning Session, October 19 and 20. For more information, contact Tina.Logsdon@chca.com or Barbara.Spreadbury@chca.com or call 913-262-1436.

Kate Conrad

Helping children’s hospitals achieve their mission of providing the safest and highest quality of care to America’s children is our top priority. We selected ECRI Institute PSO because of their extensive in analyzing patient safety data and for their development of practical information to help providers improve the process of delivering care.
– Kate Conrad, Vice President, Child Health Patient Safety Organization, Inc.

ECRI Institute PSO uses a Web-based patient safety reporting system to capture patient safety data in a standardized manner compatible with the common data formats published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and National Quality Forum (NQF) serious reportable events. ECRI Institute PSO supports numerous state-based PSO programs as well as hospitals, health systems, and other provider organizations nationwide.

For more information about Child Health PSO, contact Kate Conrad (kate.conrad@chca.com).

• In 2010, 96% (349) of respondents indicated they are satisfied with the information they receive through CHCA and it is helpful to their work.  There was a 7% increase from 2009 to 2010 in those who are “very satisfied.” (Results were 94% in 2009 and 2008.)
• Ninety-two percent (335) of all respondents are satisfied with the accessibility of information through CHCA in 2010. (Results were 89% in 2009; 90% in 2008.)
• In 2010, 90% (331) of respondents reported satisfaction with unique information provided by CHCA. This is an increase of 4% from 2009 with a gain of 8% responding “very satisfied.”
• Respondents indicate they are 93% (342) satisfied in 2010 with the value they receive from CHCA provided programs/services, up from 92% in 2009. There was also a gain of 9% in the “very satisfied” category.

Attached are the verbatim responses to the question, “What should your hospital CEO know about your CHCA experience?” If you would like a copy of the complete verbatim comments, please contact Nancy Vasto (nancy.vasto@chca.com).

ADE Reduction by Hospital (click to enlarge)

Adverse drug events (ADEs) are the leading cause of harm to pediatric patients. In one year, 13 CHCA hospitals standardized medication ordering, decision support, medication administration and patient safety protocols to prevent 12,000 ADEs. Teams Akron and Nashville were top performers.  A change package is available on chca.com to help your hospital achieve similar results.

Participants:
Akron
Boston
Columbus
Corpus Christi
Denver
Detroit
Houston
Los Angeles
Milwaukee
Nashville
New Orleans
Norfolk
St. Petersburg

Questions? Please contact Tina Logsdon, tina.logsdon@chca.com