For a fifth consecutive year HCA’s IT&S department has earned recognition by Computerworld magazine as one of the 100 Best Places to Work for information technology professionals. HCA ranked 42 of the 100 companies selected.

“This distinction is recognition that HCA is a great place to work, not only for nearly 4,000 IT professionals, but for all 204,000 HCA employees across the country,” said Marty Paslick, HCA’s senior vice president and chief information officer.

HCA’s IT&S department operates four data centers and 14 division support centers across the U.S. The support centers are responsible for delivering IT services to HCA and its subsidiaries such as Parallon Business Solutions and Sarah Cannon Research Institute.

These services include business analysis, systems development, systems integration, information security, customer support, training and education and infrastructure support.

IT&S is a diversified development program that provides a number of recognition opportunities for employees following their professional and personal ambitions in IT.

But the most emotionally charged offering is the IT Healthcare Connection program which immerses IT employees in the hospital environment and shows them firsthand the effect of their work.

SOURCE: Business Wire

In October 2012, HCA led a comprehensive study testing a new approach to reducing the risk of MRSA. On the success of that study, which involved nearly 75,000 patients over a year and a half and led to a 44 percent reduction in bloodstream infections, HCA implemented the universal decolonization procedure throughout its adult ICUs.

Now, that study has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

HCAtodayblog.com has also published a video with Jon Perlin speaking on the REDUCE MRSA program which you can see here.

In its 41st annual ceremony, HCA named the recipients of the National Frist Humanitarian Awards for 2012 yesterday. The awards represent the highest honor one can receive within HCA and recognizes one employee, one volunteer and one physician. The three finalists were chosen from more than 200 hospital-level honorees.

Presented annually in recognition of the caring spirit and philanthropic work of the late Dr. Thomas Frist Sr., the awards are a tribute to those individuals who have demonstrated a commitment and dedication to providing outstanding patient care and humanitarianism in their work.

Crystal Glass was named for the employee category. She is an anatomic pathologic laboratory and transfusion services manager at OU Medical System in Oklahoma. Our volunteer is JB Bermudez-Koch from West Valley Medical Center in Idaho. And our physician award goes to Dr. Dennis McCarthy, an anesthesiologist at Memorial Hospital of Jacksonville, Florida.

The awards include a $5,000 donation to the charity of the recipient’s choice plus $5,000 for the employee and volunteer. For the physician recipient, $10,000 is donated to the charity of choice.

“The Frist Humanitarian Awards reinforce our most important values and recognize those individuals whose achievements are an inspiration for all HCA caregivers, volunteers and employees.” -HCA chairman and CEO Richard M. Bracken.

Chrystal’s efforts in ensuring her cancer patients received the correct diagnosis and working tirelessly to provide them support won her the honor. Part of that work includes her creation of the “Turtle Club,” a support group dedicated to pray for young patients who are undergoing surgery. “Just as a turtle carries its shell, Chrystal helps young cancer patients carry their burden.” The extent of her care has reached to Nigeria where she’s volunteered to promote diagnosis and detection of cancer. Having lectured to a trained group of 70 Nigerian lab techs, she taught microscope techniques to diagnose cancer at the cellular level. She also was part of the first of its kind cancer screening lab in Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria.

Eighteen year-old JB is three years into his volunteer service at West Valley Medical. JB says he became fascinated by the idea of helping people while a patient at the hospital himself. He started as an emergency room greeter, where his bilingual skills help with patients for whom English was not their native language and he spent lunch breaks at a summer job studying dog training, which helped him enlist Gesley, his Australian Shepherd certified by the Therapy Dogs Inc. Together, the two visit patients and guests, providing encouragement to all.

Dr. McCarthy initiated the City Rescue Mission’s medical clinic in Jacksonville. The clinic is a short- and long-term residential program providing medical and spiritual care to patients suffering from addictions. In addition, he and his family regularly volunteer at local homeless shelters on major holidays delivering meals to those in need. Dennis’ humanitarian efforts also extend to several countries. From the terrible earthquake that struck Haiti three years ago to the people of Guatemala, Ecuador, the Philippines, Thailand and Ghana, Dennis has volunteered the last 29 years of his medical mission work to helping those in the greatest need.

Congratulations to these three incredible and wonderful people and equally to all the dedicated and committed honorees!

SOURCE: Business Wire
PHOTO: HCA

This National Hospital Week, HCA would like not only to promote the transparency of our operations to encourage community trust as the event was intended, but also to commemorate every one of you for making us the number one healthcare service provider in the country.

Your hard work and dedication in providing the best care possible to our patients are responsible for our national standing in healthcare services.

With more than 200,000 members in the HCA family, that is one reason, in each of you, for us to be grateful.

National Hospital Week is now more than 90 years old, created from the suggestion of a magazine editor in Chicago to encourage public trust in city hospitals in the wake of the Spanish Flu outbreak in 1918.

The first national event was held on May, 12 1921, the birth date of Florence Nightingale, the “Lady of the Lamp”.

It was expanded to a weeklong event in 1953, and is celebrated today across every state in the country, honoring every individual in a hospital setting: from directors to patients.

HCA facilities and our affiliates are the foundations of the communities we serve, because of the communities we serve, and because of all the wonderful, talented, compassionate individuals who serve in every corner of our company.

We celebrate this year from May 12 to May 18 and while the theme is “A Guiding Light for Changing Times”, acknowledging the historical relevance of technology in the industry, we recognize that our people are the real success behind the innovation of HCA.

We thank all of our caregivers for your commitment to excellence and commitment to your patients. It because of people like you that makes ours an incredible community.

The AHA/ASA has awarded HealthONE’s Medical Center of Aurora the Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement.

The award recognizes the facility’s commitment and success in adhering to the latest scientific, evidence-based treatment guidelines in stroke care.

The Medical Center of Aurora met both the percentage requirements for all Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Quality Achievement indicators and the compliance requirements for the Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Quality Measures.

SQMs are reporting initiatives to measure quality of care. These include aggressive use of medications aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients.

In addition, the facility has also been recognized as a recipient of the Association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll, for improving stroke care.

This requires half of ischemic stroke patients, over a quarter period, to receive tissue plasminogen activators (tPAs) within 60 minutes of their arrival time.

“The Medical Center of Aurora is to be commended for its commitment to implementing standards of care and protocols for treating stroke patients,” said Lee H. Schwamm , M.D., chair of the Get With The Guidelines National Steering Committee and director of the TeleStroke and Acute Stroke Services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “The full implementation of acute care and secondary prevention recommendations and guidelines is a critical step in saving lives and improving outcomes of stroke patients.”

“The time is right for The Medical Center of Aurora to be focused on improving the quality of stroke care by implementing Get With The Guidelines–Stroke. The number of acute ischemic stroke patients eligible for treatment is expected to grow over the next decade due to increasing stroke incidence and a large aging population,” said Richard Hammett, president and chief executive officer.

Setting themselves apart from the other hospitals in Ventura County, Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center last week was the first to receive a 3-year/full accreditation as a breast center by the American College of Surgeons.

This accreditation, under the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers, is given only to those facilities that have voluntarily committed themselves to the highest standards of care in the breast health of patients.

Los Robles underwent a rigorous evaluation and performance review to earn the designation.

Greg Angle, president and CEO of the hospital, said the accreditation demonstrates Los Robles’ “firm commitment to offer its patients every significant advantage” in treating breast disease.

Under the evaluation, Los Robles demonstrated their compliance with the established standards of the NAPBC for treating women diagnosed with breast disease.

Standards include proficiency in leadership, research, clinical management, professional education, community outreach, and quality improvement.

Patients at the hospital will gain the benefits of comprehensive care with state-of-the-art services, a multidisciplinary team approach to handle treatment options, information about clinical trials and treatment options, and quality breast care close to home.

National Volunteer Week is a time to celebrate all the wonderful individuals who donate time and effort in volunteering their extraordinary services at HCA.

Though we recognize outstanding people in the local Frist Humanitarian Awards, and designate one volunteer for the National award, HCA values every individual who gives freely of themselves in helping to serve those in our care.

You are not only an integral part of the fabric of health care but are essential to the HCA family. It is your help in providing exceptional care to our patients, to our patients’ families and to our visitors that lends critical support to our mission of improving the human condition.

But most importantly, it’s your compassion and dedication that sets you apart.

We cannot express enough how grateful we are for your service.

National Volunteer Week runs through April 27 this year. We encourage everyone to take a moment this week to say thank you to the volunteers at your facility who put aside their own work and family commitments to the benefit of our communities.

From HCATodayBlog.com: Dr. Josh Solomon is an intensivist at Rose Medical Center. He’s always believed that if you have the ability to help another person, you should. That’s why after making several trips to a Vietnam orphanage to provide medical care, he helped start the Hoi An Foundation.

Please enjoy the video from the HCAHealthcare YouTube archive about his experience in Viet Nam:

Last month marked the anniversary of the American Cancer Society’s Patient Navigator site at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

Last month marked the anniversary of the American Cancer Society’s Patient Navigator site at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

The program pairs expert caregivers, or patient navigators, with patients recently diagnosed with cancer to help them navigate the challenges of a cancer experience.

These psychological, emotional and financial challenges include everything from locating a wig for someone undergoing chemotherapy, connecting individuals with a support group, or arranging financial counseling.

The program was made possible by a $100,000 donation from the WellPoint Foundation as part of the foundation’s $15 million commitment to support 17 Patient Navigator programs in 14 states.

The program is free and confidential, focusing on medically underserved populations. Of Sunrise’s 1,600 cancer survivors served in 2012, 11 percent were on Medicaid or were uninsured, and 22 percent were on Medicare.

The American Cancer Society has helped 134 hospitals across the country install Patient Navigators since launching the program in 2005.

Sunrise held their celebratory event March 23 and featured testimonials from patient navigators, participating patients, and executives from the American Cancer Society, Sunrise and Anthem, affiliate of the WellPoint Foundation.

Photo: From left to right: Juliana Pisani, Executive Director for the American Cancer Society, Mike Murphy, President of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Linda Ivers, Patient Navigator, and Todd Sklamberg, Chief Executive Officer at Sunrise Hospital and Sunrise Children’s Hospital.

One in 20 patients contracts a hospital-acquired infection according to the CDC. The infection can often become serious and, in many cases, lead to a patient’s death.

What’s worse, is that 20-40 percent of these infections pass to patients from their caregivers.

In a yearlong study leading to the full implementation of AgileTrac in two of its South Atlantic affiliate hospitals, HCA found that proper hand hygiene reduced the risk of spreading these infections.

Continuing its pioneering efforts to reduce HAIs, HCA has deployed the UltraClenz system in its East Florida affiliate, Palms West Hospital.

UltraClenz is a first-of-its kind Patient Safeguard System that tracks a caregiver’s hand-washing behaviors. It alerts both caregiver and patient if the caregiver neglects hand-washing duties.

The system rolled out in February to all of the facility’s 204 beds. The wireless technology monitors staff as they move from patient to patient anywhere in the hospital.

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