JERSEYVILLE — Jersey Community Hospital’s efforts to advance patient care and safety earned the 2018 Illinois Health and Hospital Association (IHA) Quality Excellence Achievement Award in the Small and Rural category, presented today at the IHA Leadership Summit in Lombard.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
The award recognizes a critical hospital initiative titled Reducing All-Cause Readmissions by Improving Coordination Across the Care Continuum.
A national panel of quality experts judged the 91 projects submitted for this year’s IHA Quality Excellence Achievement Awards from 57 hospitals and health systems statewide to arrive at Jersey Community Hospital’s award.
With baseline data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) showing an all-cause readmission rate of 16% and a CMS Star Quality Rating of 3, Jersey Community Hospital’s project team set out to decrease the all-cause readmissions rate to below 10% and to increase its CMS Star Quality Rating to 4. Using Lean Six Sigma methodologies, the team formulated a multi-faceted improvement plan, which included post-acute care partners, home health agencies and skilled nursing facilities.
Readmission reduction strategies included the development of a hospitalist team and improvements in:
- Coordination with post-acute care agencies;
- Multidisciplinary rounding;
- Discharge planning; and
- Patient follow-up protocols.
As a result, Jersey Community Hospital’s all-cause readmission rate dropped from 16% to 7% with an estimated 63 readmissions prevented over a 12-month period and a total cost savings of $455,600.
“I’m happy that the high quality of care provided at JCH is being recognized for its consistency and reliability. I’m proud of the team here and they are deserving of this recognition” stated Jon Wade, CEO.
IHA President and CEO A.J. Wilhelmi recognized Jersey Community Hospital’s project team at the association’s annual Leadership Summit. Michael McNear, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Medical Group President, accepted the award on the team’s behalf.
IHA’s Institute for Innovations in Care and Quality spearheaded this effort to highlight the quality improvement work of IHA-member hospitals and health systems. The Institute is a strategic center actively engaged in implementing evidence-based quality and safety initiatives while creating innovative member programs to measurably strengthen the quality of healthcare across Illinois.
“As we partner with hospitals and health systems across the state, we believe it’s paramount to celebrate their successes in quality improvement,” said Helga Brake, Vice President, Quality, Safety, and Health Policy, who leads the Institute. “Illinois hospitals and health systems are leaders in advancing care. IHA’s Institute works to support and enhance those efforts. ”
About Jersey Community Hospital
As an independent facility, owned by the people of Jersey County, the Jersey Community Hospital is focused on providing and being the area’s primary healthcare resource. The hospital has been serving the tri-county areas of Jersey, Greene and Calhoun counties since 1954. Jersey Community Hospital is a general medical and surgical hospital in Jerseyville, IL. For more information, www.jch.org. Like JCH on Facebook. Follow JCH on Twitter.
About IHA
The Illinois Health and Hospital Association, with offices in Naperville, Springfield, Washington, D.C., and Chicago advocates for Illinois’ more than 200 hospitals and nearly 50 health systems as they serve their patients and communities. IHA members provide a broad range of services—not just within their walls, but across the continuum of health care and in their communities. Reflecting the diversity of the state, IHA members consist of nonprofit, investor-owned and public hospitals in the following categories: community, safety net, rural, critical access, specialty and teaching hospitals, including academic medical centers. For more information, see www.team-iha.org. Like IHA on Facebook. Follow IHA on Twitter.
More like this:
