'What EMS Never Sees'

On November 16 Research Medical Center hosted ‘What EMS Never Sees.’ The event was designed to give EMS providers a rare opportunity to understand the continuum of care a patient receives once they’re brought to the emergency room. EMS providers had the opportunity to visit operating room suites, interventional radiology, cath lab, intensive care unit and rehabilitation. The rotations with three patient scenarios (trauma, stroke and stemi) were designed by Tina York, an EMS professional and current EMS relations director at HCA Midwest Health System. Participants received 4.5 hours CEU certified by the Kansas City Fire Department. 

HCA Midwest Health System and CareSpot to Establish Urgent Care Centers in Greater Kansas City Area

HCA Midwest Health System and CareSpot have established a joint venture to bring as many as six urgent care centers to the Greater Kansas City area starting in early 2013 and continuing throughout the year. The new partnership would make CareSpot and HCA Midwest the leading urgent care provider in the area.  

   

Convenient, high-quality healthcare  

“Urgent care is an important aspect of HCA Midwest Health System’s vision to provide our community with a quality, comprehensive health system," says M.L. Lagarde, president of HCA Midwest. "Our expertise as a health network can best bridge the continuum of care between urgent, primary and acute care. Our partner, CareSpot, has a proven track record of delivering a highly convenient, less expensive alternative to emergency room visits for non-emergency injuries and illnesses. Our partnership represents a significant step forward in bringing increased access to extraordinary and affordable healthcare in the communities that we serve.”  

   

“Our joint venture with HCA Midwest is an exciting opportunity to partner with a well-known, high-quality healthcare provider in the Kansas City area, expand our base beyond Florida and Tennessee, and move into other markets where there is strong demand for urgent care centers," says CareSpot CEO Michael D. Klein. "Customers want more convenient, high-quality healthcare, and that's what we'll deliver. Online and mobile scheduling tools at CareSpot.com allow customers to book appointments, compare center wait times, and even save a spot in line — this helps them easily get in and out so they can start feeling better quickly.”  

   

The new urgent care centers will offer healthcare services to treat non-emergent medical problems that can develop unexpectedly and require immediate attention, filling the gap between primary care physicians and hospital emergency rooms. This partnership offers patients the staffing benefits and expertise of a proven network of urgent care centers combined with the broader resources of a large hospital system if a higher level of care is required. The new centers will operate as CareSpot in partnership with HCA Midwest Health System. CareSpot will manage daily operations.  

   

CareSpot is the largest urgent care provider in Florida  

With nearly 500,000 patient visits each year, CareSpot operates 30 urgent care centers in Florida and is the largest urgent care provider in the state. Headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, the urgent care company currently employs more than 500 people and plans to double in size over the next 18 months.

CEO Message

At the last Town Hall meetings I reported that I would do a brief bi-weekly blog update as an additional step to keep the staff informed of activities within our medical center.

First of all thank you to those that attended the Town Hall meetings. Attendance was very good and participation reflected your interest in what is going on at Research Medical Center. As always there are a few items that come to me in these meetings that prompts discussion and changes for improvement.

We recently completed a very successful JCAHO survey. The surveyors commented throughout the survey how impressed they were with how you handled tracer interactions, employee engagement on performance improvement initiatives, and also reported several “best practices” they witnessed from the staff. They are going to report out some of the best practices at the annual meeting with the HCA executives in Nashville; so you made us all look good!

As we approach the holiday season, it is always appropriate to be reflective on the year we are closing out. All in all 2012 will go down as an outstanding year for Research Medical Center. Quality metrics across the board are improving and at the top of their class, patient volumes are high, and we will meet our financial targets for the year. Areas for improvement are significant and will be a major focus of your management team. Those include employee engagement, physician satisfaction, and patient satisfaction. While we did not go backwards from the previous year in these areas, we either did not improve or continued to be inconsistent. We have good information from these surveys and a strong and engaged management team so I am confident and excited about focusing on improvement in these three areas next year.

In my next blog among other topics I will discuss the Magnet journey we are on. Feel free to e mail me topics you would like me to cover in these blogs.

Implosion Clears Path for Rockhill Greens Community

On April 15, 2012, the implosion of the 6700 Troost building took place on the Research Brookside Campus, clearing a path for the new 13-acre Rockhill Greens community that will include assisted living, independent senior housing, restaurants, coffee shop, grocery store, walking trail and community garden.

Donate Life Month

On April 13, in recognition of National Donate Life Month, Dana Maguire, RN, Darinda Reberry, RN, and several members of Midwest Transplant Network and Transplant Institute staff at Research Medical Center dedicated two significant walls near the Intensive Care Unit. The first wall is the Tree of Life Donor Memorial, recognizing those patients and families who have given the ultimate gift of life through organ, tissue and eye donation. The second wall is the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Medal of Honor, celebrating a tradition of excellence in the care we provide those patients and how we support their families.

VITAS Inpatient Hospice Unit

The VITAS Inpatient Hospice Unit at Research Medical Center is located on the 7th Floor. Sixteen private patient rooms offer a restful, home-like atmosphere where pain and other symptoms can be managed efficiently and compassionately. The unit is staffed 24/7 by VITAS’ experienced hospice team. A hospice physician, licensed nurses, a social worker, chaplain and volunteers all work together to enhance quality of life for patients and support their families. 


Take a tour of the VITAS Inpatient Hospice Unit
http://animoto.com/play/botkryKLWkmH0QVFXTl2Dw

Goppert-Trinity Family Care Receives NCQA Recognition

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has officially recognized Goppert-Trinity Family Care as a Level 3 Patient Centered Medical Home. The clinic was part of a two-year pilot project sponsored by Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Kansas.

The Patient-Centered Medical Home model focuses on increased access for patients, improved electronic documentation, defined chronic disease management and quality outcome measurement. Level 3 certification is the highest attainable level of recognition and Goppert-Trinity’s certification runs through 2015.

Goppert-Trinity Family Care is part of the Midwest Physicians Network in Kansas City and associated with Research Medical Center. It is located at 6675 Holmes on the Research Brookside Campus, and is the primary clinic site for the Research Family Medicine Residency Program.

daVinci® Surgical Robot

Research Medical Center has added the da Vinci® robotic surgical system to its comprehensive surgical services. This advanced technology, using four robotic arms takes surgery beyond the limits of the human hand and provides surgeons with greater precision, control and access to hard-to-reach areas, allowing complex operations to be performed through just a few small incisions.


An alternative to open surgery
With less pain and fewer side effects, the da Vinci® can provide smaller incisions, less blood loss, reduced risk of infection,shorter hospital stays and a quicker return to normal activities.


Patient Benefits

• Less pain; fewer side effects
• Shorter hospital stays
• Reduced risk of infection
• Smaller incisions
• Less scarring and less blood loss
• Quicker return to normal activities

Physician Benefits

• Enhanced 3D, high-definition vision of operative field with up to 10x magnification
• New optional dual console allows second surgeon to provide assistance
• Superior visual clarity of tissue and anatomy
• Surgical dexterity and precision far greater than even the human hand
• Updated and simplified user interface to enhance OR efficiency
• New ergonomic settings for greater surgeon comfort

Physicians performing gynecologic and gynecologic/oncology procedures with the da Vinci robotic surgical system at Research Medical Center include: Brad Sullivan, MD, Verda Hunter-Hicks, MD and Rebecca S. Johnson, MD.

Research Medical Center Launches TeleStroke Program

Steven Kosa, MD, neurologist at Research Medical Center

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and the leading cause of adult disability. Time-critical diagnosis of those 795,000 annual U.S. stroke patientsis paramount in helping patients receive the necessary drugs and treatment. Delays in diagnosis contribute to the mortality and disability associated with stroke.


Midwest Stroke Care at Research MedicalCenter recently launched TeleStroke, part of its telemedicine program, which overcomes geographic and transportation barriers with reliable technology. TeleStroke allows immediate access to Research Medical Center’s stroke experts who can provide consultation and quality, leading-edge healthcare with on-site providers in rural and underserved areas to manage acute stroke as needed.


“The beauty of telemedicine services such as TeleStroke is that it brings off-site specialty services directly to the patients and physicians who need them at exactly the time when they need them,” says Iftekhar Ahmed, MD, a leader in Stroke/TIA care and medical director of The Stroke Care Center at Research Medical Center. “Significant research proves that telemedicine can result in a reduction of unnecessary transfers and improved quality of care.


”Telemedicine is a rapidly expanding area of healthcare that uses various telecommunication technologies to exchange medical information from one location to another, enabling physicians and medical institutions to treat and consult with physicians, clinicians and patients in hospitals. Research Medical Center’s TeleStroke Program will support community hospitals by providing 24-hour on-call stroke specialists and Emergency Department acute stroke consultation.


Using real-time video conferencing, Midwest Stroke Care’s TeleStroke program provides a 24-hour on-call neurologist to aid in prompt evaluation and treatment of stroke patients, helping to determine whether or not the patient’s symptoms require the administration of rtPA, an an intravenous clot-busting drug. When administered within three hours of having a stroke, rtPA can help break up blood clots.


Research Medical Center, part of HCA Midwest Health System—Kansas City’s largest healthcare network—has the technology to deliver highly specialized stroke care.The hospital received Get With the Guidelines™ - StrokeGold Plus in 2011. This award recognizes the hospital’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations. Research Medical Center was the first Certified Primary Stroke Center in the region and offers comprehensive stroke care with the latest technologies andmost effective treatments available.


Kevin J. Hicks, chief executive officer of Research Medical Center, says that the physicians and staff are committed to maximizing resources efficiently to deliver the best healthcare. “TeleStroke, part of our telemedicine services,reflects Research’s dedication to quality patient care,” says Hicks.


For information about partnering with Midwest Stroke Care at Research Medical Center, call (816) 276-3946.

Research Medical Center Receives Get With the Guidelines Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award

Research Medical Center has received the Get With the Guidelines (GWTG) Heart Failure Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association for its excellence in the treatment of patients with heart failure. The award is only given to hospitals that achieve 85 percent or higher adherence to all GWTG Heart Failure Quality Achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month intervals and have achieved 75 percent or higher compliance with four of nine GWTG Heart Failure Quality Measures to improve quality of patient care and outcomes.