DNV GL Healthcare Webinar Demonstrates How Accreditation Process Can Create Hospital of the Future

MILFORD, Ohio, April 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- DNV GL Healthcare's April 4 webinar, "Creating the Hospital of the Future Through the Accreditation Process," explored how Nicklaus Children's Health System leveraged its relationship with DNV GL Healthcare to make technological and managerial progress.

Nicklaus Children's, a 289-bed hospital in Miami, Fla., first had DNV GL survey the hospital for accreditation to participate in the Medicaid and Medicare programs in 2016. Jose Perdomo, a Nicklaus Children's senior vice president and its chief ethics and compliance officer, said DNV GL "understood the need for constant readiness and the ability to evolve organizations on a regular basis. For us, that was key."

Perdomo noted that DNV GL's annual surveys were also a better fit for Nicklaus Children's. "The standard multi-year process between accreditations was not meeting our need to be consistently survey ready and to ensure our processes were always on point. DNV GL provided that and gave us the next step in solidifying clinical and non-clinical processes." It was the next step in the journey to operational excellence.

In order to achieve buy-in, all the various departments and constituencies were visited by a roving "cruise ship" dubbed Inspiration. Staffers were invited to participate in a quiz show-format game on regulatory and quality questions/issues.

"We had meetings throughout the hospital, with every employee group and the physicians, so that they could understand how this new approach would help them do their jobs better, have more time for clinical care, and benefit our patients," said Marisol Llerena-Castro, Nicklaus' Director of Accreditation & Regulatory and Environment of Care. "It was not only communicated why we were doing this, and the core values, but also staff engagement and accountability at all levels."

Among the innovations Nicklaus Children's has placed in the hospital in recent years has been a universal system for prompting staff to wash hands between seeing patients, radio frequency identification technology to keep precise tabs on supplies, and an advanced "crash cart" that can be restocked in just a few minutes, as opposed to hours.

Perdomo and other Nicklaus Children's officials noted that its use of the ISO 9001 quality management system – originally used in manufacturing but adapted to healthcare by DNV GL – helped provide a precise guide to making institution-wide improvements. "It fit their strategy, it fit their culture, giving guidance where we can provide it," said DNV GL Healthcare USA, Inc. President, Patrick Horine.

More than 60 representatives throughout the healthcare industry listened to the webinar live. It is available for download here. A companion white paper outlining Nicklaus Children's progress will be available for download shortly.

Representing the nation's second-largest healthcare accreditation body, Anders Lindgren, DNV GL Business Assurance North America Regional Manager, cites its "kinder and gentler" approach and its year-round partnership strategy as some of the keys to successfully accrediting hospitals and boosting quality improvement at a rate of 20% growth year over year.

The majority of hospitals choose accreditation in order to be certified by the U.S. Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to receive federal funds and reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Hundreds of hospitals across the United States have switched to DNV GL Healthcare over the past decade. The organization accredits nearly 500 hospitals in 49 states.

About DNV GL Healthcare

DNV GL is one of the world's leading certification bodies. We help businesses manage risk and assure the performance of their organizations, products, people, facilities and supply chains through certification, verification, assessment, and training services. We combine technical, digital and industry expertise to empower companies' decisions and actions.

Within healthcare we help our customers achieve excellence by improving quality and patient safety through hospital accreditation, managing infection risk, management system certification and training. With origins stretching back to 1864 and operations in more than 100 countries, our experts are dedicated to helping customers make the world safer, smarter and greener.

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SOURCE DNV GL Healthcare