Focusing on Patient-Centered Care As Florida Celebrates Healthcare Quality Week

Governor Issues Proclamation

ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As Americans seek improved healthcare quality and patient safety, one path patients, healthcare professionals and government officials agree upon is making healthcare more patient centered.  Healthcare Quality Professionals are the frontline people in the healthcare industry who work to keep the quality focus on patients and their families, coordinating the demands of regulatory and accreditation issues with the need to keep patient care and needs at the forefront. 

National Healthcare Quality Week, October 20-26, recognizes the work Healthcare Quality Professionals do to improve patient care, outcomes and healthcare delivery systems.  We are honored the State of Florida has joined in this acknowledgment with a Governor's Proclamation recognizing the work Healthcare Quality Professionals in Florida do in improving patient care.

The Florida Association for Healthcare Quality, Florida's professional association for Healthcare Quality Professionals, is celebrating Healthcare Quality Week by sharing examples of healthcare initiatives from around Florida which have enhanced the focus on patient-centered care, improving both the patient experience and healthcare outcomes.  These include:

• Orlando Health implemented a quick turn-around MRSA testing analysis that provides Emergency Department patients who are being admitted to the hospital with results to their MRSA screen within hours versus a day, or longer.  A negative MRSA screen eliminates the need for patients to be placed in an isolation room environment, assuming no other medical need for isolation is necessary.  The patient's family is especially appreciative of not having to wear isolation gowns and other personal protective equipment for up to two days or longer, as was the prior practice. Keeping family members visiting often promotes healing.
• The UF (University of Florida) Health Jacksonville Care Van is a mini-health unit on wheels that travels throughout Jacksonville providing health and wellness information. Screenings are available and interactive displays focus on different health issues. Topics include heart disease, cancer, diabetes, asthma, cholesterol, healthy eating, safety, transportation, and more. The Care Van participates in nearly 100 events each year. UF Health Jacksonville is committed to decreasing disparities in healthcare delivery across ethnic and economic lines.  They are especially vested in improving the health of residents living in the community surrounding the hospital, the most populated area of Jacksonville's urban core.
• Baptist Health Care offers a free community education and services program called GoldenCare that is focused on adults 50 years of age and older. It currently serves over 30,000 members across northwest Florida and south Alabama. The benefits include: monthly seminars at Baptist Health Care facilities across the region; VIP parking decal honored at all Baptist Health Care facilities; free ScriptSave® prescription discount card; a membership newsletter mailed to the member's home or e-mail; health screenings, including blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes; when hospitalized, a complimentary newspaper Monday through Friday, along with a daily meal ticket for the caregiver.
• Nemours Children's Hospital, Lake Nona, offers a program called KidsTRACK ® (Teaching, Research, Advocacy, Community, and Knowledge) -- a one-stop hub that connects patients and families to social workers, financial counselors, spiritual care providers, Child Life specialists, language interpreters, educators, and other hospital services when they are needed most.  It is collaboration with the child's medical care team to coordinate multiple doctor appointments; connect to nonprofits and insurance companies; learn to use special equipment for home health care; learn to cook meals for a child's special diet in the "teach-in" kitchen; and provides access to emotional support for the child and family members.
• Florida Hospital for Women – Winter Park and Celebration Health Women's Institute are two centers dedicated to women's health that opened in October, 2013.  They both offer an array of health services targeted for women; for all stages of life.  This includes obstetrics, breast imaging, female surgeries and health counseling. They focus on outpatient and preventive care, and on "not letting women go into a hospital."  Another goal is to eliminate an age-old issue of under diagnosing women's heart disease. 
• The Patient & Family Advisory Council at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa is composed of patients and family advisors, as well as clinicians and administrators who serve as a "voice" for patients and their family members; working alongside doctors, nurses, and other health care providers to ensure that the highest level of care is delivered.  The four goals are to:  promote integration; enhance communication, improve navigation through the system to ultimately improve patient safety and delivery of care.  *Reprinted with the permission of the Institute for Family-Centered Care. Please visit: www.familycenteredcare.org
• Led by the Florida Hospital Association (FHA), 74 hospitals from around the state are participating in the association's Hospital Engagement Network (HEN), a nationwide project of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; coordinated through the American Hospital Association's Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET).  The goals are to reduce patient harm by 40 percent, hospital readmissions by 20 percent, and early elective deliveries – scheduled births before 39 weeks – to fewer than 3 percent of all Florida births.
• HEN Hospitals are working to accelerate improvement by engaging patients and families as well as hospital leadership and caregivers to improve a culture of safety for all patients. Through this collaboration, hospitals in 31 states are able to share best practices and participate in joint educational opportunities; for Florida's hospitals the effort means already-established statewide collaboration is now expanded nationally.

Deborah Goodwin, President of FAHQ, commented: "The Florida Association for Healthcare Quality is very proud of the accomplishments and work of our members.  They show a true commitment to making healthcare safer, more effective, and more patient-centered; working every day to advance the quality of Florida's healthcare."

About FAHQ

The Florida Association for Healthcare Quality is committed to developing, supporting and promoting professional expertise in healthcare quality.  Its membership represents all healthcare practice settings and professions, united in the common goal of advancing Florida's healthcare quality.  For further information, visit FAHQ on the web at www.fahq.org. 

SOURCE Florida Association for Healthcare Quality