Tri-County Health Care recognized by Minnesota Hospital Association for excellence in quality and patient safety
WADENA, Minn. – Nov. 13, 2019 – Tri-County Health Care has been recognized by the Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) for superior performance in quality and patient safety as part of MHA’s Hospital Improvement Innovation Network (HIIN). MHA is one of 16 national, regional or state organizations selected by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to participate in HIIN. All 123 hospitals in MHA’s HIIN are working to reduce overall patient harm by 20 percent and 30-day hospital readmissions by 12 percent.
“This award recognizes the continuous effort and dedication the staff at Tri-County Health Care has put toward improving quality and patient safety,” said Tri-County Health Care CEO Joel Beiswenger.
To earn this recognition, Tri-County has been a leader in quality improvement in the MHA HIIN. Tri-County invested resources to report on at least 75 percent of process measures, met HIIN reduction goals on 70 percent of eligible outcome measures and implemented patient and family engagement efforts. Tri-County continues to maintain best practice guidelines in HIIN focus areas, including medication safety, reducing numbers of infections, fall prevention, sepsis and pressure injury prevention, opioids, care transition, while partnering with patients and families for better outcomes.
“Tri-County Health Care has demonstrated a commitment to strengthening patient safety in Minnesota, contributing to our state’s well-deserved reputation for high-quality health care,” said Dr. Rahul Koranne, MHA’s chief medical officer. “Working in partnership, care team members from hospitals and health systems across the state are improving health outcomes for our patients, families and communities.”
One area of success at Tri-County has been in patient and family engagement through Tri Patient Partners. The partnership brings patients, families and hospital staff together to determine how to provide the best possible health care. This is accomplished through sharing stories, participating in discussion groups, reviewing or creating educational and informational materials, working on short-term projects and serving on the patient and family advisory council. Tri-County also welcomes patient and family engagement through its eAdvisory Group, which includes filling out occasional surveys on a wide range of subjects to gather feedback and ideas to help improve the quality and safety of services and patient care.
“Our high-quality care and bringing our patients to the forefront in all the decision-making is part of what is driving our patient satisfaction,” said Tammy Suchy, Director of Quality and Risk Management. “This recognition highlights the true team approach we take to health care at Tri-County and demonstrates our ability to work as a cohesive team across the continuum of patient care.”
Tri-County has also focused on medication safety by taking a proactive step with the introduction of a new treatment for opioid use. The suboxone treatment, a prescription medication that is used to treat those who are addicted to or dependent on prescription or illegal opioids, is a safety tactic used to care for patients suffering from opioid use. In addition to treatment, Tri-County has also collaborated with public and private agencies to increase awareness of the dangers of long-term use and offers support to patients through free workshops.
Another area of success is in care transitions through a new organizational change that includes an integration team which allows staff to meet the patients’ needs wherever they are in the care process. This is achieved through multidisciplinary discharge planning from the inpatient setting, community paramedic visits, Emergency Room Utilization Review, Individualized Health Education provided by our registered nurse health coach team and our newly structured clinic care teams that provide a more focused clinic experience.
For more information about quality and patient safety efforts at Minnesota’s hospitals and health systems, visit mnhospitals.org/quality-patient-safety.
To learn more about becoming a Tri Patient Partner, visit TCHC.org/patientpartners, call Tammy Suchy at 218-631-7516, or email [email protected].
ABOUT TRI-COUNTY HEALTH CARE
Tri-County Health Care is a private, not-for-profit health care system located in Wadena, Minnesota. It offers care services such as primary health, surgery, cancer care, diagnostic imaging, obstetrics, orthopedics and rehabilitation. Tri-County operates a hospital and medical clinic in Wadena, as well as five satellite clinics and two physical therapy clinics across Wadena, Todd and Otter Tail counties. Satellite clinic locations include Bertha, Henning, Ottertail, Sebeka and Verndale. Visit TCHC.org.
