Carson City Hospital chosen as one of five West Michigan hospitals to participate in national Alliance for Health effort.
\nThe Alliance for Health recently announced that five hospitals across West Michigan \u2013 including Carson City Hospital \u2013 will participate in the Aligning Forces for Quality Hospital Quality Network (AF4Q), an innovative, nationwide program led by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the nation\u2019s largest philanthropy organization dedicated to improving the health and health care of Americans.
\nParticipating hospitals include Allegan General Hospital, Mercy Health Partners, Saint Mary\u2019s Health Care, North Ottawa Community Health System and Carson City Hospital.
\nAF4Q is RWJF\u2019s signature effort to lift the overall quality of health care in targeted communities, as well as reduce racial and ethnic disparities and provide models for national reform. In 2007, RWJF selected Alliance for Health to lead the local AF4Q effort. In all, 17 regions across the country were selected through a highly competitive process. Each is spearheading a range of efforts to help doctors, nurses and hospitals measure and improve quality \u2013 as well as help consumers understand more about their care so they can be more effective advocates for their own health.
\n“As part of this new initiative, we\u2019ve already created our team here at Carson City Hospital,” said Joan Sweet, Carson City Hospital Director of Quality and Risk Management. “We are in the process of selecting actions that will reduce readmissions for our heart failure population.”
\nThe AF4Q Hospital Quality Network includes three separate programs to help hospitals improve how they communicate with diverse patients, reduce the amount of time spent waiting in emergency departments (EDs), or ensure that patients who are discharged from the hospital aren\u2019t readmitted because they missed important elements of their care. Hospital teams will work together and with the 17 other Aligning Forces for Quality communities to improve the quality and safety of patient care by piloting and testing new quality improvement strategies over an 18-month period.
\n“There is a lot that is right about our local health care system, including good doctors, nurses, hospitals and employers who care about people having access to safe, high-quality health care,” said Lody Zwarensteyn, Alliance for Health president. “But here, as everywhere, there are gaps in the quality of care that people receive. Together we can help close those gaps so every patient receives excellent care every time. The hospitals that are participating in this program are leading an effort to systematically improve care throughout West Michigan.”
\nIn the Reducing Readmissions component, Allegan General Hospital and Carson City Hospital teams will focus on cardiac care, with the specific goal of reducing readmission rates among heart patients. The initiative will focus on cardiac care because, whether experiencing a heart attack, heart failure or other conditions, the recommended standard of care for cardiac patients is clear and accepted among medical professionals nationwide.
\n“We\u2019ll be developing an action plan to move forward, and create internal process improvement to help keep patients educated about how to stay healthy at home after they\u2019ve been discharged from the hospital,” said Sweet. “Although our focus will be on cardiac care, we hope to translate what we learn into better outcomes for other chronic illnesses, as well.”
\nIn the Increasing Throughput component, Allegan General Hospital and North Ottawa Community Health System teams will focus on making their emergency departments more efficient. In the Improving Language Services component, Allegan General Hospital, Mercy Health Partners and Saint Mary\u2019s Health Care teams will work to improve the care experience for patients who speak or understand limited English.
\nLed by RWJF, the AF4Q Hospital Quality Network is overseen by the Center for Health Care Quality at The George Washington University Medical Center School of Public Health and Health Services, which serves as the national program office for the Aligning Forces for Quality initiative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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