Parrish Medical Center provides tips on streamlining integrated care processes — 3 insights

Titusville, Fla.-based Parrish Medical Center shared tips with The Joint Commission on how they earned the organization's first ever integrated care certification.

The Joint Commission's Ambulatory Health Care Program Executive Director Michael Kulczycki spoke with the health system about three key areas that need to be addressed to streamline processes.

The certification takes into account information sharing, handoffs, IT integration, risk sharing and patient-centered care.

Here are three tips from the hospital's Vice President of Acute Care Services/Chief Nursing Officer Edwin Loftin:

1. Perfect transitions.

The Joint Commission had already accredited Parish Medical Center, completing the first aspect of the ICC certification. Regardless of that accreditation though, it's essential for a health system to communicate between its individual entities. Poor communication correlates with adverse events.

To earn the certification, Parrish standardized two important areas of operations: hospital to ambulatory admission and vice versa as well as its timeline for sending information between various entities.

2. Ensure your IT system will thrive during certification.

Parrish audited several relevant data sets, before The Joint Commission surveyors were on site, to ensure the IT system was performing at its best.

Health organizations should consider data sets related to the names of critical conditions or diagnoses as well as data sets with descriptions of how relevant conclusions were achieved.

3. Consider how the specifications align with your current practices.

Mr. Kulczycki said "Parish Medical Center actually found the process to be pretty seamless and the specific certification standards aligned with the processes already in place."

The integrated care standards cover elements like:

  • Program organization
  • Defined leadership
  • Clear mission, vision and goals
  • Identified scope of service
  • Population-based care support

For more information or to download a white paper on ICC certification, click here.

Copyright © 2024 Becker's Healthcare. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Linking and Reprinting Policy.

 


Patient Safety Tools & Resources Database

Featured Webinars

Featured Whitepapers

Featured Podcast