1. Make accreditation a daily priority. The staff at Greenspring Surgery Center followed standards set by the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses and put together a four-part day-of-surgery surgical checklist to ensure the facility is aligned with Universal Protocol set by The Joint Commission and other national patient safety standards. The checklist goes over safety measures while patients are in the holding area, before induction of anesthesia, while they are in the operating room and after the procedure.
“The number one key in maintaining accreditation at an ASC is to have everybody on board, including physicians, and keeping in mind quality improvement all the time,” Ms. Howell says. “We’re striving to improve everyday and watching every ticket.”
2. Consider the staffing ratio. Ms. Howell attributes the center’s staffing ratio to the success of maintaining accreditation. The center is focused on making sure each patient receives one-on-one attention and care from the staff, making sure that each visitor sustains a comprehensive history and comprehensive physical check-up.
3. Educate the staff on a constant basis. When it comes to educating staff on patient safety, Ms. Howell believes it is not only key to maintaining competency but also warding off apathy. To keep staff members on their toes, she puts extra effort toward making sure staff members are continuously learning about patient safety standards. One of her initiatives is a weekly seek-and-find e-mail that is sent to everyone, including the business office.
“I fill out 10 questions, something as simple as ‘Where is the fire extinguisher?,’ and [staff members] have to get back to me as fast as they can to get a prize,” she says. “This keeps everyone accountable, and the business office is thrilled because they know where everything in the clinical area is.”
4. Encourage staff members to get involved. Whenever a problem or issue concerning patient safety arises, the staff members are charged with finding the resolution or educating themselves or others on their own.
“We had a surgical processor who had trouble using an instrument, so she put together an in-service for the entire staff on what tests she does and how these instruments work,” Ms. Howell says. “It builds [staff members’] esteem and makes them credible and accountable, and they love teaching each other. All of a sudden, they’re looking for things [to educate their associates about].”
5. Conduct meaningful QI studies to benchmark efficiency. Greenspring Surgery Center conducts quality improvement studies, which allows the center to compare its performance against other outpatient surgery facilities. One quality improvement study the center has focused on is falling within the 60-minute window of giving pre-operation antibiotics to patients.
“We take the numbers, look at it and ask ourselves, ‘Are we meeting the standards everybody else is at?’ We set high standards so we can gauge ourselves against other ASCs,” Ms. Howell says.
