NMMC doing something right

[granny2young]

NMMC honored for quality of care

8/26/2005 8:07:35 AM
Daily Journal


By DENNIS SEID


Daily Journal


TUPELO - North Mississippi Medical Center's effort to improve quality, safety and patient care has earned it the 2005 McKesson Quest for Quality Prize.


NMMC was one of five finalists for the coveted award for which more than 90 hospitals across the country competed.


"It's a very special award for the whole community, because the community owns this hospital," said NMMC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ken Davis. "I think we're all proud of being recognized as, if not the best, then certainly one of the best hospitals in the country for quality and safety."


Runners-up were El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, Calif., New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Lehigh Valley Hospital & Health Network in Allentown, Pa.


The prize, awarded through the American Hospital Association, the McKesson Foundation and McKesson Corp., honors organizations committed to "improving safety, patient-centeredness, effectiveness, efficiency, timeliness and equity as the basis of a comprehensive quality-oriented health care system," according to the AHA.





NMMC and community


AHA regional director Tom Deweese said the award also accentuates the good that's going on between the hospital and the community. While the prize doesn't necessarily mean other hospitals aren't doing their jobs, it does show that hospitals like NMMC provide "exceptional" care for its patients, he said.


Hospital CEO John Herr commended the efforts of his staff, many of whom were gathered in the Food Court to see him formally accept the award.


"I want to thank all of you for your work," he told them.


Tawana Dearing, who works in the hospital's Diabetic Treatment Center, said she was proud the staff was being recognized for its efforts.


"We're all working hard, working to be the best in the country," she said.


Herr said the award means the public is receiving some of the best patient care in the country.


"This hospital has always provided a very high level of clinical quality patient care," he said. "Where we have opportunities to improve are our patient satisfaction and our relationships with our community. To me, this award is a validation of the efforts over the years of working hard on what's right internally, and that's taking care of the patients."


In addition to the trophy, a $75,000 cash prize will be used as seed money for patient safety programs.





Contact Dennis Seid at 678-1538 or [e-mail]


Why NMMC won


North Mississippi Medical Center earned the American Hospital Association McKesson Quest for Quality Prize for several reasons:


- Staff is actively engaged in identifying and leading quality improvement efforts and has a thorough understanding of success factors and how their individual performance contributes to them.


- NMMC does not have a quality department; instead, quality is ingrained in the culture through the development of employees and their systematic approach to care.


- The hospital uses the Baldrige National Quality Award criteria and conducts regular community health assessments with a major emphasis on developing programs to improve the health of its very large service area, which includes high proportions of poor and uninsured.


Source: American Hospital Association

www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=200445&pub=1&div=News

[jaykay]

if over charging and poor treatment of patients is quality care i don't need it

[BSIGrimreaper]

jaykay said:

if over charging and poor treatment of patients is quality care i don't need it

Do I hear an AMEN!!

[Pontotocmom]

[glow=red,2,300]AMEN![/glow]

[BSIBetterHalf]

AMEN!

Baptist Memorial Hospital has my business. Where we live; we are about the same distance from NMMC & Baptist Memorial in New Albany. So, if anything goes wrong with me; I'll be going to Baptist Memorial.
The last time, I had anything serious enough for hospital; Blue Cross was still doing business with NMMC. And, I am still paying the difference to the GREAT NMMC.
In a year, when I want to have get pregnant; I'll be going to New Albany. I already go to the OB/GYN in New Albany.

BSIBetterHalf

[jaykay]

seems to be more against than for huh!!!!!!!

[sparkie]

On the flip side, my family and I are done with Baptist..I'll drive where ever need be to get better treatment than that..IMO..

[granny2young]

the article was about the quality of health care. NMMC has some of the best surgeons and doctors in the United States, and despite what people think, they are no more expensive than any other hospital.

[King Rat]

Depends on which Baptist. I wouldn't be caught dead at Baptist in Booneville or Oxford but New Albany has a good hosptial. I used it for my ER before my PPO switched to NMMC.

I can't say for sure if NMMC charges more but their mafia-style bill collecting tactics make me avoid them if I can. Ten years ago my daughter (5 wks old at the time) had hernia surgery there and I paid my copay the day of the surgery. The following week I got a call from their collection agency threatening me if didn't pay my bill within 90 days. When I asked why they were calling me a week after the surgery instead of waiting 90 days to see if I paid, the woman told me the call was just routine. So NMMC turned my 1-week-old bill over to their private collection agency before my insurance company had a chance to pay just because it was "routine". So after my insurance company paid their part I waited until the 90 days expired before I sent the rest I owed.

[absynith]

Having just gotten out of the hospital 2 weeks ago, I have to say that the care at NMMC was excellent this time around. Of course I was at the Women's Hospital, but I was very satisfied with the care that I received. I was so impressed with one RN that once I got out I sent her flowers.

[cntryldyx3]

I hope to NEVER have to go to NMMC.I was there with the family of a friend.While standing in the hall I overheard a group of doctors and nurses discussing a female patient.One doctor asked the other"what did you have in mind,dose her to death?"Now if that's the way they take care of elderly patients or terminal patients none of my family will ever go there.I figure dying on the way to another hospital is preferable to being euthanized by people who are supposed to be helping me get better.

[calliope]

I have more stories about NMMC deficiencies that I care to relate, but here are two quick ones.

The elderly grandmother of a friend of mine was admitted about two and a half months ago for dehydration. Thanks to high-quality care and sterling standards of cleanliness, her kidneys shut down, her blood pressure plummetted, and she went into congestive heart failure. (This is a woman who was otherwise healthy, but had just gotten dehydrated.) After a couple of weeks dilly-dallying around, putting her on and taking her off various medications, etc., her doctor finally figured out that she'd picked up staph. By the time they treated that, she'd developed pneumonia, coded several times, and gotten REALLY bad. They took care of the staph, and she got it again. Now she's at St. Francis on a ventilator, half-conscious, dependent on drugs to keep her heart going, and she's never going to come home again.

Another friend's dad was in a really bad farm accident around the same time. He too, is at another facility, but that's because his family got sick and tired of nurses coming in and telling them, IN HIS PRESENCE, that they needed to decide what to do about life support when he started dying. I'm not a relative, just a friend, but I was actually in the room, visiting, when one of those idiots popped in, adjusted his IV, and started in on his daughter. "You know, he's not going to get better, and you and your sisters need to be prepared when he codes. You really ought to go ahead and provide direction about life support, ventilator, feeding tube, and those things. Really, it would probably be kindest to just let him go. That's what I'd do."

That was in front of me AND his grandson. The thing is, my friend told me that she wasn't the first nurse to tell her that kind of crap. And since when do NURSES get to advise patients' families on these things? Unbelievable.

That's NMMC. Go to Baptist, go to Birmingham, go anywhere else. Unless, of course, you just want to die.

[missfairy]

I remember the NMMC hospital fondly as a child, but in recent years, every time I have visited has been disastrous. The most notable being my sister, who was pregnant and started bleeding. They made her wait 7 hours and yes, she miscarried. A few hours into being there, her fiance went to the desk and informed them that he was going to hold them responsible if their baby was lost. That didn't seem to rush them. I've had a similar experience...I've also been in the waiting room with someone who cut their finger off at work and was sitting there holding it for HOURS hoping they would be able to salvage it. (I'm sure they couldn't at that point.) I left after talking to that woman because I felt like if someone with a missing finger can't get in, I'd better just deal with my problem. To be quite honest, unless I get shot somewhere vital and I get dragged there unconscious or something along those lines, I will not go back there. My sister had a baby in January and this time around, she went to New Albany and had an excellent experience there. I'll probly be going there if I have any emergencies in the future.

---just my two cents.

[granny2young]

there are many "stories" floating around out there. Some you have to take with a grain of salt, and some are serious concerns, but I dare say if you went to NMMC tonight and went into every room up there and talked to the patient, they would almost all agree they are thankful for NMMC for saving their lives and getting them well. There are so many miracles that walk out of that place every day that are not told. For some reason you only hear the bad, but no one ever seems to hear the succcess stories.

[King Rat]

I had to take my wife to the ER in Pontotoc (owned by NMHS) this weekend and I was really shocked at how nasty the examination room was. I'm don't mean it was just tracked up with dirt (it was) - the counters and tables were covered with fuzz and dirt that can only accumulate over time. One thing in particular was a stainless steel tray (on wheels) that I assume is for placing instruments and supplies on. It was covered with filth.

Besides the filth, the service was extremely slow. "We'll be right back" meant at least an hour's wait more than once. Add to that a diagnosis of "I don't know. Go see your doctor Monday" and I'm wondering if it was worth the fortune they will charge.

As for the "glad NMMC saved their life" stories, well, providing quality medical care should not be a justification for robbery.