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| Home > Healthy People > April 2004 |
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Spring 2004
St. John’s expands services in Branson Tri-Lakes region
St. John’s continues to add and expand facilities in the Branson Tri-Lakes
region with the addition of medical helicopter service in Branson West.
St. John’s Life Line EC 135 helicopter’s landing pad is located adjacent
to St. John’s Clinic – Branson West, 18598 Highway 13 North.
“We have examined call patterns and are positioning the launch location to
reach the people who are calling us more quickly,” says D.J. Satterfield,
R.N., St. John’s chief flight nurse.
St. John’s Life Line receives a large number of calls per month from the
Branson area and with St. John’s ambulance services, provides rapid
transport of patients to area hospitals, including St. John’s hospitals in
Berryville, Ark., Cassville, Aurora and Springfield.
A new ambulance facility will be located at the intersection of highways H
and 13 in Lampe, thanks to the support of Southern Stone County Betterment
Association. The new facility expands emergency medical services already
provided by St. John’s in Stone County.
St. John’s Clinic has added orthopedics to the growing list of specialty
care provided in the Branson region.
Patrick O’Brien, M.D. and Darin Talley, M.D., of White River Orthopedic
Clinic joined St. John’s Clinic in April. Their office was renamed St.
John’s Clinic – Branson – Orthopedics and remains at 511 Bee Creek Road in
Branson.
St. John’s recently expanded internal medicine, urgent care and
cancer/hematology services at its facilities at 1065 Hwy 248. St. John’s
Clinic physicians at this location include internal medicine physicians
Robert L. Graves, D.O. and Aye Koko, M.D. and cancer/hematology physicians
Thomas Froehlich, M.D. and Wendall Goodwin, M.D.
St. John’s Clinic named a Top 10 Clinic
St. John’s Clinic patient satisfaction scores have ranked it No. 3 of the
top 10 medical practices nationwide, according to patient satisfaction
surveys conducted by Press Ganey, an independent firm based in South Bend,
Ind., that measures patient satisfaction for health care practices
nationwide.
St. John’s Clinic scores were compared with those of 60 physician clinic
sites in its peer group, which comprises physician groups with more than
100 providers.
“Caring for our patients in a kind and compassionate manner is a top
priority at St. John’s Clinic. We have created an exceptional clinic where
all individuals are respected and committed to providing outstanding,
compassionate health care and excellent service,” says Donn Sorensen, St.
John’s Clinic chief operating officer. St. John’s focus on patient
satisfaction over the past two years has had an impact, with scores
increasing each quarter - an unprecedented rise, according to Press
Ganey’s David Murphree. Physician productivity during that same time
period has grown by over 9 percent per year, while physician turnover has
decreased to less than 2 percent during 2003.
Hospital receives national recognition for quality
St. John’s Hospital is participating in the Institute for Healthcare
Improvement’s (IHI) IMPACT, a new IMProvement ACTion network of health
care organizations that have joined to improve patient care. St. John’s
formed an alliance with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in May of
2002 as a charter member. IHI measures of improvement include improved
health status, better clinical outcomes, lower cost, greater access,
greater ease of use, and improved satisfaction for individuals and their
communities. St. John’s goal with IMPACT is to ensure patients receive
timely access to appropriate care and move safely and efficiently through
the health care system.
To date, more than 100 US and international organizations are working with
IHI to make significant changes to processes impacting patient care.
IMPACT member organizations have committed to making breakthrough
improvements in one or more of the following critical areas: patient
safety, office practice and outpatient settings, flow through the
hospital, intensive care settings and workforce development. St. John’s
initial focus with the IMPACT network has been improving patient flow
through surgery areas.
Working with the IHI IMPACT collaborative has allowed St. John’s to make
improvements in the way patient care is delivered. These improvements have
been achieved by staff on all levels working as a team.
MoAHA awards Mercy Villa for hydration program
The Missouri Association of Homes for the Aging (MoAHA), a trade
association dedicated solely to serving the needs of not-for-profit
providers of health care, housing, and services for Missouri’s elderly,
recently awarded St. John’s Mercy Villa the state level Excellence in
Service award for its “Hydration, Hydration, Hydration” program. MoAHA
represents more than 200 not-for-profit long-term care facilities in the
state. The program aims to keep residents hydrated. The name comes from
the three nursing units and three shifts who offer a minimum of three
extra servings of water, juice or other fluids per shift.
“Our intent is to lower incidents of dehydration, urinary tract infections
and upper respiratory infections,” Mercy Villa Administrator Don Swafford
says. “Dehydration can play a major part in those types of infections.”
St. John's Health System ranked No. 20 among America's Top 100 Health
Systems
Through a focus on delivering the best clinical outcomes for patients, St.
John's Health System has achieved improvements in quality, financial
stability and physician-driven care at its six hospitals, 90-plus
physician offices and St. John’s Health Plans offerings, according to a
new ranking of the nation's integrated health care networks.
St. John's is ranked No. 20 on the 2004 "IHN 100" ranking by Verispan,
formerly SMG Marketing Group. The Chicago-based research firm has ranked
health care networks for the past six years based on their financial and
clinical performance and degree of integration.
As St. John's moves forward, the emphasis will be to continue improving
the relationship between operational measures and quality outcomes to
benefit our patients, area employers and their employees, according to Jay
Eckersley, St. John's president/CEO.
"The focus on integration has resulted in improved clinical outcomes in
the care of people with certain chronic diseases, such as diabetes, asthma
and congestive heart failure," says Donald Wantuck, M.D., St. John's board
chairman. "The extraordinary extent to which our organization is
integrated helps the physicians and staff address common problems and
develop programs together."
The physician/hospital/health plan integrated partnership at St. John's
makes it easier to meet the health care needs of the growing number of
people with chronic and multiple chronic diseases.
"Today's health care system has to be reoriented from acute, episodic
illness treatment to one that provides continuity, ongoing management and
coordination," says Ronnie Brownsworth, M.D., senior vice president of St.
John's Health Plans. "That's what we have done at St. John's. We no longer
focus only on event-related care because there are too many gaps. Our
programs and services are designed to fill in the gaps and educate the
patients to empower them to take care of themselves between events of
care, facilitating the direction set in the physician-patient
relationship."
Stroke Center recognized
St. John's Hospital's Stroke Center has been recognized by the Joint
Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations with a Certificate
of Distinction for Primary Stroke Centers and is one of only three
Missouri stroke centers to have received this recognition. St. John's
Stroke Center focuses on strategic stroke care, which involves treating
stroke when symptoms are first noticed and following up with patients
after treatment
"Our stroke program at St. John's is the work of a multidisciplinary team
and often starts with our emergency medical services personnel and
continues until the patient is discharged and referred to local stroke
support groups," says Stroke Center Coordinator Carol Beal, R.N.
After stroke patients leave St. John's and return home, support is
available. St. John's Senior Center's services include volunteer stroke
ambassadors who follow up with patients as well as bringing community
awareness of successful stroke outcomes.
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