Georgia Hospitals Are Working Together to Prevent Surgical Infections

IRVING, TX--(Marketwire - October 2, 2008) - Ten Georgia hospitals are working to improve clinical quality by preventing and reducing surgical infections. The timing of this is important because Medicare and many private insurers have said they will no longer reimburse hospitals for the additional cost of care to treat preventable surgical infections.

The hospitals have joined a Rapid Adoption Network (RAN), a virtual network that will allow them to share information about their clinical practices for the purpose of accelerating the pace of clinical improvement, so they can cut improvement time to less than one year. The RAN is sponsored by VHA Inc., the national health care alliance. A focal point for the RAN will be the clinical blueprint VHA has developed to help its members prevent or reduce the incidence of surgical infections. This blueprint captures the clinical processes and other internal social connections that drive superior performance at leading hospitals.

"VHA's clinical improvement platform focuses on helping members become leading performers," said Trent Haywood, M.D., J.D., chief medical officer at VHA. "Our programs and services will help guide members towards success and improve clinical care across the country."

The following Georgia hospitals are working on this project:

--  Colquitt Regional Medical Center, Moultrie
--  Coffee Regional Medical Center, Douglas
--  Dekalb Medical Center, Decatur
--  Floyd Medical Center, Rome
--  Hamilton Medical Center, Dalton
--  Houston Medical Center, Warner Robins
--  John D. Archbold Memorial Hospital, Thomasville
--  Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Gainesville
--  Sumter Regional Medical  Center, Americus
--  Tift Regional Medical Center, Tifton
    

"Surgical infections are a key measure of quality performance, and we want our patients to know that they can trust us with their care," said Susan Higgins, director of surgical services at Hamilton Medical Center. "Through VHA's Rapid Adoption Network we'll learn what it takes to eliminate surgical infections. I think that can be done."

A Rapid Adoption Networks is one component of VHA's overall clinical improvement platform, which also includes:

-- Leading Practices Portal -- a Web-based tool specifically designed to provide hospitals with a faster and more efficient path to adopting leading practices. Hospital members can view Leading Practice Blueprints™ and can also compare the gaps in their processes against the leading practice

-- Leading Practice Blueprints™ -- Sophisticated, yet simple to follow, process maps based on ethnographic research at top performing VHA members. These blueprints were developed by carefully studying the clinical, engineering and design factors that are important to each leading practice hospital and integrating these elements into a powerful visual format

-- Clinical Educational Series -- Multimedia formatted educational programs provide year-round access to leading performers and leading practices

"Hospitals across the state are under significant pressure from both federal and state insurance programs and private insurers to improve quality, and participation in this effort will help these hospitals meet that mandate," said John Bardsley, vice president for performance improvement at VHA's regional office in Atlanta.

About VHA -- VHA Inc., based in Irving, Texas, is a national alliance that provides industry-leading supply chain management services and supports the formation of regional and national networks to help members improve their clinical and economic performance. With 16 offices across the U.S., VHA has a track record of proven results in serving more than 1,400 not-for-profit hospitals and more than 23,000 non-acute care organizations nationwide.