Kona Community Hospital (KCH) is a leader in following evidenced-based medicine practices used by Medicare as reflected in its overall composite score of 97% for Core Measures in the first quarter 2011. The hospital’s overall score in 2010 was 96% and in 2009 95%. “Core Measures” refers to practices that assess a hospital’s compliance with standard practices for the treatment of specific medical conditions. Specific examples include the monitoring of clinical care for heart attack, congestive heart failure, pneumonia, and surgical practices, as well as processes used during admission and discharge to prevent accidents or complications.
Kona Community Hospital has been active in developing policies and programs to improve the quality and safety of the care provided. The Performance Improvement Department at the hospital has developed avenues that provide processes for review, improvement, education and outreach.
“We take patient safety and quality of care seriously and strive to exceed expectations and set the example for excellence,” said Marcy Rogers, RN, Director of Clinical Quality Improvement at KCH. “We are constantly evaluating our processes and systems, and if there is room for improvement, we will act on them…Our processes at Kona Community Hospital include concurrent reviews, quality meetings, CEO and Board reporting, medical staff review, and adherence to accreditation and regulatory requirements.”
“Not a day goes by when clinical and administrative staff do not listen to concerns expressed by patients, their families, our staff or our physicians, and act on them to make things better, improve our processes, and raise the standards of care at Kona Community Hospital,” said Dr. Barry Blum, KCH Medical Director.
Moreover, the hospital, along with the entire Hawaii Health Systems Corporation (HHSC) and other hospitals across the state are participating in a new pay-for-performance initiative to improve quality and reduce costs for residents of Hawaii with Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) and Premier Healthcare Alliance on Advanced Hospital Care.
Jay Kreuzer, Chief Executive Officer of Kona Community Hospital, noted, “By having the necessary tools and resources, as well as the ability to compare our hospital with other hospitals using national benchmarks, we will be given the insight needed in the area of performance improvement. We view each challenge as an opportunity to make Kona Community Hospital a better place to come when you need health care. We welcome this collaboration with HMSA and Premier since we ultimately know it will improve our patients’ experience.”