New Orleans, LA. – Quality care and patient safety are paramount to the success of any healthcare organization. With hospital quality and safety metrics reported publicly, many systems fail to understand the rationale for closely monitoring these metrics and implementing best practices for performance improvement. In the book Optimizing Widely Reported Hospital Quality and Safety Grades, Ochsner Health experts, Armin Schubert, MD, and Sandra A. Kemmerly, MD provide a real life-tested guide for healthcare teams to effectively manage quality and safety measures.
“We have been on a journey at Ochsner Health for a number of years to develop collaborative, multi-disciplinary approaches to quality and safety across our health system,” said Dr. Kemmerly. “This book shares insights and experiences from clinical and administrative professionals and highlights the importance of continuous learning and process improvement in quality and safety.”
Dr. Kemmerly is the system medical director of hospital quality at Ochsner Health. She is board certified in both internal medicine and infectious diseases and has been involved in quality improvement and leadership at Ochsner Health throughout her career.
Dr. Armin Schubert is the vice president for medical affairs, quality and patient safety at Ochsner Medical Center (OMC), New Orleans. He is responsible for engaging cross-disciplinary teams for continuous improvement in care quality and helps to coordinate a culture of safety at OMC. His teams have strengthened the hospital’s ability to avoid patient harm. Dr. Schubert’s focus recently has been publicly reported quality data, hospital-acquired condition rates, and rates of readmission.
Their goal with Optimizing Widely Reported Hospital Quality and Safety Grade is to provide health systems with effective methods for executing a quality and safety strategy, including aspects such as concurrent review process, multidisciplinary collaboration, clinical documentation, coding, and medical staff education. Health systems concerned about publicly reported quality metrics should find value in this practical resource.
“Healthcare teams have been put to the test in recent years, and yet have remained determined to provide quality care for patients in need,” said Robert Hart, MD, executive vice president and chief medical officer, Ochsner Health. “Our teams have risen above these challenges and now share the Ochsner playbook for quality, with best practices for physicians and healthcare systems who are just as dedicated to improving quality and safety in their organization.”
For more information on Ochsner Health’s quality and safety teams, visit https://www.ochsner.org/about-ochsner/quality-safety
To order Optimizing Widely Reported Hospital Quality and Safety Grades, visit Springer Link
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About Ochsner Health
Ochsner Health is an integrated healthcare system with a mission to Serve, Heal, Lead, Educate and Innovate. Celebrating 80 years in 2022, it leads nationally in cancer care, cardiology, neurosciences, liver and heart transplants and pediatrics, among other areas. Ochsner is consistently named both the top hospital and top children’s hospital in Louisiana by U.S. News & World Report. The not-for-profit organization is inspiring healthier lives and stronger communities. Its focus is on preventing diseases and providing patient-centered care that is accessible, affordable, convenient and effective. Ochsner Health pioneers new treatments, deploys emerging technologies and performs groundbreaking research, including over 700 clinical studies. It has more than 36,000 employees and over 4,600 employed and affiliated physicians in over 90 medical specialties and subspecialties. It operates 47 hospitals and more than 300 health and urgent care centers across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Gulf South; and its cutting-edge Connected Health digital medicine program is caring for patients beyond its walls. In 2021, Ochsner Health treated more than 1 million people from every state and 75 countries. As Louisiana’s top healthcare educator, Ochsner Health and its partners educate thousands of healthcare professionals annually. To learn more, visit https://www.ochsner.org/.
