Friday, March 20, 2015

Cook County Health and Hospital System Quality and Patient Safety Committee Meeting March 17, 2015



Attending: Chair Mary Gugenheim; CCHHS board members Hill Hammock, Dr. Erica Marsh, Wayne Lerner (by phone), Emilie Junge; QPS members Pat Driscoll and Pat Merryweather.

Meeting called to order by Chair Mary Gugenheim at 10:30.  Chief Quality Officer Dr. Krisha Das said Prieto Clinic is prepared for a visit by the Joint Commission and plans are in place for all ambulatory clinics to be visited.  The Joint Commission visit to Stroger Hospital is likely to occur between May and September.

Dr. Das presented data on CCHHS quality, safety, and patient satisfaction.  Stroger Hospital ranks below standard for operating room efficiency; there were questions and concerns regarding the incidence of pressure ulcers in the intensive care unit; Stroger Hospital overall patient satisfaction continues to be about 60%, vs. goal of 85%; Ambulatory & Community Health Network (ACHN) community clinics overall patient satisfaction about 70%. On time surgery starts were at about 30%. Peter Daniels, COO for hospital-based services, explained that break times and lunch hours of staff contributed to this low percentage, and that steps are being taken to remedy this.

Dr. Das presented an explanation of CCHHS linguistically appropriate care services, beginning with an initial language screening revealing that about 2/3 of patients have adequate written language skills, with about 1/4 Spanish-speaking among the entire patient population.  Materials are available for patients with low literacy skills as well as signage and 21 interpreters, 17 Spanish, 4 Polish, 3 more to be hired in Spanish.  In 2014, there were 50,000 requests for Spanish interpretation, most by phone at a cost of  $ .85 per minute, a total of about $750,000 in non-reimbursable costs for the year.
Dr. O. Ukoha, President of Stroger Hospital Medical Staff, asked that each patient have 2 pieces of ID "to make sure the right procedures are done on the right patients."

The meeting adjourned to closed session at 11:45.

submitted by Linda Christianson

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