Memorial Hermann Healthcare System engineering a fail-safe health system

Quality departments were centralized, all employees were trained on the principles of high reliability, protocols were created for most medical procedures

By Healthcare Facilities Today


Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Houston is on a mission eliminate health care-acquired infections, wrong medications/wrong doses, and all other mistakes that endanger patients, according to an article on the Hospitals & Health Networks magazine website. 

The seven-year-old crusade looks to the nuclear power and aviation industries for inspiration.

Memorial Hermann has had a focus on clinical quality metrics since 2002, but the new mission has its roots in two blood transfusion errors in 2006, two of a rash of medical mistakes that year. Within days of each other, one Memorial Hermann patient died and another was left in critical condition.

The project, called the From the Board to the Bedside Initiative, involves all 21,500 health system employees, including approximately 7,500 nurses and 5,400 affiliated physicians. The board has approved tens of millions of dollars in spending on the project, with patient safety now the system's only core value, according to the article.

As part of the initiative, Memorial Hermann centralized its quality departments, trained all employees off-site in the principles of high reliability, created and enforced the use of evidence-based protocols for most medical procedures, expanded its EHR to facilitate clinical decision support and rigorously documented performance with a dizzying array of data dashboards.

Read the article.

 

 

 



October 29, 2013


Topic Area: Safety


Recent Posts

All Eyes on Gen Z as They Enter the Workforce

As the labor gap widens in the facilities industry, not many managers trust Gen Z to fill that hole.


Cleveland Clinic Starts Fundraising Effort for New Hospital in West Palm Beach

Plans for the new hospital include approximately 150 inpatient beds, an emergency department, a medical office building and an ambulatory surgery center.


Cultivating a Workforce in the Face of Skilled Trade Shortages

Facilities managers must make concerted efforts to attract skilled trade workers to their facilities and retain them long term.


Prime Healthcare Acquires 8 Ascension Hospitals in Illinois

They also acquired a number of other facilities in this acquisition.


Charging Ahead: Incentives Driving EV Charging in Healthcare Facilities

Manufacturers discuss how incentives impact the decision-making process.


 
 


FREE Newsletter Signup Form

News & Updates | Webcast Alerts
Building Technologies | & More!

 
 
 


All fields are required. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.