You trust us to provide the highest possible level of patient safety and hospital quality when we are caring for you, your family members and your friends. We take that trust seriously. At DeKalb Medical quality is defined as safety, superior clinical outcomes, and service excellence for every patient every day.
The focus on hospital quality and patient safety is not the responsibility of one department or one group of individuals. All employees, physicians and volunteers contribute to our efforts to look for ways to improve the quality of our care and medical patient safety. DeKalb Medical wants to recognize the role of two groups of leaders who have played an invaluable role behind the scenes to make this happen, people who often serve without the public recognition they deserve: our board of directors and our physicians.
Our board is composed of 12 individuals from all walks of life - - business, civic, nursing and physician leaders - - who volunteer their time to assure that DeKalb Medical meets high standards for medical patient safety and hospital quality.
Hospital Quality
Likewise, it has been our physician leaders who made the changes in clinical processes alongside our nurses and other hospital team members. Physicians contribute their valuable time and knowledge to research best practices in medicine and implement them at DeKalb Medical. Their efforts have resulted in a patient safety and hospital quality process that has become an integral part of the way all staff members at DeKalb Medical approach their responsibilities.
Our hospital has been recognized by HealthGrades®, a national healthcare ratings company, as one of the top 270 hospitals in the country for clinical excellence in 2009. Recognition as a Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence™ by HealthGrades means that we are among the top five percent of all hospitals in the country. Our diligent efforts to maintain high levels of medical patient safety and hospital quality contributed to this recognition.
DeKalb Medical’s commitment to clinical and operational excellence was also recognized with two leadership awards from VHA Georgia, an organization dedicated to helping hospitals succeed through the delivery of superior clinical services and implementation of superior operational processes.
A VHA Operational Excellence award went to the Emergency Room at North Decatur for decreasing wait times and improving patient satisfaction. A VHA Clinical Excellence award was presented to DeKalb Medical at North Decatur for innovative protocols that reduced the incidence of pressure ulcers that developed while patients were in the hospital from 15% in 2008 to less than one percent in 2009.
For years, our board has championed a journey to excellence, beginning with the multi-year, multi-million dollar commitment to create one of the first electronic medical records systems in Georgia. Not only has this enhanced medical patient safety, it also formed the core of our evidence-based medical protocols that lead to the superior levels of clinical hospital quality for which we are now being recognized.
These are just a few examples of our patient safety initiatives. However, as well as we are performing, we still recognize that we must never stop improving patient safety and hospital quality, living out our motto: Pushing Beyond!
|