Q U A L I T Y
Quality: more than a health care buzzword
W
ebster’s defines quality as “the degree of excellence a thing possesses … excellence, superiority.” Lori Lefler, R.N., Christy Land, R.N., and Michelle Yarboro, R.N., define it more specifically in terms of patient satisfaction, patient safety and excellent patient care. All are registered nurses whose careers have taken them from bedside nursing to their current supervisory roles ensuring quality QualityFirst throughout FirstHealth of FirstHealth’s definition of quality the Carolinas. health care focuses on six aims: As director of FirstHealth’s Quality • Safety: Patients should not Department, Lefler be harmed by the care that reports to the vice is intended to help them and president of Quality and delivered in an environment oversees a staff of 17 (all where professionals learn from but two of them registered errors. nurses) whose job is to • Patient-Centered: Respectful and ensure that patients at based on individual needs. Moore Regional Hospital, Richmond Memorial • Timely: Reducing waits and Hospital, Montgomery harmful delays. Memorial Hospital and • Effective: Evidence-based (based MRH-Hoke Campus get on scientific knowledge in a the best care possible. combination on best research, Much of their work expertise and patient values). involves “chart mining,” combing through • Efficient: Avoiding waste in individual patient records equipment, supplies, ideas and for information and then energy. communicating with • Equitable: Equal and excellent for frontline caregivers in everyone no matter what their “real time” to assure that race, gender, religion, location or patients are indeed getting income. the best possible care. “We have a direct line of communication with the doctors and nurses who are caring for the patients,” Lefler says. “We collaborate with Christy and Michelle, often on a daily basis, to address
16 Spring/Summer 2015
It’s the job of Michelle Yarboro, R.N., Lori Lefler, R.N., and Christy Land, R.N., (from left) to ensure that FirstHealth patients get the quality care they need and deserve.
quality and safety priorities to ensure that quality is consistently maintained throughout the organization.” Land and Yarboro’s work is especially focused on the facility-based care at Richmond Memorial, where Land is director of Clinical Performance, and Montgomery Memorial, where Yarboro is Quality coordinator. “Quality is patient-centered care that makes sure each patient gets the best care every time in the safest, most efficient way, using the most up-to-date evidenced-based guidelines.” Cindy McDonald Vice President, Quality FirstHealth of the Carolinas Lefler, Land and Yarboro have the same goal: “zero”—zero defects, zero errors, zero misses. Patients expect this; the government and other payers demand it; and FirstHealth insists on it for its patients. “It’s my job to assure we’re doing the best we can every day for our patients and we’re following evidence-based guidelines,” says Lefler. “We are committed to improving the quality of care we deliver every day by implementing patient safety interventions and evidence-based care,” says Land. “Quality is simply providing the right treatment to the right patient at the right time and doing it the right way the first time with excellent customer service,” says Yarboro. www.firsthealth.org/quality