ting Innovative Id n e m e l p eas Im bed shuttle. By optimizing thermal management during resuscitation, our teams will decrease the occurrence of infant mortality. TIPQC is also focused on using human breast milk to increase the overall health of low birth weight babies. The use of human breast milk improves the baby’s health while decreasing morbidity, mortality and cost and length of stay. The Maternal Infant Center set a goal to reduce the number of non-breast milk first feedings and non-breast milk feedings at discharge by 50 percent. To do this, associates are educating nursing staff and parents of patients regarding the importance of breast milk. In addition, associates are encouraging NICU mothers to begin pumping their milk within six hours of delivery. The NICU already has three lactation rooms for pumping and breastfeeding moms and will also add a pump in the family waiting room. Baptist Hospital has also been active with other TIPQC projects, including reducing elective deliveries before 39 weeks and is the largest of four pilot sites in Tennessee participating in a new project for 2011 to focus on the “golden hour” or first critical hour of life for neonates.
Preemie for a Day On Feb. 22 and 23, NICU, labor and delivery and nursery nurses, physicians, patient care techs and respiratory therapists from Baptist Hospital and Middle Tennessee Medical Center experienced what it is like to be a pre-term or sick baby as part of “Preemie for a Day.” Preemie for a Day is an interactive, experiential multisensory program that mirrors an infant’s experience in the moments after birth to admission and care in the NICU. During the training, participants learned how to use positioning and handling techniques that promote proper flexion and self-soothing. They also were introduced to fostering developmentally supportive care during admission, feeding strategies that promote successful feedings and facilitating better collaboration between family and caregiver. Left and Above: Erin
Stogner, Leslie Pelham, Alisa Tedder, Elizabeth Hazlett and Ashley Davenport participate in Preemie for a Day.
O ur F uture D irection continued from page 11
the ACO is simply the next evolution in our efforts to realize these founding principles. The ACO is not only committed to holistic care in a spiritual tradition through coordinating services with churches and other community institutions, but also looking beyond the individual to support true community strategies for preventing long-term health care challenges – which will cause premature deaths and health care costs that could eventually bankrupt our country. The ACO is not only solving existing problems but also building a better future for our community. The future we envision will allow us to serve more of the poor and vulnerable in our community and increasingly meet the health care needs of our patients beyond the walls of our facilities.
4. How can our associates be a part of this movement? We are constantly looking for new ideas on how to better deliver health care outside of our facilities and in partnership with providers. As health care providers, we witness the challenges our patients face every day, and therefore, have unique insight into how we might fix a myriad of problems. If you have a solution you’d like us to look at, please email Theresha Armstrong at tarmstro@stthomas.org. Our team reviews new ideas each week and we welcome the insights of all our associates. I would also like to acknowledge the 40+ associates who have been working with us throughout April to help design our ACO structure. They have provided great insight, wisdom and humor to the challenging task before us. Stay tuned to future issues of Connection for more information on MissionPoint Health Partners and the future direction of Saint Thomas Health.
13