Thursday, March 28, 2024

Parkland officials will discuss next steps related to Corrective Action Plan

In a presentation to the Board of Managers on Tuesday, Feb. 26, Parkland Health & Hospital System officials will announce that focus remains on evaluating and auditing the system’s overhauled safety and quality infrastructure while completing the final 3 percent of action items outlined in its Corrective Action Plan (CAP) progress report for January 2013.

“Over the past year, we have changed patient care processes, revised policies and procedures, retrained, reeducated and raised the performance expectations of every employee,” said Ron Laxton, RN, Parkland’s Chief Implementation Officer and Interim Chief Operations Officer. “I’m very encouraged to witness the roots of an empowered culture of safety and quality taking hold.”

To gauge operational effectiveness of the completed CAP initiatives, the hospital system recently underwent a full mock survey on adherence to the Medicare Conditions of Participation. This review was conducted by an outside group of clinical experts that included physicians and nurses. Eleven consultant surveyors spent five full days in every area of the system, including outpatient clinics, community health centers and the jail.

“We are capitalizing on the foundation we have been building for the past 16 months,” added Laxton. “While every hospital aims to improve quality performance every day, Parkland is continuing to make progress in creating and sustaining a safe, efficient, quality-focused environment for our patients and their families.”

A significant highlight in the CAP progress report includes the hiring of a new vice president of care coordination, whose sole focus will be case management. This position is essential to improving patient flow within the hospital and ensuring proper discharge planning for all patients. The January progress report will also outline how Parkland’s Emergency Services department is establishing a sustainability schedule for best practice processes regarding patient flow, triage and staffing. In addition, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation made significant improvement in decreasing the appointment backlog in January.

Areas of focus in February include the orientation of new managers and staff in patient case coordination, transition of management in behavioral health services and the continuance of system-wide audits in various departments to measure sustainable practice.

“While we understand we must continue to improve safety and quality of care at Parkland, the Board appreciates the much improved infrastructure now in place,” said Debbie Branson, Chair of the Parkland Board of Managers. “I want to thank each and every Parkland employee for their tireless efforts and continued dedication to our patients’ care and safety.”

The presentation to the Board of Managers will be available on Feb. 26. To view past reports, visit http://www.parklandhospital.com/whoweare/corrective_action_progress_reports/.

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