SLH receives gold seal of approval from The Joint Commission

 

Congratulations to Saint Luke's Hospital for receiving The Joint Commission's Disease Specific Certification for AMI and Heart Failure. These certifications recognize the clinical excellence of the care delivered to the AMI and HF populations at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute. 

 

Because Joint Commission standards are regarded as the most rigorous in the industry, Joint Commission-certified disease management programs have demonstrated their commitment to providing safe, high-quality care, treatments, and services to their patients.

 

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Saint Luke's welcomes Scott Sagraves, M.D.

 

Dr. Sagraves will serve as Director of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care

 

Scott Sagraves, M.D., F.A.C.S., was born in New Britain, Conn., and

Scott Sagraves, M.D.

graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., with a bachelor's degree in Biology. He served his community as an EMT/paramedic for 10 years before attending the Chicago Medical School and graduating in 1993 with his medical degree.

 

He completed a residency in general surgery at Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix, Ariz., where he was recognized as the Resident of the Year. Dr. Sagraves continued his training at Orlando Regional Medical Center where he completed a two-year fellowship in trauma and surgical critical care. Dr. Sagraves is board certified in general surgery and surgical critical care.

 

Upon completion of his fellowship in 2000, Dr. Sagraves joined the faculty at East Carolina University School of Medicine and ascended to rank of associate professor with tenure and chief of the Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care while serving as the trauma medical director for the health care system. Dr. Sagraves received numerous recognition and awards for his teaching while at ECU. His CV lists some 35 publications and several book chapters.

 

Nationally, Dr. Sagraves served as the vice chair and chair of the North Carolina Committee on Trauma and has been elected to the executive board of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (east) as that organization's president-elect. Dr. Sagraves is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and he is a member of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST).

 

In 2012, Dr. Sagraves  joined the faculty of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine as a Professor of Surgery and serves as the chief of the Acute Care Surgery Division for the Department of Surgery and as the trauma medical director for Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City.

 

Dr Sagraves and his wife, Michelle, have raised a wonderful family of three daughters, Tayler, Kim, and Jordann, and a son, Nick. Michelle and Jordann have joined Dr. Sagraves in Kansas City.

 

Board Dining Room renamed

 

The old Board Dining Room on B-Level has been renamed Medical Staff Conference Center. Updated signage is being ordered. Scheduling will be facilitated by the SLH Medical Staff Office: Connie Mills, Theresa Reyna, and Karen Leslie.

 

Please note that the priority for meetings scheduled will be related to physicians and physician education.  When requesting the room, please include meeting name, contact name with extension, time requested, and purpose/who will be attending.

 

Over the next few weeks we will be reviewing what is currently scheduled and making contacts to confirm a meeting is still occurring.

 

If you currently have view access to this room, please create a new view by selecting "Room-SLH-Medical Staff Conference Center."   The meetings currently scheduled remain the same in the new calendar.

 

We will accept requests to schedule for 2013 beginning in November. 

 

Patient Safety updates

 

One of the recurring questions regarding falls is, "What exactly counts as a fall?" As a Magnet facility, there are specific criteria we must use to define a fall. This definition of a fall is an unplanned descent to the floor (or an extension of the floor, such as a trash can or piece of equipment). All unassisted and assisted falls are to be included whether they result from physiological reasons (fainting) or environmental reasons (slippery floor).

 

How is planned versus unplanned determined? The key here is the initial intention of the patient. For a descent to be considered planned, the patient must have planned to be on the floor. For example, if a patient got out of bed and laid on the floor because they felt laying on the floor would help an aching back, this would be considered planned. Another example of a planned descent would be when a patient being assisted with ambulation is followed with a wheelchair for when he becomes fatigued. It is explained that the wheelchair is for him to rest in, and that he should let staff know when it is needed. Then when needed, if the patient states, "I need to sit down," and sits in the wheelchair, it is considered planned and not a fall.

 

It may seem like a pretty strict definition, but we must report all falls that meet those criteria. If you are wondering if a specific incident classifies as a fall, go ahead and report it as a fall. Better safe than sorry. The event will be evaluated during the weekly fall review and if it is determined it was a planned descent, then it will be removed from the fall tally.

 

While our house-wide fall rate went up slightly in July, we have not exceeded 2011's median fall rate. The Fall PI team would like to recognize CICU, CVICU, ED, EA3, EA5, EA7, Main 5, MICU, and NSICU for having a fall-free July. We continue to have units who are going long stretches without a fall. At the time of writing, East 7 has not had a fall in three months, Main 5 and CVICU has gone greater than four months, and both MICU and CICU longer than six months! CICU still holds the record at greater than 235 fall-free days.

 

We are also holding steady on mislabels and unlabels. Congratulations to CVOR, EA1, EA2, EA3, EA4, EA7, EA8, L&D, Main 5, MICU, NE5, NSICU, Nursery, PACU, Pre-Op, Radiology, Respiratory, SICC, and Transplant for having no labeling errors in July!  

 

Medical Plaza Imaging Employee of the Quarter

 

Kayleen Watkins, CT technologist, Medical Plaza Imaging, was

Kayleen Watkins

named Employee of the Quarter for third quarter 2012. Kayleen is cheerful to everyone she encounters and she truly cares about the well-being of her patients as well as her co-workers. Kayleen is very knowledgeable in her job duties; she is very compassionate to patients, their families, and staff; she is always willing to go the extra mile to help others; and is a model employee. Please join me in congratulating Kayleen Watkins for being named Employee of the Quarter at Medical Plaza Imaging Center. - Medical Plaza Imaging Associates

 

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Privacy pipeline: Check your pockets!

 

Have you ever put on a jacket that you haven't worn in awhile and found money? What a nice surprise that is! Sometimes the presents we find in pockets are not always so much fun. Like the crayon that you find after it has gone through the dryer and ruined several pieces of your clothing. We are always sticking things in our pockets, including at work. However, the stuff we may put in our pockets at work could include protected health information (PHI). 

 

Even if unintentional, leaving your work/campus with these items in pockets violates system policy and may result in a HIPAA privacy breach. It only takes a gust of wind, little fingers, or bending over to lose control of this PHI. So check your pockets and leave the PHI at work every day before you leave your workplace.

 

Make it a habit and help your co-workers do the same. After all, a little crayon on our clothes may cost a little money; however, violating a patient's privacy can potentially be devastating to the patient, their loved ones, the system, and could potentially cost a lot more than a piece of clothing. Make sure anything with PHI on it is properly placed in a Shred-It bin for appropriate destruction and recycling. 

 

Thank you for doing the right thing! Feel free to contact your entity privacy site soordinator with any questions.  

 

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EAP launches new website for employees

 

Site provides trusted health and productivity information

 

Saint Luke's Employee Assistance Program (EAP) has launched a new website and webinar service, providing you easy, 24/7 online access to a wide range of health, wellness, and workplace information.

 

The new site offers access to:

• Thousands of articles on health and productivity topics
• Videos on family, communication skills, stress, and more
• Resources for personal finances
• Confidential behavioral health assessments
• Recorded and live webinars
• And much more

 

Click here for more information, or to access the website:

• Go to http://eap.saintlukeshealthsystem.org
• Username - SLHS
• Password - EAP

 

EAP services are a free benefit provided to all Saint Luke's Health System employees and family members offering confidential, short term counseling, referral assistance help through a staff of highly professional counselors for employees dealing with many issues and concerns such as relationship, marital, or family distress; stress, mental, or emotional upset; alcohol or drug concerns; work-related problems; financial consultation regarding budgeting, debt management, saving for college tuition, and/or estate and retirement planning; legal consultation with an attorney or discounts for on-going legal services; child, elder, and disability care consultation designed to manage stress and address life balance issues regarding child or elder care.

 

To learn more about EAP services available to you as an employee of Saint Luke's, call 816-931-3073 or 800-327-1223.

 

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Kronos timekeeping update coming soon: Attestation module

 

Please note this system update is applicable only to those entities using Kronos Timekeeping and supported by Central Payroll Processing (CPP).

 

To enhance time sheet accuracy and ensure organizational policy compliance, SLHS will enhance our time clock system in September. As part of the enhancement, employees will be able to access, review, and approve or reject their timecards using the time clocks through Smart Views or through the Kronos web-based tool. As always, our goal is that employees submit accurate timecards that reflect and include all hours actually worked.

 

Accordingly, employees will attest to the accuracy of any input, changes, and totals prior to manager approval of the timecard. This also allows any inaccuracies to be addressed before the pay period is processed and closed, which will assist in ensuring accurate pay period records.

 

With the Smart Views or the Kronos web-based tool, employees will also be able to indicate whether they took their 30-minute uninterrupted meal break during the out punch/end of shift process. If the employee indicates that they did not receive a 30-minute uninterrupted meal break, then no deduction shall occur and a notice will be sent to the employee's manager. This process ensures compliance with the SLHS meal break policy.

 

Kronos Timekeeping managers and employees will soon receive detailed instructions on this new process. This communication will also include the functionality go-live date and any other additional information. Please pay special attention to future communications on this topic from your CPP team.

 

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