Over the past several years, we have taken many important steps toward making our system work even better for our patients. Patients and their family members now regularly contribute to our improvement efforts and participate in committees designed to ensure we hear their voices. Last year we introduced our new Welcoming Policy, which allows us to better support patient- and family-centered care. And thanks to the award-winning Telephone Consultation Clinic (TCC), many of our patients are now having their health care needs met without having to come in for an appointment.

We have gotten overwhelmingly positive feedback about these efforts, and I'm excited to say that how we engage our patients and meet their needs is going to continue to evolve with the arrival this summer of our new online portal, "myccLink." See this story for more details.

This new tool will transform health care for the people we serve. With myccLink (mycclink.cchealth.org), patients can send non-urgent messages to their CCRMC & Health Centers' doctor and medical care team and expect a response within three business days. The messaging function is just one of its many features. Patients can also request prescription refills, view or cancel upcoming appointments, see their medications and immunizations, and get most lab results online.

Positive Post-Pilot Survey

I recognize this is a new service and it may take time for staff to become accustomed to this additional way of interacting with patients. We will be monitoring how this affects workloads and making changes as needed.

A six-month pilot involving eight CCRMC & Health Centers' providers and their patients concluded in April. A post-pilot survey showed that, on average, pilot providers spent less than one hour per week handling requests from patients on myccLink. It's worth noting that both patients and staff who responded to the survey overwhelmingly said the new tool is beneficial.

I am confident myccLink will benefit patients and providers. For patients, it offers convenience and enhanced communication with their doctors and care teams. For providers, it offers a means to encourage better self-care by patients and allows non-urgent medical questions to be addressed without a clinic appointment.

I am so pleased we are able to offer this new tool for those we serve. MyccLink is one more way were are improving care.

Anna

We are excited to announce the upcoming launch of "myccLink," our new online patient portal.  As part of our ccLink electronic health record system, this new tool will allow patients to send non-urgent messages to their care teams, request refills, look at lab results and more.

We are doing a phased rollout of myccLink. Though the patient portal goes live July 1, we are focusing staff training and patient engagement efforts first at the Regional Medical Center and then the health centers. Here are some key dates: 

• July 1, 2014 - Promotion for myccLink starts for all hospital discharges and Emergency Department patients
• August 1, 2014 - Promotion for myccLink starts for all outpatients in the Health Centers
• Late summer - Smart phone app will be available

The rollout dates were chosen to ensure we meet federal "meaningful use" requirements. Patients will automatically be given myccLink activation codes and instructions for signing up in their After Visit Summaries following a hospital stay or clinic visit.

Training and Support Resources

To prepare staff for the rollout, we have made training materials and other resources available on iSITE. You can access them by clicking the "myccLink" link in "Recommended" column on the iSITE homepage. Talking points with a script and FAQs have been created to help staff highlight myccLink's features and answer basic questions. 

We have also created a toll-free mycclink support number that patients can be directed to call: 1-844-6ccLink. Our Health Information Management (HIM) team will handle those calls. Staff can also refer patients to email support questions to mycclink.support@hsd.cccounty.us. 

For more information about myccLink, contact Chief Medical Informatics Officer Dr. Rajiv Pramanik at rajiv.pramanik@hsd.cccounty.us. If you need to order extra promotional materials, contact Community & Media Relations Specialist Will Harper at will.harper@hsd.cccounty.us. 

CCRMC was hailed as an exemplar hospital by the Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care (IPFCC) as part of its Better Together campaign.

CCRMC Chief Executive Officer Anna Roth said it was an honor to be selected, and the hospital implemented a welcoming policy nine months ago, eliminating restrictive visiting policies and changing the concept of families as "visitors." 

"There is a difference between a 24/7 visitation policy and a welcoming policy. It's not enough to  simply be open 24/7 -- we as hospitals need to be truly welcoming places where families and loved ones are recognized and included as essential to patient care," Roth said.

Studies and hospitals' experience show that having family and loved ones present reduces patient complications and stress and improves the patient's experience of care in the hospital, said Beverley Johnson, IPFCC President and CEO. The Joint Commission, the accrediting body for health systems, recommends that hospitals accommodate access to a patient's support person to encourage safer care.   

The team identified ways to ensure clinics start on time, standardize the discharge process, and increase productivity. The team's patient partner helped redesign the After Visit Summary (AVS), which includes health information and instructions for patients to follow, to be more consumer friendly. The team found that the current AVS included items that may not be needed or are confusing to patients. Information Technology was tasked with removing non-current medications, non-current orders, and inclusion of the entire problem list in the AVS. The team's redesign reduced the median AVS size from five pages to three pages.

E-boards--or electronic bulletin boards--are the video monitors with digital messages displayed on them in waiting areas at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center and at the following five Health Centers: Bay Point, Brentwood, Martinez, North Richmond and West County. 

Screensavers are the images that display on CCHS computers when they're not in use. These screensavers also appear in patient rooms at the hospital and health centers. 

Messages on the e-boards and screensavers are visible to the public and should be considered public information. 

To find out more about promoting messages on e-boards and screensavers, contact Victoria Balladares of the Community Education & Information (CEI) unit at victoria.balladares@hsd.cccounty.us or 925-313-6268.

Rabbert Bala, RN

Archiebal Ginez, RN

Neysa Ramos, RN

For always having the time and willingness to help others during busy times while maintaining their own patient work-load.

 - Nominated by Eddie Geoff

Maria Regina Panaligan, RN

For improving work flow, setting standards, and training staff during her temporary charge nurse assignment.

- Nominated by Eddie Geoff

Holly Longmuir

Nursing Program Manager

For being a great manager listening to, helping and understanding of staff's needs. For overseeing many floors and departments and managing to stay current with her work even during busy times.

 - Nominated by Eddie Geoff

Chris Blubaugh, RN

Charge Nurse

Amy Buoncristiani, MD 

For working tirelessly with front line nursing staff and other employees to improve workflow and decrease patient length of stay in the Emergency Department.

 - Nominated by Debra Hawkes

Carrie Del Bonta

Chandra Gottschall

Clerical Supervisors 

For driving to West County Health Center to deliver schedules on short notice while ccLink was down and WCHC was not receiving any electronic data. 

- Nominated by Luwanda Hill

Craig McIntire

Speech Pathologist

For giving excellent speech therapy and going beyond to connect the patient to assistance with housing and other non-medical services essential to maximizing his recovery from a stroke.

 - Nominated by Dawn Marie Wadle

Karla De Trinidad

Clerk - Experienced Level

For remaining calm under pressure when a traffic accident delayed staff and patient arrivals to West County Health Center.  For stepping up and doing a great job creating and implementing a plan while keeping patients informed with overhead announcements.

- Nominated by Dawn Marie Wadle

Medical Staff Office 

For taking on increasing amounts of work while still doing projects like Electronic Medical Records reimbursement and the Time Sheet Survival Guide.

- Nominated by Dawn Marie Wadle

Lori Donachie

Clerk - Experienced Level 

For always having a pleasant personality and being willing to help and address questions during special situations with staffing.

 - Nominated by Eddie Geoff

Luda Korneeva

Mental Health Clinical Specialist

For doing an excellent job caring for patients and for being a wonderful co-worker and colleague.

 - Nominated by Sue Meltzer

Imbera Alispahic

Certified Medical Assistant 

For her dedication and for providing service excellence to all.

- Nominated by Sue Meltzer

Caroline Killough

Ambulatory Care Clinical Supervisor 

For providing amazing leadership at the West County Health Center.

- Nominated by Sue Meltzer

Margarita Maciel

Community Health Worker Specialist 

For often going the extra mile to assist patients and staff with a smile and for being an excellent team player.

- Nominated by Sue Meltzer

Martha Anaya

Community Health Worker Specialist 

For going the extra mile to provide service excellence to patients and staff. 

- Nominated by Sue Meltzer

Marjan Orellana

Pharmacist I 

For picking-up and delivering an elderly, home-bound patient's medication to his home after he was discharged from the hospital on a very rainy day.  For inspiring all of us to truly care for our patients' needs.

 - Nominated by Sara Levin

Dee Araya

Senior Medical Records Technician 

For demonstrating great leadership skills, working hard, and for being conscientious, patient and thoughtful.

 - Nominated by Lesley Bunch

Nestor Millado

Medical Records Technician

For sharing his knowledge and being extremely patient with trainees, for his wonderful sense of humor and for always smiling.

- Nominated by Lesley Bunch

Mark Haidinger

Clerk - Experienced Level 

For being a great liaison with staff and contracted vendors, for keeping everyone updated on the status of documentation, being detail oriented, and an absolute pleasure to have on our team.

 - Nominated by Sihina Tatum

Yvonne Liebig

Physical Therapist II

For being very knowledgeable and compassionate, she is a great asset to our organization.

 - Nominated by Zohra Akbari

Terry Brown

Clerk - Senior Level 

For his professionalism, prompt response and his constant willingness to help with appointments.

 - Nominated by Marison Kimura

Rhonda Smith

Volunteer Program Coordinator

For her dependability and help in ensuring there was live music at the George & Cynthia Miller Wellness Center grand opening celebration. 

 - Nominated by Kate Fowlie

Mary Lou Helix

Volunteer 

For volunteering to play her flute at the George & Cynthia Miller Wellness Center grand opening celebration. Her beautiful music created a wonderful atmosphere for the open house.

 - Nominated by Kate Fowlie 

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