While following evidence-based guidelines or performance measures can result in bonus payments under pay-for-performance programs and can yield improvements in quality of care, what can really drive improved outcomes and patient satisfaction rates is a focus on pursuing perfect care. Readmission and mortality rates have been dramatically reduced by healthcare organizations who look at whole patient needs for individuals with chronic conditions.

Listen to pre-conference comments from Blank, Huminski and Isgett.

During Pursuing Perfect Care: Improving Chronic Care Outcomes by Treating the Whole Patient, a 90-minute audio conference on August 22, 2007 on CD-ROM, we heard from organizations who are implementing perfect care processes in heart failure and medication management with details on how they've implemented their programs and the results they are achieving.

Donna Isgett, vice president for clinical effectiveness at McLeod Health, described the perfect care processes at McLeod while Leanne Huminski, chief nursing officer, McLeod Regional Medical Center, provided the inside details on the medication management program, which has a goal of eliminating adverse drug events.

We heard from Lenore Blank, administrative manager and Michele Gilbert, education coordinator of the heart failure team and pulmonary hypertension program at Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC), on their team's perfect care processes that provide care across the continuum for heart failure patients from their acceptance into the program to their return home. They discussed their identification and stratification strategies, how they mentor and educate nurses serving these patients, the indicators and tools they use and how they've streamlined the discharge process and improved medication reconciliation.

HUMC and McLeod Health are two of only seven healthcare organizations in the country selected to lead improvements in healthcare quality through Pursuing Perfection: Raising the Bar for Health Care Performance. Pursuing Perfection is a $21 million initiative sponsored by the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), an internationally recognized leader in healthcare quality.

These two organizations provided details on:

• The key factors in developing perfect care processes;
• The impact on work flow;
• Perfect care processes and results by disease state; and
• Training and engagement of key staff.

Available in three formats

• CD-ROM for computer play
• CD-ROM for stereo play
• On Demand version accessible online

Please note the stereo version ships as two CD-ROMs, whereas the .mp3 version ships as one CD-ROM.

ABOUT OUR PANELISTS:

Lenore Blank

Empowering the primary care nurse to communicate patient needs to physicians is at the heart of HUMC's patient-centered, multi-disciplinary team approach.

Lenore Blank, MSN, NP-C, is the administrative manager of the heart failure and pulmonary hypertension program at Hackensack University Medical Center. She has more than 20 years experience in cardiac nursing, including critical care, home care, and the management of congestive heart failure patients.

Prior to her position at Hackensack University Medical Center, Blank had launched a successful heart failure program at another institution that resulted in an 87% decrease in admissions to the hospital for these patients. For these efforts, she received a nursing recognition award in 1998 from the New Jersey League for Nursing.

Blank is one of the founding members of the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses, and is on the executive counsel of the New Jersey Heart Failure Consortium.

Blank recently completed her Master of Science in Nursing at St. Peters College of New Jersey and is also certified as an Adult Nurse Practitioner.

Michelle Gilbert

Michele Gilbert is the education coordinator of the heart failure team and pulmonary hypertension program at Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC). She has more than 31 years experience in cardiac nursing, including critical care, home care, and the management of congestive heart failure patients.

Gilbert is one of the founding members of the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses, and is a member of the American Association of Critical Care Nursing, the Heart Failure Society of America and the Pulmonary Hypertension Association. She has received the New York State Nursing Association award for excellence in Nursing and was nominated in 2007 for the New Jersey Governor’s Award.

Gilbert received her nursing degree from Englewood Hospital School of Nursing. She has a Bachelor of Nursing and a Master in Science in Nursing from St. Peter’s College of Nursing. She is board certified in Critical Care and Nephrology Nursing. Gilbert is a member of the Nursing Honor Society Sigma Theta Tau.

Leanne Huminski

Implementation of computer technology is key in eliminating adverse drug events.

Leanne Huminski RN, BSN, is the chief nursing officer at McLeod Regional Medical Center. She was previously the director of medial staff services at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center- Presbyterian and the director of quality improvement for the University’s Aliquippa location.

Huminski has worked as a staff nurse in the medical intensive care, operating, and post anesthesia care units, and her previous positions include nursing director, director of quality improvement, director of medical staff services, and director of nursing support services.

Huminski received her nursing degree from Shadyside Hospital School of Nursing. She has a Bachelors of Nursing from Carlow College. Huminski is a member of the Nursing Honor Society Sigma Theta Tau, and a 2003 recipient of the South Carolina Palmetto Gold Award.

Donna Isgett

McLeod's simple design process for clinical improvement initiatives.

Donna Isgett MSN, is vice president of clinical effectiveness at McLeod Health. In her position at McLeod, she is responsible for the corporate oversight of the clinical effectiveness division which includes clinical outcomes management, counseling and discharge planning, risk management, infection control, care coordination, clinical effectiveness care managers, physician credentialing and medical staff support. Isgett is also co-chair of the Quality Operations Committee.

McLeod Health has received numerous quality awards for their clinical quality work including the 2000 Governors Quality Award for the State of South Carolina, Premier’s Award for Quality in 2003, the Distinguished Hospital Award for Patient Safety from Healthgrades and is one of five hospitals recognized by the AHA Quest for Quality Award in 2007. McLeod is also a recipient of the Robert Wood Johnson Pursuing Perfection Grant.

Isgett has been an invited speaker on quality improvement at numerous national events including the Institute for Healthcare Improvement National Forums and Summits, the National Patient Safety Foundation, the Annual Patient Safety Congress, the National Quality Forum, and several Premier sponsored meetings. She was the co-chairperson for the 2005 Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s National Forum.

Isgett received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Georgia State University, and a Master of Science in Nursing from the Medical University of South Carolina.