Inova Health System Earns Award for Improving Patient-Centered Care

Twenty Healthcare Organizations Change How Care is Delivered

Falls Church, VA – (April 27, 2011) – Inova Health System recently earned special recognition from the Picker Institute Always Events™ Challenge. The challenge encouraged healthcare organizations across the nation to identify a specific area in healthcare delivery that should ‘always’ occur.

“We’re very honored to earn this grant from Picker Institute,” said Maureen Swick, RN, MSN, PhD, NEA-BC, Senior Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive, Inova Health System. “This is an incredible accomplishment and reflects our commitment to excellence in patient centered care.”

As part of the grant, Inova has committed to providing seamless patient care during shift changes or patient transition to other staff, which will improve patient safety, quality care and enhance communication between the patient and their caregivers. The title of the grant submission was “Developing a Patient-Centered Approach to Handoffs”.

Inova Health System will always ensure that patients will be included in the ISHAPED handoff shift-to-shift handoff process at the bedside because this will add an additional layer of safety by allowing the patient to communicate potential safety concerns.

Recent reviews of patient safety and satisfaction at Inova Health System identified the shift-to-shift handoff as a process in need of improvement. Inova responded by convening a quality-improvement team to develop a new strategy for conducting the shift-to-shift handoff, standardize procedures and incorporate a bedside component. Entitled “ISHAPED” (I=Introduce, S=Story, H=History, A=Assessment, P=Plan, E=Error Prevention, and D=Dialogue), this strategy provides patients and their families the opportunity to participate in the handoff process. The proposed project aims to:

• Measure patient satisfaction and perceptions regarding the ISHAPED bedside handoff process
• Use patient feedback to optimize and standardize the bedside handoff process;
• Develop a training video and toolkit to educate nurses on how to conduct a safe, effective and patient-centered bedside handoff across multiple settings.

“We have been very gratified to see support for this innovative program gathering strength and positive feedback at all levels of the healthcare industry,” said Lucile O. Hanscom, Executive Director of Picker Institute. “Our list of grantees is very impressive, and we look forward to working with the great team at Inova Health System to make Always Events/Always Experiences a vital part of the medical vocabulary and the healthcare industry.”

Inova Health System joins nearly 20 other healthcare organizations including: Cleveland Clinic, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital earned this award.

Picker Institute is an independent, non-profit organization that focuses on improving patient-centered care and encouraging a humanistic approach to delivering quality healthcare.
For information about the 2011/2012 Picker Institute Always Events Challenge Grant and other Inova Health System accolades visit inova.org/awards.

Inova Health System is a not-for-profit healthcare system based in Northern Virginia that consists of hospitals and other health services, including emergency- and urgent-care centers, home care, nursing homes, mental health and blood donor services, and wellness classes. Governed by a voluntary board of community members, Inova’s mission is to improve the health of the diverse community it serves through excellence in patient care, education and research. Inova provides a healthy environment for its patients, families, visitors, staff and physicians by prohibiting tobacco use on its campuses.