Last Fall, BRMC was asked to join the Health Research and Educational Trust's (HRET), an affiliate of the American Hospital Association, Hospital Engagement Network (HEN), a national collaborative comprised of over 1,600 hospitals in 31 states and Puerto Rico. Consistent with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ quality and safety initiatives, HEN provides opportunities and resources to hospitals for the purpose of promoting patient safety and reducing harm. The Process Improvement Team and BRMC have been recognized nationally by HRET/HEN and Cynosure Health for their efforts to define, measure, implement, and promote safe patient care while reducing harm. Recognition would not be possible without the continuous hard work and dedication of the many teams at BRMC. Staff and physician engagement is vital to the continued success of improvement initiatives and the outcomes they produce.

The Process Improvement Team would like to thank the extraordinary members who have contributed their valued time, expertise, and initiative to promoting safety and reducing harm at BRMC. Recent team efforts have attributed to improvement opportunities in the following areas: falls, pressure ulcer prevention, insulin-pump protocol, suicide prevention, hypothermia protocol, sepsis protocol, code STEMI, pediatric moderate sedation, adverse drug events, early elective delivery, venous thromboembolism prevention, surgical care improvement project, urinary catheter removal, event reporting, and medication triggers.

BRMC Process Improvement Team members (from left) April Helmke, BSN, RN - Process Improvement Specialist; Karla Rainwater, BSN, RN, CPHQ – Director of Quality; Tammy Penka, BSN, RN – Process Improvement Specialist and Michelle Sharp, BSN, RN – Process Improvement Specialist.