Hospital Quality Improvement (West Florida Regional Medical Center)
Introduction
West Florida Regional Medical center (WFRMC) is located on the north side of Pensacola, Florida. It is associated with Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), and “the West Florida Healthcare campus includes the all private room acute care hospital, the area’s only comprehensive physical rehabilitation hospital, and a mental health facility” (West Florida Hospital, 2010). When looking at the decision to invest heavily into total quality management (TQM), you must look at its history and hospital statistics of the Pensacola area. In 1992, there was intense competition between WFRMC and the other two hospitals within the area, Sacred Heart and Baptist Hospitals (McLaughlin & Kaluzny, 2006). “The 130 doctors practicing at the Medical Center Clinic and its satellite clinics admitted mostly to WFRMC, whereas most of the other doctors in this city of 150,000 practiced at both Scared Heart and Baptists Hospitals” (p.522). At the time it was estimated that 90% to 95% of patients that would be admitted into any of the hospitals would experience discounted prices due to the competition within the area. This discount applied to “mostly Medicare for the elderly, CHAMPUS for military dependents, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida for employed and their dependents” (p.522). Within the area and over the past four years a trend showed success with continuous quality improvement (CQI) with areas that utilized package prices for services required (McLaughlin & Kaluzny, 2006). This provided the basis for TQM, which would provide “ways to analyze and change processes to improve quality” (Banham, 1993). Improving quality in an area of competition is important to maintain stability for a health care facility. In order to maintain quality, WRMC first developed a definition for quality within the facility. This would be centered around the vision established by the Pensacola Area Chamber of Commerce (PATQC), “helping the Pensacola area develop into a
West Florida Regional Medical center (WFRMC) is located on the north side of Pensacola, Florida. It is associated with Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), and “the West Florida Healthcare campus includes the all private room acute care hospital, the area’s only comprehensive physical rehabilitation hospital, and a mental health facility” (West Florida Hospital, 2010). When looking at the decision to invest heavily into total quality management (TQM), you must look at its history and hospital statistics of the Pensacola area. In 1992, there was intense competition between WFRMC and the other two hospitals within the area, Sacred Heart and Baptist Hospitals (McLaughlin & Kaluzny, 2006). “The 130 doctors practicing at the Medical Center Clinic and its satellite clinics admitted mostly to WFRMC, whereas most of the other doctors in this city of 150,000 practiced at both Scared Heart and Baptists Hospitals” (p.522). At the time it was estimated that 90% to 95% of patients that would be admitted into any of the hospitals would experience discounted prices due to the competition within the area. This discount applied to “mostly Medicare for the elderly, CHAMPUS for military dependents, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida for employed and their dependents” (p.522). Within the area and over the past four years a trend showed success with continuous quality improvement (CQI) with areas that utilized package prices for services required (McLaughlin & Kaluzny, 2006). This provided the basis for TQM, which would provide “ways to analyze and change processes to improve quality” (Banham, 1993). Improving quality in an area of competition is important to maintain stability for a health care facility. In order to maintain quality, WRMC first developed a definition for quality within the facility. This would be centered around the vision established by the Pensacola Area Chamber of Commerce (PATQC), “helping the Pensacola area develop into a
References: Banham, Russ. (1993). TQM Helps Hospitals Improve Car. Business and Health. Retrieved on 05/08/2010 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0903/is_nSPEISS_v11/ai_13403834/?tag=content;col1 . McLaughlin, C. P., & Kaluzny, A. D. (2006). Continuous quality improvement in health care: Theory, implementations, and applications (3rd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett. Shaw, Diana V; Day, Denni O; Slavinskas, Elizabeth. (1995). Learning from mistakes: hospital team discovers valuable lessons after TQM effort disbands Quality Progress. Milwaukee, WI: American Society for Quality Control Publishing. West Florida Hospital Website. (2010). About Us. Retrieved on 05/08/2010 from http://www.westfloridahospital.com/CustomPage.asp?guidCustomContentID=F3370E77-F847-11D4-A2E9-00508B62BE1F