It’s sometimes hard to think about healthcare as being a competitive industry – but Detroit Medical Center is dedicated to staying ahead of the crowd when it comes to the quality of our care. Providing high quality healthcare to our patients and the communities we serve has always been our first priority. It’s why we’ve been recognized with so many national awards for quality and safety inside of our walls, and why we invested millions in the implementation of an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system in every hospital in our system -- something no other healthcare provider in the state can claim.
(Learn more about our EMR here.)
Leaping Ahead
For the third consecutive year, two DMC hospitals met the stringent standards of the Leapfrog Group and have received honors as top hospitals in the nation for quality and safety. DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital and DMC Harper University Hospital are the only hospitals in the state of Michigan and are among only 45 hospitals nationally to receive the recognition in 2009.
DMC won this recognition and many others by dedicating our care to several core principles, especially Computerized Physician Order Entry – our physicians enter all patient prescriptions and other information into our nationally recognized Electronic Medical Record system, linked to powerful error prevention software. We’ve put an end to paper orders, handwritten notes and disconnected files that can lead to medical errors. Go to our Leapfrog Award page to learn more about the other standards and practices that earned us this accolade.
Here’s how our expert clinical leaders view the role of quality and safety at DMC:
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Michelle Schreiber, M.D.
DMC Chief Quality Officer
The DMC hospitals have a long tradition of innovation and high quality. However, over the past several years, there has been even more emphasis and energy placed on quality and safety - it is the foundation of everything we do in healthcare. Every person at the DMC is committed to the highest quality and safest hospitals, including the governing boards, leadership, medical staff, and front line employees.
The DMC has focused on several key initiatives to help drive quality improvement. The first is the electronic medical record. DMC hospitals are among the most advanced in the country for their health information technology. With Computerized Physician Order Entry and bar code scanning, medication errors have been reduced significantly. Quality and safety dashboards are included in daily workflow through the EMR, which allows staff to focus on quality in "real time."
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Electronic records also allow for care to move away from memory based practice with improved standardization, and quick access to data. Other initiatives have included a successful focus on reducing hospital acquired infections, a system-wide approach to intensive care, and more quality and safety training. Being recognized by the Leapfrog group and its business community is a tremendous honor. The "leaps" to improve healthcare quality, including intensivisits in intensive care units, commitment to national best safe practices, computerized order entry, and improved efficiency are priorities at all DMC hospitals. Recognition as top hospitals for quality and safety demonstrates proof of this commitment.
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Leland Babitch, M.D., MBA
DMC Chief Medical Information Officer
At the DMC, we are proud to be the recipients of national awards and recognition. The fact that groups such as Leapfrog and the American Nursing Association have recognized our hospitals for their outstanding quality and safety proves that we are successful in putting patient care above all other priorities.
At the DMC, we aim to provide the highest quality of care, utilizing the most advanced tools and practices available. We are recognized leaders in EMR implementation, nursing practice, and have nationally and internationally recognized physicians and teachers. Other hospitals may not always win beauty contests, but we hope that patients and their doctors will choose substance over looks when it comes to their medical care.
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Patricia Natale, RN, MSN
DMC Chief Nursing Officer
The quality that the DMC provides is what is important to our patients, our staff and our physicians and the recognition that we achieved as top hospitals is one of the ways we can benchmark ourselves about that quality. Making this "list" means that these organizations ( and the DMC) have committed to patient care that is based in evidence and aimed to achieve the highest result for the patient.
That commitment requires the vision and determination to provide care in the very best and most efficient ways possible to us....The EMR with provider order entry, intensivist staffing models in our ICUs are just 2 examples of the results that have been achieved. This recognition is not an endpoint in itself, but part of our journey as an organization that has committed itself to clinical excellence.
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