Hospital launches quality plan
Westfields Hospital in New Richmond will join more than two dozen hospitals in Wisconsin that were selected to participate in the “Aligning Forces for Quality: Transforming Care at the Bedside” (AF4Q TCAB).
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Westfields Hospital in New Richmond will join more than two dozen hospitals in Wisconsin that were selected to participate in the “Aligning Forces for Quality: Transforming Care at the Bedside” (AF4Q TCAB).
Bringing together hospital teams from across the state to lead improvements in the quality and safety of patient care, it is a part of an innovative nationwide program led by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation’s largest philanthropy dedicated to improving the health and health care of all Americans.
AF4Q TCAB is a new nurse-led hospital program that engages frontline staff to work together to identify, pilot, test and adopt new practices over an 18-month period. Participating nurses will then share their successes and lessons learned with other hospitals across the country.
“This is a great opportunity for caregivers to identify where change is needed, test potential solutions and apply best practices in a systematic way,” says JoAnn McGath, RN, BSN, director of nursing at Westfields Hospital. “The focus of this initiative is to give the direct care team more time at the bedside with the patient and less time on inefficient processes. At Westfields we will specifically be working to improve patient safety by preventing falls, reducing the risk of infection and improving communication.”
“As Wisconsin and the nation look at improving care, it is important that we provide local models of reforms that are good for everyone,” said Judy Warmuth, Wisconsin Hospital Association vice president, workforce. “Wisconsin hospitals’ participation in this program shows that we are committed to being a leader in improving patient care and increasing efficiency to produce better outcomes.”
It’s all part of Aligning Forces for Quality, the foundation’s signature effort to lift the overall quality of health care in targeted communities, as well as reduce racial and ethnic disparities and provide models for national reform. The AF4Q TCAB program in Wisconsin is being led by the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) and is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, through a grant to the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality.
“By participating in AF4Q TCAB, nurses will be on the frontlines, working together with others across Wisconsin to formulate innovations and improve the care they deliver,” said Warmuth. “This program will empower staff in our hospitals to reduce adverse events and unanticipated deaths, reduce harm from falls and implement evidence-based care.”
“The beauty of TCAB is that quality becomes practical in the hands of bedside nurses who are given the tools to conduct small tests of change, then adapt, adopt, or abandon those tests until an innovation becomes a new way of doing things,” according to WHA’s TCAB Project Manager Stephanie Sobczak. The 18 TCAB hospital units participating in the project are also charged with spreading their improvement strategies to the entire hospital.
Westfields Hospital, located at 535 Hospital Road in New Richmond, is a full-service hospital offering emergency services, specialty clinics, and maternity services, as well as medical and surgical inpatient and outpatient care. Westfields Hospital is part of the HealthPartners family of care.
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