Piedmont Healthcare Discusses How It Improved Stroke Patient Treatment Response Times
Tim Hehr, Lead Stroke Surveyor & Technical Advisor for Stroke Certification Programs with DNV GL Healthcare and Debbie Camp, Stroke Program Manager within Piedmont Healthcare, led a discussion about the success of their Stroke Program to improve patient treatment response times. Piedmont Healthcare, one of the largest and most distinguished hospital systems in the Southeast, described how it improved its systemwide stroke treatment program during a March 25 webinar.
The 11-hospital system’s journey in improving stroke care was discussed as part of "Stroke Program Certification: Positive Impacts on Safety and Quality Care in the Piedmont Healthcare System.” The primary speaker was Debbie Camp, the stroke program manager for Piedmont Newnan Hospital in Newnan, Ga., southwest of Atlanta. Six Piedmont hospitals have been certified for stroke care by DNV GL for the past several years. Overall, Piedmont has two facilities that offer telestroke services and 11 sites in total that offer neuro services.
As Hehr and Camp described, "The consolidated process that DNV GL applies for stroke certification revolves around a thorough review of the hospital’s emergency department, onsite imaging equipment, staffing and numerous other factors. The relationship between DNV GL and Piedmont Healthcare is one that that has been very effective to continuously improving the quality of stroke care.” Components of DNV GL’s stroke certification services are available remotely during the current COVID-19 outbreak.
According to Camp, one of the biggest focuses was making sure that stroke patients received the clot-busting drug Alteplase and transferred out of the emergency room as quickly as possible and admitted as an inpatient in order to receive intensive care. At Piedmont Henry Hospital in Stockbridge, Ga., “door out” times ran more than eight hours in the first part of 2017. By the summer of 2017, they were consistently below three hours. The use of private vehicles to transport stroke patients to Piedmont Henry also declined from 56% in 2012 to 25% in 2017, while the use of ambulances rose from 41% to 73%. Piedmont also streamlined its documentation process systemwide for strokes connected to cardiac catheterization.
“Working with DNV GL is a true partnership,” Camp said. “Everybody is transparent. They ask you what barriers might be in the way of improvement. Sometimes we don’t recognize what we’re seeing, and they help with that.”
To access this on-demand webinar, please click on this link.
Hundreds of hospitals across the United States have switched to DNV GL Healthcare over the past decade, making it the nation’s fastest-growing accrediting body. DNV GL accredits more than 600 hospitals nationwide.
“We want to identify innovative practices and approaches to address aspects that improve quality, efficiency and enhance patient care,” said Gary Davis, DNV GL Business Assurance Regional Manager for The Americas. “We believe the unique approach we take with our hospital customers regarding stroke certification works to their advantage.”
About DNV GL Healthcare
DNV GL Healthcare, with offices in Cincinnati and Houston, is a division of DNV GL - Business Assurance, part of the DNV GL Group, an independent foundation dedicated to safeguarding life, property and the environment. Globally, DNV GL - Business Assurance has more than 100 offices and is one of the world’s leading certification, assessment and training companies. For more information about DNV GL hospital accreditation, visit http://www.dnvglcert.com/healthcare.