News

Progress Notes
By Marcia Maglione Flynn

Following is an update of items from the past few months not previously reported.

Report to the Community The recently published Athol Memorial Hospital report, with audited financials for FY 2007 and FY 2008, is now available on the hospital website www.atholhospital.org. The document provides an overview of the hospital and services which includes statistics, community benefits activities, and patient comments. The report also highlights our high quality of care, compiled from responses to internal and external Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) surveys.

How We Rate The aforementioned HCAHPS survey is sent by an independent agency to all patients who have experienced an overnight inpatient stay. Patients rate the hospital on indicators such as cleanliness, communication by caregivers, and whether they would recommend Athol Memorial Hospital for care. We received an unprecedented 43% response rate during the last reporting cycle and fared above other regional hospitals, state and national levels. 97% of our patients said the nurses communicated well; 97% would recommend this hospital; 96% said the room was clean; 94% said doctors communicated well; 93% said pain was well controlled; and 93% gave an overall favorable rating. These results may be found on the “Hospital Compare” website presented by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Accreditations We received accreditation for our Digital Mammography and Ultrasound from The American College of Radiology. This designation demonstrates our commitment to quality care and provides a level of confidence for our patients. Our staff and equipment have passed a rigorous examination by board certified physicians and medical physicists, designed to provide expert oversight and adherence to quality standards. The ACR is a national organization serving more than 32,000 diagnostic and interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, and nuclear medicine and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive healthcare services.

The laboratory received notice of accreditation from COLA, effective September 18, 2009. This certification demonstrates Athol Memorial Hospital’s commitment to quality care and reliable test results. COLA is nonprofit, physician directed organization promoting quality and excellence in medicine and patient care through programs of voluntary education, achievement, and accreditation. It is approved by the federal government and sponsored by the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Medical association, the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine, and the American Osteopathic Association.

WOWs Workstations on Wheels (WOWs) were implemented on the Medical/Surgical floor and Intensive Care Unit in August. Nursing staff use these portable computers at the bedside, or “point of care,” to enter information directly into the patient’s medical record. This new technology reduces the amount of handwritten charting and allows our healthcare providers immediate access to patient information. An additional advantage is the ability to cross reference patient medication and identification using a barcode scan. This safeguards against the possibility of medication errors and streamlines prescription delivery to the patient. Many months of advanced preparation by the Staff Education and Pharmacy Services Departments provided a smooth transition to this patient care enhancement.

Tournament Totals Athol Memorial Hospital’s Annual Golf Tournament, held in August, had 31 sponsors, 136 players, and raised over $18,000 for the hospital. Eagle ($1,000) sponsors included WalMart, John Skrzypczak, Athol Savings Bank, Network Health, Lab Corp of America, Alliance Imaging, and Ultrabenefits. Birdie ($500) sponsors were Barr & Barr, S&S Appliance, Athol Credit Union, Kimball-Cooke Insurance, Owens & Minor, Gerhard Fandreyer Electrical, Mark P. Wu, MD, L.S. Starrett Co., Angelica, The Monahan Group, Benefit Development Group, Aztec Office Supplies, Porter Transportation, Trinet, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Par Sponsors ($250) included Witty’s Funeral Home, Athol-Clinton Cooperative Bank, Northern Energy Services, JNB & Associates, Huhtula Oil Company, Robert Powers Insurance, Casey Bashaw Plumbing, Castine Movers, Physicians Sales & Services, Technology in Medicine, Broadlane, Workers Credit Union, Team Health, Krokidas & Bluestein LLP. Thank you to everyone participated, including the donors of raffle items too numerous to mention.

Care Award The Sleep Center’s Diana Stratton achieved highest honors at the Patient Care Excellence Awards recognition for the first and second quarters of 2009. The Sleep Center won the departmental award. The awards are held twice a year to recognize individual staff members and departments based on the results of Patient Satisfaction Surveys. The surveys are distributed to patients as part of the hospital’s “CARE (Customers Are Really Everything) Initiative.” Patients are asked to evaluate their treatment based on quality measures such as courtesy, timeliness, and comfort. They also have the opportunity to commend any staff with a “pat on the back” for a job well done.

Please call Athol Memorial Hospital’s Community Relations at 978 249-1143 for information about any of our services, including Support Groups, or visit us on the web at www.atholhospital.org.