Providing the highest quality of care and exceptional patient safety standards are imperative strategies throughout Sentara Healthcare. Sentara has long been recognized as an industry leader for our innovations and accomplishments to improve health every day.
Our goal is to lead the industry to achieve top 10 percent performance wherever national benchmarks exist. Partnering with national leaders, such as the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the National Quality Forum, has enabled Sentara to continually learn from and contribute to advancements in quality and patient safety
Read more about Sentara's quality and patient safety distinctions:
Quest for Quality
In 2004 Sentara Norfolk General Hospital was awarded the Quest for Quality prize by the American Hospital Association, earning national recognition for its Culture of Safety initiative. Runners-up included Johns Hopkins and Advocate Health of Chicago.
John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award
Sentara’s Culture of Safety initiative was awarded the 2005 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the National Quality Forum. Sentara received the award for "Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality at a Local or Organizational Level."
Top 100 Integrated Healthcare Network
Sentara has consistently ranked among the nation's top integrated health care networks in Modern Healthcare's fact-based ranking. Sentara is the only healthcare system in the country to be among the nation's top 10 for all 15 years of the survey. The study, which is published annually, highlights the top 100 integrated health care networks across the nation as selected by SDI, a health information company.
The Leapfrog Hospital Survey
The annual Leapfrog Hospital Survey is the gold standard for comparing hospitals’ performance on the national standards of safety, quality and efficiency. Sentara CarePlex Hospital and Sentara Leigh Hospital were named to The Leapfrog Group’s annual class of top hospitals in 2010. The survey recognized 65 out of a field of nearly 1200 hospitals from across the country. The 2010 list includes university and other teaching hospitals, children’s hospitals and community hospitals in rural, suburban and urban settings. The selection is based on the results of the Leapfrog Group’s national survey that measures hospitals’ performance in crucial areas of patient safety and quality.
Using Technology to Improve Care
The Sentara eCare Health Network®, an electronic medical records system, is in place at nearly all Sentara hospitals. With Sentara eCare®, healthcare providers can securely share patient information, resulting in more timely and accurate care. It can also provide barcoding technology to verify medications at patients’ bedsides.
On another front, 2010 marks the tenth year that Sentara has employed its eICU® remote monitoring system for its sickest hospital patients. Sentara was the first hospital system in the country to implement the eICU® system, which uses a network of cameras, monitors, alerts, and two-way communication links. Doctors and critical care nurses at the eICU® command center make virtual rounds on ICU patients. This Sentara-pioneered technology is now used to help care for patients in nearly 5,000 ICU beds nationally.
Sentara Norfolk General Hospital was named one of the nation's Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems, according to results published in the American Hospital Association's Hospitals & Health Networks (H&HN) magazine in 2010. Hospitals are named to the list based on how they use technology to address safety and quality, customer service, business processes, workforce and public health and safety.
In 2010, Sentara Healthcare was also honored as a recipient of the 2010 HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) Davies Award. HIMSS Analytics, a company that collects and analyzes healthcare data related to IT processes and environments, recognizes healthcare organizations for successful implementation of health information technology systems, such as Sentara eCare®, as well as a proven ability to derive value in the form of improved patient care.
Infection Prevention
Not only is Sentara seeing significant reductions of patient infections in its facilities, several of its hospitals are marking years without certain common hospital infections that at one time were considered an inevitable part of providing care.
Sentara hospitals have been working diligently to reduce ventilator-associated pneumonia. In 2011 Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center marked eight consecutive years without a case of ventilator-associated pneumonia and is a national model for infection control.
In 2010, Sentara Obici Hospital marked three consecutive years with zero cases of ventilator-associated pneumonia in its intensive care unit.
Central line bloodstream infections also have been sharply reduced. In Hampton Roads, Sentara hospitals have the lowest reported rates, which are better than state averages. Sentara Bayside Hospital is one of only five hospitals in Virginia and mentioned among the best in the country for protecting patients in the intensive care unit against life-threatening central line bloodstream infections in Consumer Reports magazine. Both Sentara Bayside Hospital and Sentara Leigh Hospital reported no central line related infections in 2009.
Award-Winning Cardiac Care.
Sentara Heart is a comprehensive network of providers, facilities and services working together to ensure the highest level of cardiac care to patients throughout the region. It is a regional and national leader in cardiac care.
For the 13th year, Sentara Heart Hospital ranked among the nation’s best heart programs in U.S. News & World Report's 2012-13 Best Hospitals issue.
The Heart Program at Sentara Heart Hospital represents a vast array of cardiac services – including some of the most advanced procedures available in the region. The Cardiac Hybrid Operating Room was one of the first in the region to bring together advanced cardiac imaging equipment and specialists into the OR alongside cardiac surgeons. Sentara Heart Hospital also performed the region’s first Total Artificial Heart transplant in 2012.
Outstanding Cancer Care
The Sentara Cancer Network was awarded an Outstanding Achievement Award for 2009 from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. Only 18 percent of 432 programs surveyed during the year received Outstanding Achievement Awards – based on factors such as leadership, research and quality Improvement.
The accredited portion of the Sentara Cancer Network includes Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, Sentara CarePlex Hospital and Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center.
In addition, Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center earned an Outstanding Achievement Award under the category of community hospital cancer programs. The Sentara Cancer Network and Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center are the only cancer programs in Virginia to earn Outstanding Achievement Awards for 2009.
Comprehensive Breast Health Services
All of Sentara’s comprehensive breast centers are accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. To gain the accreditation, the centers must follow a multidisciplinary team approach, provide access to clinical trial information and offer new treatment options, among other requirements.
The breast centers, along with the Sentara Norfolk Breast Center, are also among an elite group designated as an American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Center of Excellence. After rigorous evaluation of staff, equipment, physician credentials, technique and image quality, the centers are now fully accredited in the three major areas of breast imaging and cancer detection, mammography, stereotactic breast biopsy and ultrasound-guided biopsy.
Weight Loss Surgery Excellence
After a detailed review of clinical quality and safety, surgical outcomes, and overall performance, weight loss surgery programs at Sentara CarePlex Hospital, Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center have received designation as a weight loss surgery Center of Excellence by the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
Clinical Excellence
Sentara Bayside Hospital was awarded a Voluntary Hospitals of America (VHA) 2009 Leadership award for Clinical Excellence for achieving a high level of performance in AMI, heart failure, pneumonia and Surgical Care Improvement Program (SCIP) clinical quality indicators as measured by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and The Joint Commission.
Gold Seal of Approval
The Joint Commission has given several Sentara hospitals its Gold Seal of Approval and Disease Specific Care Certification. Sentara Norfolk General Hospital earned vascular certification. Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, Sentara Leigh Hospital, Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, Sentara CarePlex Hospital, Sentara Obici Hospital and Sentara Princess Anne Hospital all earned primary stroke certification.
The Joint Commission also recognized Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital for heart failure and acute myocardial infarction care. In 2011, the hospital also received full accreditation from the Society of Chest Pain Centers as an accredited chest pain center with PCI.
Excellence in Stroke Care
Sentara is the first hospital in the region to offer nationally certified levels of stroke care, at five distinct locations. The Sentara Primary Stroke Centers at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, Sentara Obici Hospital, Sentara Leigh Hospital , Sentara CarePlex Hospital and Sentara Princess Anne Hospital have earned the Gold Seal of Approval and Disease Specific Care Certification from The Joint Commission on accreditation of healthcare organizations. Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center is accredited by the DNVHC (Det Norske Veritas Healthcare, Inc) as a Certified Primary Stroke Center based on its continual integration of quality standards for management of stroke patients.
Nationally Accredited Home Care
Sentara Home Care is accreditation through the Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP). CHAP is an independent accrediting body designed to inspire community healthcare organizations to achieve organizational excellence and compliance with state and federal regulations.
The rigorous process included a week-long survey of home health, hospice, home infusion, home medical equipment and home respiratory care services in addition to meeting with patients and staff to assess quality of care.
Related Links:
Stroke care at Sentara Vascular care at Sentara Cardiac care at Sentara Sentara Home Care
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