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Hospitals are constantly looking to improve their service and quality of care, as well as reduce the risk of medical errors. The Georgia Hospital Association Partnership for Health and Accountability (PHA) acknowledges hospitals that successfully meet those goals. Memorial Hospital and Manor was recently acknowledged as the recipient of the PHA Patient Safety and Quality Award; specifically, the hospital received the award for its program “Improving SEP-1 Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Outcomes”, which placed third in the Hospitals With Less Than 100 Beds category. This program aimed to improve compliance with national sepsis best practices, by better educating nurses and healthcare providers about proper treatment.

She’Mikia Ford, MHM’s Director of Quality and Risk Management, explained that there are bundles of procedures for properly identifying and treating sepsis after three and six hour periods, with the three hour treatment requiring collection of lactic acid measurements, collection of a blood culture, and the administration of antibiotics. According to Ford, the hospital normally has five or fewer cases of sepsis. After a review of the hospital’s 2020 data on treatment of severe sepsis and septic shock showed low compliance scores, a program aimed at improving compliance was decided upon. “The program was to provide education to our providers and our nurses,” Ford said. “They were missing the time frame for the three-hour bundle, so they went through education, and we put up educational tips in the Emergency Department.”

According to Ford, the reception to the program among nurses and providers has been positive. “I think people should know our 2020 compliance was 32.25 percent, and our 2021 compliance rate was 80.4 percent,” she said. “Communication is key. As long as we’re communicating, we can improve patient outcomes and the quality of patient care. Every patient, every time.”