System and Hospital News: November 2019
Our Care Lives Here Campaign Success
Premier Health launched the “Our Care Lives Here” campaign earlier this year. The initiative has highlighted our mission-driven care, and our commitment to deliver that care both within our hospital walls and in every corner of the communities we serve.
Our care begins with each of you and your teams – the thousands of employees, physicians, and volunteers who are Premier Health – and it’s worth taking a moment to recognize and honor that fact. We plan to do so in two ways:
“Our Care Lives Here” T-shirt: We would like to thank you for your dedication throughout this year with a free T-shirt.
Employees: Please place an order for your shirt by clicking here.
You have until Saturday, Nov. 23, to order your T-shirt.
“Our Care Lives Here” video: We have prepared a video to offer a truly inspirational look at just some of the many ways that all of you are a force for good in the communities that we serve – and that all of you call home.
Name one aspect of the work that we do that isn’t widely known by the public but that you think the public would find interesting.
We want to continue to hear from you about how “our care lives here.” Email your ideas to ourcareliveshere@PremierHealth.com.
Miami Valley Hospital South Receives Level III Trauma Center Designation
Miami Valley Hospital South has achieved provisional designation as a Level III Trauma Center from the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
This achievement followed a trauma survey conducted at the hospital in mid-July. Miami Valley Hospital South joins Premier Health’s trauma network, which also includes Miami Valley Hospital’s Level I Trauma Center and Atrium Medical Center’s Level III Trauma Center.
The Miami Valley Hospital South Trauma Center will provide specialized trauma care for those living close by, immediate transfer via CareFlight when a patient requires the Level 1 services at Miami Valley Hospital and well-coordinated care within the Premier Health trauma system.
The Miami Valley Hospital South emergency department is staffed by the same emergency medicine physicians who provide care at Miami Valley Hospital’s emergency department.
Miami Valley Hospital is Dayton’s only Level I Trauma Center, capable of providing total care for every aspect of injury.
Digital Campus Maps Provide Interactive Wayfinding
Digital campus maps are now available to help patients, visitors, and employees navigate their way to any location within Premier Health hospitals and Systems Support. These maps provide interactive wayfinding that is searchable, linkable, and user-friendly on any smartphone, tablet or computer.
Visit use.mazemap.com and select “Premier Health” and then select the appropriate facility. Digital campus maps can also be accessed from premierhealth.com under Location Information on each hospital’s landing page.
Senior Emergency Center First in Cincinnati Area to Earn Accreditation
The Senior Emergency Center at Atrium Medical Center has received accreditation from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP).
With the bronze standard Level 3 Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation (GEDA), Atrium is the first hospital in the Cincinnati area and one of only five hospitals in Ohio to achieve a GEDA honor.
The Senior Emergency Center was developed by emergency medicine leaders to provide patients with well-coordinated, quality care at the appropriate level during every emergency room encounter.
The Senior Emergency Center opened in April 2017, offering an emergency department designed specifically for an anticipated increase in the senior citizen population in Butler and Warren counties.
The accreditation process took four months and included a panel review by a team of ACEP-appointed physician reviewers and then a board of governors’ review. The GEDA provides a set of guidelines for staffing, equipment, education, policies and procedures, follow-up care, and performance improvement measures.
Disposal of Unused Medication Tops 1,500 Pounds at Premier Health Hospitals
More than 1,500 pounds of unused medications have been securely disposed of in receptacles at Premier Health hospitals since the units were installed last year.
As part of its ongoing effort to combat opioid addiction, Premier Health received support for the receptacles from PNC to assist the community in safely disposing of unused medications at several sites across the Miami Valley. The receptacles are always open to the public at the following locations:
Atrium Medical Center: front lobby beside gift shop
Miami Valley Hospital: beside the Apple Street elevators (first floor)
Miami Valley Hospital South: bed tower lobby outside maternity center entrance
Miami Valley Hospital North: lobby beside retail pharmacy
Upper Valley Medical Center: at the foot of the main staircase in the hospital lobby
Those disposing of unused medications are encouraged to place them in plastic baggies instead of bottles. It is not appropriate to use the receptacles to dispose of needles, syringes, aerosolized cans, inhalers, thermometers, lotions or liquids.
Unused medications will be incinerated and will not be taken to a landfill.
New Bioconvertible Filters Eliminate Need for Two Procedures Helping Patients
Premier Health patients who must undergo surgical procedures and must stop taking blood thinners that they usually count on to dissolve blood clots in their legs now have an alternative.
For those individuals, a new device can be placed in the inferior vena cava (IVC) vein, the large vein that travels toward the heart, for protection during the time they need to be off blood thinning medication. The filter helps to prevent a life-threatening pulmonary embolism by blocking clots from reaching the heart and lungs.
The drawback to conventional filters is that, over time, the filters can clog and potentially cause complications. A typical IVC filter requires a second procedure three to six months later to remove the filter.
New bioconvertible IVC filters eliminate the need for a second procedure to remove the filter. The BTG Sentry Bioconvertible IVC Filter is designed to provide immediate protection against pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients at risk of PE. Using image guidance, a catheter is inserted through the skin into a large vein in the neck or upper leg and advanced to the inferior vena cava vein. The IVC filter is then placed through the catheter into the vein.
Miami Valley Hospital First in World to Integrate Two Stroke Technologies
Miami Valley Hospital is the first site in the world to use the combination of a specific software application and mobile platform to enhance the treatment used to preserve a patient’s neurological function after a stroke.
Pulsara, a mobile platform, was developed by physicians to improve coordination and communication essential for stroke patient assessment. RAPID is a global leader in advanced imaging.
The hospital adopted the Pulsara application in 2017 to enhance the communication among members of a stroke response team, which can be as large as 60 individuals. The cloud-based, mobile communication application places all members of the hospital’s stroke team – EMS providers, neurologists, CT technologists, nurses, and consulting physicians – on alert and keeps them up-to-date on a case with one tap of the app.
This past year, the hospital added RAPID as another vital tool. RAPID is a software platform that uses artificial intelligence to process critical imaging information from a stroke victim. The software shortens to five minutes a data interpretation process that has traditionally taken an imaging technologist 20 minutes. On top of faster imaging results, RAPID’s enhanced level of analysis also provides greater information about a patient’s condition, such as the extent of changes in blood flow to the brain.
The Pulsara and RAPID integration enables coordinated real-time sharing with the entire stroke team – something not currently being done at any other stroke center in the world.
The instant coordination of care can help buy more time for a stroke patient, whose ability to be treated with clot-busting medication or interventional care is limited to just hours after symptoms begin, and whose outcome is improved by efficient and more rapid treatment.
