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White County Medical Center is one of only three hospitals in Arkansas to be receive a Quality Innovator Award at the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care’s recently Quality Conference; pictured with the award are WCMC Vice President for Patient Care Services LaDonna Johnston, Director of Case Management and Performance Improvement Connie Taylor and Associate Vice President of Ancillary Services Scotty Parker.
AFMC Recognizes WCMC with Quality Innovator Award The Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care recently presented White County Medical Center with a Quality Innovator Award at the organization’s annual Quality Conference. WCMC was one of only three hospitals to receive the distinguished honor. The Quality Innovator Award recognizes hospitals that demonstrate “improved outcomes focused on better healthcare for individuals, better healthcare for communities and reduced costs through improvement.” WCMC received the award for the success of the “Improving Patient Care from Admissions to Discharge and Beyond” model. The program, started in 2010, is an aggressive care transitions program that focused on lowering the hospital’s readmissions rate. After conducting research on recently discharged patients, the WCMC Case Management and Performance Improvement Department established that patients needed more prompt access to medical care following their hospitalization. Thus, a hospital-wide initiative was established to obtain follow-up appointments within one week following discharge. “Our hospital is committed to providing the best care for the patients we serve,” said WCMC Director of Case Management and Performance Improvement Connie Taylor. “We are continuously looking for innovative strategies to help our patients achieve their health goals. Partnering with AFMC to explore new approaches in enhancing patient care is one avenue that helps us meet the needs of our community.” Also, the team focused on patient education and created a system of tools and videos to help patients with certain diagnoses better understand their condition and how to best manage it at home. Finally, the WCMC Pharmacy Department partnered with the UAMS and Harding University Colleges of Pharmacy to establish a call center designed to ensure that patients understand their medications and have access to them when they go home. The call center is maintained by pharmacy students from both colleges with the oversight of pharmacist preceptors. This is the fourth year in a row WCMC has received a Quality Innovator Award for improving healthcare in the community. ABOUT WHITE COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER As the leading healthcare provider in a six-county area, White County Medical Center associates strive to create a healthy community by providing quality patient care and participating in community health events. White County Medical Center is the largest employer in Searcy with more than 1,500 associates. The facility has a combined total of 438 licensed beds and a medical staff of 150 physicians that specialize in various areas of healthcare. |