Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

9 PATIENT SAFETY & OUTCOMES in five areas: effective care, equitable care, efficient care, safe care and personalized experience. Gail Vozzella, DNP, RN. Senior Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive at Houston Methodist: We are committed to delivering unparalleled patient care. e anchor of that vision is an unwavering dedication to an evidence-based, innovative care model while treating our patients with integrity, compassion, accountability, respect, and excellence — our I CARE Values. A key success factor in consistently moving toward a safer environment is a focus on our workforce culture. We believe in investing in our physicians and all staff across the system utilizing a multitude of ways. is includes ensuring clearly communicating "why" changes are made, in particular when we're introducing innovation strategies. Additionally, we foster an environment where all can speak up without fear if they have a safety concern. Accordingly, Houston Methodist leverages a data-first culture to proactively identify safety issues, streamline workflows, and elevate patient safety. From utilization of AI predictive modeling to trend data to monitoring deterioration from patient wearables, Houston Methodist embraces innovation to enhance patient safety. Safety metrics such as risk-adjusted mortality, hand hygiene, readmission rates and preventable infection rates are tracked monthly from front-line teams to the board level. Houston Methodist commits to keeping the patient at the center of all that we do. n Mount Sinai publishes 1st US guide for infection- linked chronic illnesses By Paige Twenter N ew York City-based Mount Sinai Health System has released the country's first clinical manual for treating infection-associated chronic illnesses, according to an Aug. 13 news release. The clinical manual covers several infection-associated chronic illnesses, including long COVID, long Lyme disease, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and myalgic encephalomyelitis/ chronic fatigue syndrome. Four hundred million people in the world have experienced long COVID, and millions more live with other infection- associated chronic illnesses, according to David Putrino, PhD, the Nash Family Director of the Cohen Center. "Our clinic can only take on around 700 new patients a year, so clearly there's a huge discrepancy there," Dr. Putrino said in a statement. "Releasing this manual is a way for us not only to continue setting the standard of care, but also to help ensure that any clinician can have the tools and knowledge they need in order to adopt our practices and provide high-quality, evidence-informed practice for people with IACIs all over the world." The manual, prepared by the Cohen Center for Recovery From Complex Chronic Illnesses, guides clinicians through diagnosis, long-term management strategies, infection prevention measures, patient communication and multidisciplinary care models. n Hospitals brace for more high-risk pregnancies By Paige Twenter H ospitals and health systems are preparing for a rise in high-risk pregnancies, even as many labor and delivery units shut down. Vizient company Sg2 projected that the proportion of high- risk pregnancies will accelerate alongside a rise in obesity- related comorbidities, including high blood pressure and diabetes. Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville, part of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Baptist Health, is expanding its labor and delivery services in preparation for a 14.5% increase in high-risk pregnancies over the next decade, NPR affiliate WUSF reported Aug. 14. The conundrum is this: Multiple health systems and hospitals are ending labor and delivery services, citing a decrease in birth rates, financial challenges and a workforce shortage. And although the national birth rate is declining, neonatal ICU admissions are increasing. There are a few factors contributing to the trend, including better survival rates of premature infants, an advancing maternal age and a rise in chronic maternal conditions. In response to this trend, a different system of the same name, Little Rock, Ark.-based Baptist Health, announced in June an effort to improve maternal and children health outcomes for high-risk pregnancies. The initiative is Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University's Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker Program, which targets economically disadvantaged and geographically isolated communities. To be eligible for monthly home visits, support groups and other program services, women must be diagnosed with a high-risk pregnancy. The program helps women get assessed for the diagnosis. n

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