Environmental ServicesInfection Control Boosted by Use of 3M Clean-Trace

Crothall’s adoption of 3M Clean-Trace ATP measurement as part of our standard quality assurance process at over 100 locations has yielded amazing results. We conduct a 60-day benchmark process, then begin using Clean-Trace as an associate coaching tool, with the intent to reduce micro organisms on 10 high-touch surfaces, based on recommendations from the CDC. In the next phase of our program implementation, we will integrate the 3M Hosted Web-Based program as well as expand our use of Clean-Trace beyond the inpatient room. At Terrebonne General Medical Center, Director Tim O’Hern recorded 6 months of results for the hospital’s infection control committee. Using this data, the committee identified 5 high-touch points to target with increased scrutiny. “When we conduct an inspection,” O’Hern commented, “we have the housekeeper present so we can share the results immediately. The awareness in cleaning these touch points has improved our results dramatically.” As this example shows, Crothall’s use of measurable data allows for enhanced performance and continuous improvement.

Laundry & Linen ServicesPartnering for Better Linen Utilization

Hospital systems that partner with Crothall Laundry Services (CLS) have an advantage when it comes to improving linen utilization and reducing linen loss. Recently, Mountain States Health Alliance (MSHA), consisting of 12 hospital locations in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, installed a Director of Support Services to serve as a liaison between the system’s twelve hospitals and CLS-Johnson City. The Director’s focus was to work with the laundry to improve communication and linen service without negatively impacting patient care. CLS responded with linen distribution software; linen committee meetings to focus on utilization, awareness, and communication; systematic soil/clean audits; and regular product reviews to help drive down costs. The results have been very positive. In one year, MSHA reduced linen utilization significantly, saving $65,000. In addition, MSHA expects to cut $343,000 in linen loss, for a total savings of $408,000.

Patient TransportationTeamThroughput Summit 2012

As healthcare evolves, so do the technology needs of our Patient Transportation (PT) division in order to achieve greater efficiencies at lower costs. That is why Crothall Healthcare holds an annual TeamThroughput Summit for the leaders of both PT and Information Services (IS). On February 7, 2012, the Summit collaborated on the 3-to-5-year vision for PT, including ideas for centralized call centers, real time location solutions (GPS technology), and mobile dispatching management software. IS presented the soon-to-be-released dashboard that tracks workload trends and predicts future transport volumes in real time—a bi-product of the 2011 Summit. However, the main focus for the throughput team was to capitalize on technology that would lower expenses. This was an effort to proactively respond to our customers’ future reductions in healthcare reimbursement. The Summit sparked out-of-the-box thinking on advanced software needed for futuristic patient flow solutions, software that the IS department will be developing throughout the year.

Facilities ManagementPowerful Savings in Electricity

In response to ongoing financial pressures, hospitals must search throughout their operations to find cost savings. Crothall Facilities Management clients have been especially pleased by the savings our managers have found through efficient use of equipment, equipment upgrades, and even through contract negotiation. At UMass Memorial Health Care, a five-hospital system with a large structure of home health, hospice, behavioral health, and community-based physician practices, FM Director Mike Kelly led a system-wide Nonclinical Value Analysis Team in an effort to reduce electricity expenses. Collaborating with representatives from all of the UMass hospitals, as well as its Realty group and Community Healthlink, Kelly implemented a four-year, system-wide contract that would reduce expenses by 30 percent. On the bottom line, the hospital system will realize $1.3 million per year throughout the contract. A notice in the hospital’s newsletter called it “an electrifying success!”

Clinical Equipment ServicesAlarm Fatigue a Top Medical Hazard

While medical device alarms are supposed to go off to alert caregivers to critical situations, they are often turned off, ignored, or go unheard—symptoms of Alarm Fatigue. In the past 5 years, there have been more than one thousand proven alarm-related deaths in various hospitals. Between the ECRI Institute, the AAMI (Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation), the ACCE (Association of Certified Clinical Engineers), the FDA, and The Joint Commission, a large focus has been placed on the hazards of Alarm Fatigue. Labeled by these institutions as second on the list of Top Ten Medical Hazards, the syndrome was addressed at a Medical Device Alarm Summit convened in October 2011. Our Clinical Equipment Solutions division sent Director Shashi Avadhani to attend the Summit, where he qualified to be a member of the AAMI Standards Committee. We expect to be at the forefront of developing a solution to this serious problem and plan to report further findings in the near future.

Caring HeartsAngels to Adopt Over 200 Kids for Christmas 2012

At Community Memorial Healthcenter (CMH) in South Hill, Virginia, amid the former tobacco and textile mill country, there are angels watching out for kids affected by the loss of these industries. In 2009, EVS Director Mike Hankins and his 42 team members adopted 25 kids for Christmas, giving them gifts that included food, warm coats, and clothing. Those who remember the story still think about how the goodwill spread to other departments within the hospital and how they all pitched in. In 2010, five other departments and a community business joined in to adopt 50 children for the Christmas season. By 2011, the program had a name: HALO—Holiday Angels Loving Others. This time, HALO adopted 100 kids! Still run by Hankins and his EVS group, the initiative, bolstered by our own Caring Hearts, has partnered with groups like The Southside Medical Association, Hardee Ford Dealership, The South Hill Junior Women’s Club, Air-Tech, and The Uptown Coffee House. The new goal is to adopt 200 kids in 2012 and reach into a third county. Both CMH’s EVS department and HALO have received the Services to Others award from the Salvation Army. The goal of the program? “No kid should ever go to bed cold and hungry.”p>