Cary receives top rating for quality care and safety from state group

    Cary Medical Center officials have announced that the Caribou health care facility has earned ”Tier One” status as a preferred hospital regarding quality care and patient safety.    Cary, along with a number of other hospitals in the state was recognized by the Maine State Employees Insurance Program, based on a survey conducted by the Maine Health Management Coalition. Cary is one of a handful of hospitals in the state that has been on the list since the inception of the designation which began in 2006.
    “We are very proud that Cary has made this list of preferred hospitals for the third time in a row,” said Kris Doody, CMC’s executive officer, in a prepared statement. “We work very hard on all of the issues of clinical quality, patient safety and patient satisfaction.
    “Organizations like the Maine Health Management Coalition and others are revising and expanding their survey tools,” Doody said. “I believe hospitals will continue to be under the microscope of public accountability.  That is why Cary presents our quality ratings through our Web site.  Patients and families have a right to this information and should use it to make more informed decisions.”
    According to Frank Johnson, executive director of the Maine State Employees Health Insurance Program, the hospital rating system provides a benefit to members.
    “The benefit design provides that if a member receives care from a preferred hospital, any services billed by that hospital are not subject to the annual deductible,” Johnson said in a statement. “Once the annual deductible is satisfied, there is no financial incentive. We remind members that the modest financial incentive was not designed to save the members or the plan money but to give them pause to consider patient safety and clinical quality issues when choosing a hospital. The tiered hospital is a tool to help them make informed decisions.”
     Doody said that the success of the hospital’s quality program has been remarkable in terms of changing procedures and historical practice.
    “Members of our medical staff have been wonderful in how they have responded to the demands for change,” Doody said. “The quality measures are based on evidence-based medicine and best practice from the physician’s own professional organizations. Without the support of the medical staff and their willingness to adapt to this new and changing science it would not be possible for us to meet these quality improvement goals.”
    Patient safety has also been an area of improvement at Cary and is measured by the survey. The hospital has introduced an automated medication dispensing program including computerized physician orders and bar coding of medications.
    The use of computers by physicians when ordering medications reduces the risk of medication error caused by poor handwriting, hospital officials said.  Bar coding of medication is done both on the medication and on the patient’s wristband prior to the dispensing of the medicine.  The bar coding notes that it is the right medication for the right patient at the right time.
    David Silsbee, chief information officer at Cary said that the hospital is among a small list of rural hospitals across the nation to have an automated medication dispensing program.
    “We have really made great strides in recent years toward automation and the electronic
Medical record,” said Silsbee. “We are far ahead of most rural hospitals in the country and we are continuing to showcase new technology.”
    Dr. Carl Flynn, chief of the medical staff at Cary said that the move to computerized physician orders and other technology has been a challenge for clinical staff but the effort is paying off and is inevitable.
     “This is just the right thing to do for our patients and it is dramatically improving patient safety,” said Flynn. “Not only do these advances improve patient safety, they also streamline processes and help us to better manage costs by practicing smarter medicine.  New physicians, those coming out of medical school, are now quite familiar with the technology but it has been an adjustment for those of us who have been in the field for some time.  The entire health care industry is moving towards the fully electronic medical record and it is nice to know that Cary Medical Center is on the leading edge of this reality.”
    The hospital has implemented a number of patient safety programs related to patient falls. A “Ruby Slipper” program identifies patients at high risk of falling and initiates prevention measures upon the patient’s admission.  Cary has experienced the fewest patient falls in more than 12 years, hospital officials said.
    Cary also is completing a three-year initiative to improve customer service. Shawn Anderson, chief operating officer at Cary said that the effort has generated a new level of energy around customer service and has identified some outstanding front-line employees.  
     “Cary has a culture that revolves around quality and a personal approach to patient care,” said Anderson. “We appreciate the efforts of all our staff in fostering and maintaining this culture and now we want to raise the bar. Our employees who have led this training have been outstanding and they add a real credibility to the process.
    “We now have more than 100 employees who have been involved in teaching the program and they have created a powerful mentoring workforce committed to a new standard of customer service,” said Anderson.