Southeast Georgia Health System Campuses Named to Georgia Hospital Association Hospital Engagement Network Safety Leaders Circle

The Southeast Georgia Health System Brunswick and Camden campuses have been named to the Georgia Hospital Association’s (GHA) Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) Safety Leaders Circle, which recognizes hospitals’ improvements in patient care for the third quarter of 2013. The Health System campuses are two of only 29hospitals in Georgiato place in the Elite Circle, the highest on the list.

“We are very pleased to be recognized by the Georgia Hospital Association and to place in the Elite Circle as a result of the hard work and persistence of our team members and physicians,” says Gary R. Colberg, FACHE, president & CEO. “Safe, quality patient care is always a high priority at Southeast Georgia Health System and we look forward to continue seeing positive results of the initiatives put in place and the positive impact it has on patient care.”

Southeast Georgia Health System is a participant in the GHA HEN, an initiative begun last year that is part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service’s (CMS) Partnership for Patients. GHA, through its Partnership for Health and Accountability (PHA), is one of 26 organizations nationally to be awarded federal funding to coordinate the implementation of a series of projects with hospitals. The goals of these projects are to reduce hospital-acquired conditions (HAC) by 40 percent and hospital readmissions by 20 percent by the end of 2013. According to data provided by GHA, Georgia hospitals have prevented almost 9,300 incidents of harm, resulting in savings ranging from $59 million to $63 million.

To achieve these goals, there are major directives from CMS regarding improved care in
10 focus areas: Four are related to hospital-acquired infections (HAI); four are related to HACs; one is related to obstetrics (OB) and trying to eliminate elective deliveries before 39 weeks; and one is related to transition of care and reduction of readmissions. As part of their participation in the GHA HEN, hospitals selected two of these areas on which to focus in 2012. Scores for the Safety Leaders Circle are based on several criteria, including a database that measures hospitals’ improvement in their respective selected areas.

“Thanks to the leadership and commitment of Southeast Georgia Health System, we have made great progress in achieving the significant life-saving goals of this important initiative,” said Earl Rogers, president of GHA. “We are proud to recognize the hard work of the Brunswickand Camdencampus staff and applaud their efforts and commitment to ensuring the reduction of infections and readmissions.”