Medical professionals gathered at the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Community Center April 28 to discuss quality and patient-centered care during the National Capital Region Quality Conference: Perfecting Patient Care.
The conference featured speakers from the Institute for Healthcare Excellence, Booz Allen Hamilton, a patient and staff panel and remarks from National Capital Region Medical Director, U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Raquel C. Bono.
At the end of the daylong conference, attendees were asked to reflect and deliver a call to action about what they had learned.
"As Rader continues down the path towards becoming a high-reliability organization, we must defer to experts - which at times are our patients," said Andrew S. Rader Army Health Clinic Commander Lt. Col. Ed Weinberg. "We must look at the entire care experience through the eyes of the patient and continue to hone our processes to ensure we achieve optimal success."
Rader is one of nine facilities within the National Capital Region's enhanced multi-service market, which is led by Bono. These "markets" are defined by geographical areas containing at least two or more military medical hospitals or clinics with overlapping service areas, according to TRICARE's website.
The way physicians act around patients, and how they connect with caregivers is as important as providing health care services, according to Chief Medical Officer of the Institute for Healthcare Excellence Dr. Bill Maples.
"Physician empathy scores are the highest one year after training residency fellowship," said Maples. "Those scores drop to rock bottom for 25 years or until that physician or a family member encounters the health care system for themselves. That is when the light bulb comes back on."
Finding a way to keep the level of empathy among health care professionals consistent through their careers is an issue that needs focus, said Bono.
"Consistent with the vision of the Surgeon General, we are also moving from a health care system toward a system for health," Maples said. "To improve the quality of health of our patients, we must partner with them in order to improve their health literacy so they make better, more informed choices in the areas of sleep, activity and nutrition."
In related news, Rader Clinic will change its operating hours beginning June 3 to better serve patients and ensure medical staff receive all required annual training. The clinic will close the first Wednesday of each month to allow for staff training requirements to be met, but will also be open on four Fridays that the clinic would close for previously. These additional days will provide another 32 hours to the clinical schedule.
For additional information, see www.slideshare.net/JBMHH/rader-message-new-hours-2apr15.
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