Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

All About Quality

Continuous. Quality. Improvement. To achieve that goal, Meriter Hospital, a 448-bed facility in Madison, Wis., has used the Baldrige National Quality framework. The hospital board's quality of health care committee sets quality aims that include targeting zero health care-associated infections and zero medication errors and achieving the top quartile in patient satisfaction for pain management. Though this committee sets the aims, front-line staff are involved. All new employees are trained in quality issues, and quality management and patient safety are emphasized in residency training. Employees are encouraged and empowered to speak up to prevent potential harm to patients. Since 2009, rates for HAIs have decreased significantly. Meriter also collaborates with local health care providers, the city of Madison and other community groups to improve access to care for uninsured residents. For its work, Meriter received a citation of merit for the 2012 AHA-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize.  For more information, contact Kathleen Werner, R.N., director of performance improvement, at kwerner@meriter.com. Profiles of Meriter and other honorees are available at www.aha.org/questforquality.