Cherokee Indian Hospital awarded the 2012 Hayes Award for Quality and Safety to Mary Beth Dorgan from the Physical Therapy Department. The Hayes Award is a perpetual award presented annually to an employee who has led or facilitated a system or process change, resulting in risk mitigation, or improved Safety or quality improvement. Nominations for this award were solicited and scored with a rubric measuring seven different attributes. The plaque signifying this award is prominently and permanently displayed in the Cherokee Hospital.
Cross-functional
Mary Beth Dorgan has been named the 2012 Hayes Award winner. (CIHA photo)
Dorgan achieved consistent cross-functional improvements in care in physical-therapy with the implementation of home physical therapy services, a collaborative redesign of wound care quality oversight, and sustained improvements in the redesign of orthopedic clinic.
Use of Data
At the request of the CIHA and EBCI Health and Medical Division, Dorgan developed a proposal for implementation of home physical therapy services. She used historical patient volume data and benchmark performance data to estimate workload for creation of a new service.
She researched the literature to compile best practices and benchmarks in wound care, and she implemented a wound care quality dashboard and standardized the qualitative chart review process, developing EHR templates and review tools for both CIHA and HMD.
Advance the Strategies
Dorgan advanced the strategy of the Cherokee Indian Hospital, and articulates specifically to one of the objectives in the categories: Safety, Service, Quality, and People/Stewardship.
- Safety: Increased inpatient services, facilitated by the additional increase in staffing flexed through the home PT staff, and have contributed positively to a decrease in inpatient falls.
- Service: Increased visits, 805 home PT visits provided since inception of service. Service was previously not available, and has improved access to care and viability of Home Health Services.
- Quality: Wound care is performing at 300% of the benchmark time-to-closure measure for wound-healing.
- Stewardship: 1226 patient visits performed by working manager in addition to her program supervision and management duties. Orthopedic clinic creation has led to an increase in utilization of conservative care, resulting in decreased overutilization of specialty care. There were 890 in-house orthopedic consults provided in 2011. This ultimately improves patient outcomes and preserves scarce CHS resources.
Sustained Improvements
Dorgan has a collaborative leadership style that has maintained a trusting relationship with CIHA and & Health and Medical Division staff, as well as staff across departments within CIHA that has contributed to the success of the initiatives that she has led in Home PT, Wound Care Quality Oversight, and Orthopedic Clinic. All of these initiatives have led to improved safety, service, quality, and stewardship.
Chad Cooper was the 2011 winner of the award which was named in honor of Colleen Hayes, retired RN and Quality Officer.
Hospital officials related, “Cherokee Indian Hospital congratulates Mary Beth Dorgan on her selection as CIHA’s 2012 Hayes Award Winner.”
– Cherokee Indian Hospital
