Page 5 - 2016 Nursing Annual Report | Summa Health

From left to right, Transitional Care Coordinators Melissa Rogers, BSN, RN, Jen Noveske, BSN, RN and Tarsha Wooldridge, BSN, RN

When the TCC does the initial assessment, he or she will At the same time, the 30-day readmission rate dropped
provide the patient this handout and ask the patient to from 11.77 percent at the end of 2015 to 10.48 percent by
review it. A day or two prior to discharge the TCC will sit the end of last year.
down with the patient and using teach back, reviews key
areas to make sure the patient feels he or she has the Measure Location 2014 2015 2016
information they need. Questions include details about AVG LOS Akron 4.23 4.16 3.97
the help available at home, medications and follow-up Barberton 4.3 4.37 3.8
appointments. GMLOS O/E System 4.24 4.2 3.93
Akron 1.11 1.11 1.07
“When we started it we were amazed at how many people 30 DAY Barberton 1.23 1.24 1.1
had been here for a day or two and weren’t quite clear READMISSIONS System 1.13 1.14 1.07
about what they were being treated for, or that they hadn’t Akron 12.84% 12.24% 10.50%
told the doctor about a specific medication. The TCC will READMISSIONS Barberton 10.51% 9.73% 10.42%
then do some teaching and clarification, or trigger the O/E System 12.41% 11.77% 10.48%
physician or pharmacist to follow-up with the patient,” Akron 1.19 1.12 1.04
said Holder. Barberton 0.99 0.93 0.89
System 1.15 1.08 1.01
The checklist was introduced system-wide in January
2017. Holder said transition scores improved. In the ED, Reports are also being produced showing length of stay
there are three TCCs focused on Utilization Management. by physician, nursing unit and diagnosis to further look for
They screen patients who may be admitted to determine ways for improvement.
status, working with ED physicians to assure that status is
correct. An additional TCC in the ED works with complex “This is something that has been a huge success for us
patients and develops plans for targeted treat and release and is a continued focus as we work to improve our
patients. quality and the patient experience. We continue to focus
on transitioning our patients to the next level of care, even
Planned improvements include moving Summa Health if that is the patient’s home. We have replaced the word
System – Barberton Campus to the TCC model being discharge with transition. Our goal is to give the right care
used at the Akron and St. Thomas Campuses. at the right time in the right place,” said Ward.

Thanks to the various initiatives, length of stay
improvement targets set for the System were achieved
and work continues with new targets. The observed over
expected length of stay for inpatients improved from
1.14 in 2015 to 1.07 at the end of 2016 resulting in system
savings of avoidable days of $2,154,551.

2016 Nursing Annual Report 5