OREANDA-NEWS. December 18, 2014. McKesson announced that Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Ontario, has been selected as the 2014 winner of the McKesson Distinguished Achievement Award for Clinical Excellence™. Southlake is a regionally designated 400-bed hospital providing advanced levels of care to more than one million people in Ontario’s York Region.

 Faced with increasing patient volume, Southlake effectively used McKesson Performance Visibility™ – a real-time “electronic whiteboard,” or broadcast clinical communication system, to better manage patient flow throughout its facility, resulting in significant quality and efficiency improvements.

For example, wait times for patients waiting in the emergency department (ED) for admission to an inpatient bed decreased by as much as 19 percent. Further improvements include up to a 17 percent reduction in the length of time for patients to be seen in the ED and discharged, as a result of more efficient transfers for admitted patients.  On inpatient units, staff experienced 400 fewer daily interruptions and the equivalent of 12.2 hours in fewer daily phone calls related to room status and patient assignment decisions, giving staff more time for patient care. Most notably, the implementation of the McKesson Performance Visibility contributed to a better awareness of patients at risk for falls cut the rate of falls with injuries in half.

The system uses time-stamped, color-coded icons displayed against the hospital’s floor plan to track patient status from admission to discharge. Clinicians can see at a glance when they are expected to go home, which helps reduce discharge delays. The display also features key patient indicators such as fall risk and infection control status.

Surveys of Southlake staff have shown that most believe the solution has improved their efficiency as well as their job performance. “It very quickly communicates what people need to know to make decisions and prioritize their work,” said Helena Hutton, chief operating officer and vice president, relationships for Southlake and the executive sponsor for the project.

The Distinguished Achievement Award for Clinical Excellence was presented at a live competition Oct. 22 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The annual awards program recognizes hospitals and health systems that have achieved notable results in improving healthcare quality and patient safety through the effective use of McKesson technology combined with the skills of their care teams. In honor of its achievement, Southlake will receive a USD5,000 grant from McKesson to its Southlake Regional Health Centre Foundation.

Finalists were chosen by a panel of four industry experts based on the Institute of Medicine's six aims of quality healthcare (PDF, 97 KB):  safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency and equity. In deploying real-time visualization technology to improve patient flow and clinical quality, SRHC effectively addressed all six aims.

Two finalists achieved Honorable Mention designations this year. Auburn Community Hospital in Auburn, N.Y., was recognized for improving the quality of care for stroke patients through efficient, evidence-based treatment. Fairfield Medical Center in Lancaster, Ohio, was acknowledged for its metrics-driven program to improve patient safety through a more accurate and effective process for medication reconciliation.

"Southlake Regional Health Centre has demonstrated innovation in patient flow management, improving its ability to provide its growing patient population with high-quality care in a cost-efficient manner," said Jim Pesce, president, Enterprise Information Solutions, McKesson Technology Solutions. "By focusing on process improvement and optimizing the value of technology, Southlake is well positioned for continued excellence."