Prime Healthcare Services

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Edward Barrera, Communications Director
ebarrera@primehealthcare.com

Prime Healthcare Services Recognized for Health Care Technology

Leading Hospital Management Company Uses IT to Improve Patient Safety and Quality of Care

ONTARIO, CA, Dec. 1, 2011 – HIMSS Analytics in February will be honoring Prime Healthcare hospitals for their accomplishments in implementing technology solutions that have the ability to improve patient safety and quality of care.

Eleven Prime Healthcare Services hospitals and both of the hospitals from the affiliated non-profit Prime Healthcare Services Foundation achieved the Stage 6 designation of the HIMSS Analytics Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Adoption Models. Currently, only 256 hospitals (4.8%) in the United States, and only 269 hospitals in the world, carry a Stage 6 designation.

“Using information technology to improve patient outcomes is our continuing goal,” said Sreekant Gotti, Prime Healthcare Services Chief Information Officer. “This honor reflects the significant investments in technology that the leadership has made and the great teamwork of all the clinical and non-clinical staff across Prime Healthcare hospitals. ”

The Prime Healthcare Services hospitals recognized are Centinela Hospital Medical Center, Chino Valley Medical Center, Desert Valley Hospital, Garden Grove Hospital & Medical Center, Huntington Beach Hospital, La Palma Intercommunity Hospital, Paradise Valley Hospital, San Dimas Community Hospital, Shasta Regional Medical Center, Sherman Oaks Hospital Medical Center and West Anaheim Medical Center. The Foundation’s non-profit Encino Hospital and Montclair Hospital Medical Center were also recognized.

HIMSS Analytics developed the EMR Adoption Model as a way of evaluating the progress and impact of electronic medical record systems for hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics™ Database. Tracking their progress in completing eight stages (0-7), hospitals can review the implementation and utilization of information technology applications with the intent of reaching Stage 7, which represents an advanced patient record environment.

“We know that it takes executive commitment, support and a great team of health care professionals to achieve this advanced level,” said H. Stephen Lieber, President and CEO HIMSS Analytics. These hospitals “are great examples of how a vision can become reality in the world of health care information technology.”

The hospitals will be recognized at The HIMSS12 Annual Conference & Exhibition, which will be held on February 21 – 24,2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Sands Convention Center.

Prime Healthcare Services

Ontario, CA-based Prime Healthcare Services, recognized as one of the top 10 health systems in the country, is a progressive, innovative and rapidly expanding hospital management company with a mission to provide comprehensive quality healthcare in a compassionate, convenient and cost-effective manner.

With over 10,000 employees, Prime Healthcare Services currently owns and/or operates 12 acute care facilities: Alvarado Hospital Medical Center, Centinela Hospital Medical Center, Chino Valley Medical Center, Desert Valley Hospital, Garden Grove Hospital Medical Center, Huntington Beach Hospital, La Palma Intercommunity Hospital, Paradise Valley Hospital, San Dimas Community Hospital, Shasta Regional Medical Center, Sherman Oaks Hospital, and West Anaheim Medical Center. 

Nine of these hospitals are accredited by The Joint Commission, and seven of the nine hospitals were recently recognized as Top Performers in the Nation (Top 14%) on Key Quality Measures by The Joint Commission, a Medicare accreditation agency.

Prime Healthcare Services Foundation

The Foundation is a nonprofit public charity that was founded by Dr. Prem Reddy and his family reflecting their commitment to give back to the communities that they serve.

The Foundation owns and operates two nonprofit hospitals, Encino Hospital Medical Center and Montclair Hospital Medical Center (a Top 100 Hospital in the Nation in 2009), and is governed by an independent Board of Directors.  Both hospitals were recently recognized as Top Performers in the Nation (Top 14%) on Key Quality Measures by The Joint Commission, a Medicare accreditation agency.

ONTARIO, Calif., Nov. 15, 2011 — Prime Healthcare Services today filed a lawsuit under federal anti-trust law that alleges that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Kaiser Permanente engaged in an unlawful conspiracy to reduce consumers access to healthcare and limit their choices.  The complaint alleges that Prime Healthcare is the latest victim of this unlawful conspiracy.

“Prime Healthcare’s business model, which provides cost-effective and high-quality health care in underserved communities, threatens SEIU and its partner Kaiser Permanente,” said Michael Sarrao, vice president and general counsel for Prime Healthcare Services. “SEIU is not concerned about those patients who rely on Prime Healthcare’s hospitals for much needed healthcare, but instead is focused on driving out hospital operators like Prime Healthcare that pose a threat to SEIU’s and Kaiser’s anti-competitive partnership.”

In the lawsuit, Prime Healthcare alleges that SEIU and Kaiser have conspired, through their use of a labor-management partnership, to attack competitors in order to create a monopoly in California. As part of this effort, SEIU has targeted Prime Healthcare. SEIU has produced propaganda which the SEIU disguises as “studies.”  That propaganda has been extensively distributed to complicit media outlets and other allies for the purpose of eliminating the threat to the unlawful SEIU-Kaiser conspiracy.  This collusion has driven up health care costs, promoted inefficient practices and denied patients’ access to health care.

The sixty-eight page complaint details over two-decades of anti-competitive practices by the SEIU and Kaiser pursuant to their unlawful conspiracy.  It documents a long history of attacking competitors, and alleges, among other things, unlawful payments from Kaiser to the SEIU.

The complaint, filed in federal court in the Southern District of California, seeks an order enjoining SEIU and Kaiser from conspiring to destroy competition and monetary damages.

SOURCE Prime Healthcare Services

Patient safety, quality and efficiency can all improve with better document management practices.

Written by Sreekant Gotti October 2011

Originally printed @ http://www.healthmgttech.com/index.php/solutions/hospitals/enjoying-the-fruits-of-document-management.html

In a world where healthcare providers must respond rapidly to change, California’s Prime Healthcare Services moves quicker than most. Ten hospital acquisitions in the last few years will have that effect, as will the host of other regulatory, economic and technology demands currently converging on the organization and others like it.

Prime Healthcare has found that, despite its size – 14 hospitals comprising 2,400 beds and 9,000 employees – and recent acquisitions, a strong healthcare IT base has kept it moving ahead and effectively overcoming industry hurdles. Of these 14 hospitals, 12 hospitals are under Prime Healthcare Services and two hospitals are under Prime Healthcare Services Foundation.

Document management is one area that Prime Healthcare has successfully navigated on a system-wide scale. With hundreds of paper forms in use, leadership identified numerous potential pitfalls associated with a manual process. In fact, the organization’s rapid expansion has served to highlight the need for a cohesive solution for document management delivered throughout the entire network.

Finding the right partner

While the organization was beginning to reap the benefits of automation via its integrated clinical and financial technologies, including electronic health records (EHRs) and a health information system (HIS), Prime Healthcare facilities were still heavily dependent on paper. The health system was relying upon hard copies of admissions, clinical and operations forms that needed to be converted to electronic format. Knowing that manually completed forms and stacks of preprinted papers could lead to problems in both patient safety and finances, IT leadership searched for a full-featured document management system.

Prime Healthcare had specific demands of its solution. For one, it needed a technology that could scale to its large, multi-hospital system to ensure it had a consistent technology at all facilities, which would streamline deployment and allow the seamless flow of data between hospitals. The organization also needed a system that would enable it to quickly update forms. Even when minor changes were required, such as an update to a HIPAA authorization form that a patient receives upon check-in, staff needed to discard all the old, preprinted documents and generate a new batch of forms, adding expense and wasting employees’ time. Prime needed to eliminate this misuse of resources and ensure accurate information across its facilities.

After searching for a document management solution, Prime Healthcare came across FormFast’s logic-based, on-demand workflow and print management system for automating medical records, revenue cycle and patient registration documentation processes. This solution could be seamlessly integrated with other healthcare IT applications, such as the HIS and EHR systems already in use at Prime Healthcare’s hospitals.

Implementing the program

Prime Healthcare needed implementation to progress relatively quickly and a strict timeline was developed. Rules-based functionality enabled the IT staff to easily assign different rules to the various system users, such as patient access personnel or emergency department (ED) nurses. This made system management much easier for the implementation team at Prime Healthcare, given the number of employees using the application at any given time.

Following a rapid implementation process, IT leadership began training clinicians and other staff. Executives were pleasantly surprised that the organization’s 400-plus users could be fully trained on the system in about 10 minutes per session. Demonstrating the new system to several groups of individuals at once meant Prime Healthcare was able to complete all training within just a few days.

Prime Healthcare also took advantage of the transition to create updated new forms, optimizing an easy-to-use design feature developed by FormFast specifically for medical facilities. It wasn’t long before Prime Healthcare had eliminated pre-printed forms for many purposes throughout the multi-hospital system.

The process in practice

When a patient is admitted, staff is able to quickly select and print out the appropriate forms for each individual’s situation. If necessary, forms are completed manually by the patient and signatures are obtained. These documents are then digitized using a high-speed scanner. Once documents are scanned, the data is electronically routed to the correct place in the medical record, guided by barcodes that identify the patient and type of documentation. This prevents time lost in entering data and eliminates errors that can be introduced in data entry – a definite patient safety improvement.

Meanwhile, if nurses or physicians require a specific document, they do not have to search for preprinted forms stored away in a filing cabinet. The system intelligently tracks what forms are necessary for the encounter by parameters designed by the facility. Users then log on and print the specific form according to the exact patient requirements. Hospitals also can set chart forms to be generated automatically in batches, freeing unit clerks or nurses to focus on other tasks.

And since Prime Healthcare’s workflow processes and document management activities are now tightly integrated with its EHR and HIS systems, users can print forms or reports directly from these tools. If a clinician requires a hardcopy of a certain document, such as a radiology report, it can be sent directly to the nursing station and distributed as necessary. Hospital staff in any department can also enter patient data, route the forms to multiple departments and print the completed items when necessary – without the delay and expense of routing hard copies.

All 14 facilities managed by Prime Healthcare are now taking advantage of this automated workflow model, which can be easily scaled to accommodate additional users and systems.

The ultimate reward: efficiency and patient safety

Prime Healthcare began realizing clinical and financial benefits soon after organization-wide deployment of the document management system. For example, when a clinical chart is scanned, data can be directed to both the EHR and the hospital’s billing department. This means that when the patient is discharged, financial services personnel can print out the most up-to-date version of the patient’s bill. Similarly, more accurate and timely claims can be generated, meaning the organization is able to receive reimbursements more quickly, improving cash flow. Further, users have reported that since they aren’t chasing down paper documents, they are significantly more efficient and productive. And with less manual data entry, clinicians have reported a noticeable uptick in the quality of clinical information.

While cost savings and efficiency are, of course, some favorable outcomes of Prime Healthcare’s investment in technology, they are not the most important benefits. The organization’s standard for patient safety and quality are paramount. The health system’s IT efforts have decreased manual errors, helped to ensure accurate information and freed staff to spend more time with patients.

Eventually, all paper forms may disappear from the hospital environment. But, for the time being, every medical facility must deal partially in paper documentation. Prime Healthcare has achieved many important efficiency, quality and patient-safety objectives with the implementation of a comprehensive IT strategy that includes document management. It is now clear that Prime Healthcare’s ability to manage paper in the most effective means possible has played a vital role in the organization’s success.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Edward Barrera, Communications Director
ebarrera@primehealthcare.com

Prime Healthcare Recognized as Top 15 Health System in the Nation

Ontario, Calif., Jan. 16, 2012 – Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of information, today recognized Prime Healthcare Services as one of the 15 Top Health Systems in the nation based on quality of care, efficiency and patient satisfaction. This is the second time in four years that Prime Healthcare has earned the national distinction. Prime Healthcare was recognized as a Top 10 Health System in 2009 by Thomson Reuters in its first-ever landmark study of health systems based on quality and efficiency. Prime Healthcare is the only health system to receive this coveted recognition on the West Coast.

According to Thomson Reuters, compared to its peers, Prime Healthcare saved more lives, caused fewer patient complications, made fewer medical errors, followed recommended standards of care more closely, released patients half a day sooner on average and scored better on patient satisfaction surveys.

“This prestigious recognition speaks volumes of Prime Healthcare’s commitment to its core values of quality and cost-effectiveness of health care delivery, bending the cost curve in these times of rapidly evolving healthcare reform across the nation,” said Prem Reddy, MD, FACC, FCCP, Founder and Chairman of Prime Healthcare Services.

Among 321 health systems, 2,194 hospitals and over 8 million patient discharges included in the study, Prime Healthcare was among those that had a 24.4 percent lower mortality than was expected, 14.5 percent fewer medical complications, 31.7 percent fewer adverse patient safety incidents, the lowest readmission rates and higher percentage of patients who reported having a better overall hospital experience than comparable hospitals. Prime Healthcare ranked higher than the other 21 health systems in California and the more than 30 other health systems on the West Coast.

“Selection for the 15 Top Health Systems award is based solely on unbiased statistical results,” said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president of performance improvement at Thomson Reuters. “Because we rely on objective measurement derived from public data and peer-reviewed methods, health systems may not apply or pay for consideration in this study.”

Prime Healthcare’s hospitals were recognized numerous times in the past by various renowned national benchmarking organizations for their quality and efficiency of patient care. The independent Thomson Reuters 15 Top Health Systems recognition is the only study of its kind that aggregates individual hospital performance into system-level data across the nation.

“We congratulate the physicians, nurses and all the staff for putting Prime Healthcare on the top of the chart,” said Lex Reddy, President and Chief Executive Officer, Prime Healthcare Services.  “They have put the West Coast on the national map of quality patient care.”

The published study that is based on Medicare data of 2009, 2010 and 2011 takes into consideration 12 patient care metrics. Prime Healthcare was the largest system with thirteen hospitals compared to the peer group of two to five hospitals in the study, which underscores its system-wide implementation and adherence to the best-practice guidelines of quality patient care.

“Upon further analysis of the Thomson Reuters research data, I am proud to note that Prime Healthcare excelled even this elite group in the key patient care measures of mortality, patient safety, medical complications and CORE measures,” said Suzanne Richards, RN, Vice President of Clinical Operations, Prime Healthcare Services, who is also a statistician.

Prime Healthcare hospitals that were included in this study were Centinela Regional Medical Center, Chino Valley Medical Center, Desert Valley Hospital, Encino Hospital Medical Center, Garden Grove Medical Center, Huntington Beach Hospital, La Palma Intercommunity Hospital, Montclair Hospital Medical Center, Paradise Valley Hospital, San Dimas Community Hospital, Shasta Regional Medical Center, Sherman Oaks Hospital and West Anaheim Medical Center.