By Kathy Whitney
A new Quality, Safety and Risk Prevention (QSRP) Pursuit of Excellence Award program was announced during last year’s Healthcare Quality Week, and on Oct. 18, winners were recognized during a poster session and ceremony held in Langford Auditorium.
The novel annual award program recognizes and celebrates the improvement work that is going on across the VUMC enterprise. It is open to all entities, care areas, teams and departments across the Medical Center system.
Any quality improvement project or initiative was eligible to be submitted prior to the July 31 deadline, and more than 100 submissions were received from across all entities within VUMC. From these abstracts/ posters, 22 finalists were chosen. Each poster went through three rounds of judging, including an evaluation by a quality professional, an executive leader, and a research professional or patient/ family advisory representative.
On Oct. 18 all 22 finalists were invited to share their work at a poster session prior to the award ceremony, then a winner was announced from each entity, along with a VUMC Project of the Year for the 2023 QSRP Pursuit of Excellence Program.
Winners received their awards from Jenny Slayton, DNP, RN, Senior Vice President, Quality, Safety and Risk Prevention, and C. Wright Pinson, MD, MBA, Deputy CEO and Chief Health System Officer.
“The inaugural VUMC Pursuit of Excellence event was an energizing event highlighting the great quality and patient safety work of our team members,” Slayton said. “It was exciting to see so many of our staff, physicians and leaders gathered to review the 22 finalists and celebrate our winners. This exemplifies VUMC’s commitment to quality and patient safety as a part of our journey of being a high reliable organization. We thank all of our team members for making this event a success and their commitment to quality and patient safety every day.
Please see the list below for the winners from each entity.
- Johnny Woodard, MSN, RN-BC, Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital: “How a Behavioral management Work Group Positively Impacted Crisis Response, Addressed Workplace Violence and Bolstered Orientation Education”
- Tiffany Lewis, MSN, RN, Vanderbilt Tullahoma-Harton Hospital: “Maternal Positioning to Reduce Primary Cesarean Rates”
- Kevin Harvey, BSN, RN VA-BC, Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital: “CLABSI Reduction Strategies”
- Jarylin Bishop, BSN, RN, Vanderbilt Bedford County Hospital: “Improving Airway Management”
- Randy Cox, MPH, CPPS, Vanderbilt University Hospital: “Adult Emergency Department EKG Time Improvement Project”
- Phil Cook, MHA, Ambulatory: “One Metric to Rule Them All: Follow-Up Visits for High-Risk Patients”
- Bill Wester, MD, MPH, Vanderbilt Health Services: “Trends of Coverage and Yield of HIV Testing Services Using a Lay Counselor-Led Intensified HIV Risk Screening Strategy in Mozambique”
- Cristin Fritz, MD, MPH, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt: “QI to Identify and Address Food Insecurity During Inpatient Admissions”
The overall winner was announced, naming the Vanderbilt University Hospital, “Adult Emergency Department EKG Time Improvement Project” as the VUMC Project of the Year, with several members from the ED project team on hand to celebrate.