Overview

Priority Hospital Group (PHG) is a regional hospital management organization focused on delivering exceptional healthcare services through experienced management practices. The group operates economically efficient hospitals that provide innovative and advanced patient care tailored to the healthcare needs of local communities. PHG currently manages 9 facilities including long-term acute care hospitals and inpatient physical rehabilitation units located in the southeast of the United States. 

The company is committed to partnering with local medical communities and maintaining the highest ethical standards and full compliance in its operations. As part of this commitment, Priority Hospital Group selected MEG as a partner in quality and compliance success. 

Clint Whitcher, VP Quality & Compliance at Priority Hospital Group, led the project, achieving quality standardization across multiple hospital facilities using MEG's platform. 

The quality CHALLENGE

When he started working for Priority Hospital Group as Vice President of Quality and Compliance, Clint Whitcher identified standardization as one of the main areas of improvement due to having multiple hospitals that all operate differently.  “That was the first thing I talked to company leadership about, getting something to help standardize our policies and procedures, and all of our quality metrics," explains Clint.

Specific Pain Points:

• Lack of visibility: Not being able to measure key quality metrics effectively across multiple facilities or report on them

• Inconsistent Standards: Different facilities operating with varying quality procedures and metrics

• Policy Access Complexity & Security: Everybody had to log into a server and then go to a specific drive to access policies and documents. It was really difficult for most staff on the ground to access.

After identifying some of their pain points, Clint concluded that a digital tool was required for managing audits, incidents and policy access.

Why MEG: Visibility, Mobility and Ease of Use

MEG was chosen as the preferred solution, providing all the required modules in one digital, cloud based platform.  Fulfilling all of the requirements, PHC commissioned;

• Incident Reporting 

• Audit Management (IPC, AMA, Blood & Blood Product, Medicine Administration, etc.)

• MEG Docs Policy Management

MEG ticked all the important boxes to Priority Hospital Group including; having visibility of quality metrics throughout the organisation, on-the go access so audits can be carried out in the palm of their hand, wherever the user is, and of course the speed and ease of use which is imperative at a time of change.

Speaking of the transition for his team, Clint said, “Nobody likes change. Some people were critical because they were used to something before, but I think no matter which product you choose, you'll have resistance just because it's a change.”
However, they found once they began to roll MEG out, the team adapted well to the new technology with minimal training, and they could see the benefits immediately.

Another factor in their decision to implement MEG for quality audits and compliance tracking was its configurability. Priority Hospital Group has specific, custom metrics they track monthly and by default MEG shows if they are compliant and met the goal, or are not compliant and didn’t meet the goal. To allow for more granularity in the metrics, the MEG team are working on KPI modules for their custom metrics which Clint referenced as being of particular strategic value - “That will help me be able to track improvement or non-improvement from month to month. Eventually I can get all the quarter totals company-wide. We are a small company with quite a few facilities, and we're adapting and changing frequently and if I need something, you guys are willing to work on it with us. I'm very appreciative of that.”

Results Achieved

Key outcomes of the introduction of MEG at Priority Hospital Group include facility-wide performance visibility, mobile audit capabilities eliminating paper workflows, and smoother-than-expected implementation requiring minimal on-site support.

Now, everyone across the company, at every facility can see how they're doing compared to others, in one system and one format. Another improvement was reporting thanks to the availability and visibility of their desired quality metrics in real-time. “I can hold meetings based on our MEG data and compare facilities and highlight areas of improvement or what others are doing well and where some can do better.” explains Clint.

There is also now a positive culture and ethos around auditing throughout the team, with the burden of manual paperwork removed and actionable results being shared. Clint and his team are reassured knowing they have not just a vendor in MEG, but a responsive partner in quality improvement that can adapt to their specific needs.

Policy Standardization (Next Phase)

Policy management is the backbone of a reliable quality management system; without it,  it’s difficult to ensure safety, consistency or audit readiness.  Having a standardized, company wide, digital policy management solution will allow cross sharing of best practice between the PHG facilities.  With staff following up-to-date, standardised protocols, care is safer and more predictable.  For example, with MEG Docs, every document action—who approved, who attested, and when—is tracked.   As part of their phased implementation approach, Priority Hospital Group will  be rolling out MEG Docs Policy Management solution as part of their quality and standardization process.

Is your organization looking to standardize quality across multiple facilities?
Schedule a demo today and see how MEG can help you simplify audits, unify policies, and boost compliance across your entire organization.

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