Quality & Patient Satisfaction

Quality Initiatives at South County Hospital

South County Hospital is committed to offering the highest quality care to the residents of southern Rhode Island. Here are some recent indicators of quality care at South County Hospital.

• In fall 2006, Quality Partners of Rhode Island. a nationally recognized leader in healthcare improvement, recognized South County Hospital for its demonstrated efforts in the "treatment and care of patients" with heart failure.


• South County Hospital was one of only 45 hospitals in the country selected by CareScience for achieving excellence in managing the care and treatment of patients with heart attack, a designation reserved for hospitals performing in the top 1% nationwide.


• During the summer of 2007, South County Hospital became the first in Rhode Island recognized by the American Heart Association for participation in their Get with the Guidelines program. This important program outlines standards of care for coronary artery disease and helps ensure continuous improvement in treatment and prevention of heart attacks.


• South County Hospital participates in the American Nurses Association National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI)®. This program provides opportunity for the ongoing collection of important data necessary to assess and improve quality of care to patients.


• South County Hospital is a member of the Rhode Island Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Collaborative, a voluntary initiative focusing on improving patient care in the ICU. As participants in this initiative South County Hospital staff have the opportunity to interact with clinicians from Johns Hopkins University as well as other organizations to share proven strategies and lessons learned aimed at improving patient outcomes such as reducing infection and other complications and reducing length of stay in critical care units.


• Timely, high-quality care in an ICU can significantly improve the chances of survival for critically ill patients. In January 2006, South County Hospital appointed Leon Puppi, M.D. as the ICU Intensivist. Dr. Puppi is Board Certified in Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care.


• The Surgical Care Improvement project has been instrumental in our consistent success with achieving a surgical site infection rate below the national standard. Our rate is consistently below the national standard, which is between 1% - 3%.


• Consistent with our focus on patient safety, South County Hospital is participating in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's 5 Million Lives Campaign, which advocates for standards of care for patients most at risk for infection, complications, and adverse outcomes.


• In 2006, South County Hospital established a Rapid Response Team (RRT), an initiative endorsed by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). The RRT brings a team of clinicians with critical care expertise to the bedside at the first sign of deterioration of a patient's condition. The goal is decrease the incidence cardiac or respiratory arrests or other unexpected outcomes. The Rapid Response Team includes a critical care nurse, a respiratory therapist, and a physician.


• In December 2006, South County Hospital received approval from the Rhode Island Department of Health to establish a Diagnostic Cardiac Catheterization Service. This important service will build on the existing strengths of our programs for cardiac patients, as well as those of the cardiologists on the medical staff. Recent studies have shown that the availability of diagnostic cardiac catheterization capabilities in community hospitals results in improved patient outcomes and follow-up.


• South County Hospital is among the top hospitals in the state for quality scores in the performance rating for "core measures." These core measures are well-established measurement standards for surgical care and for the treatment of heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia (community acquired), and are used by all hospitals in assessing quality. South County Hospital's goal is to consistently improve the composite scores. Goals are established annually and quarterly reports are provided to the Board of Trustees on progress. This year, we are striving to achieve composite scores of 98% in the Cardiac and Pneumonia categories and 85% in the Surgical Care Improvement project.

To learn more
We welcome your comments and questions about quality at South County Hospital. For more information, contact Elaine Desmarais, Vice President of Quality Improvement, at 401-782-8000 or edesmarais@schospital.com.