NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue Receives Award for Reducing Ventilator Associated Pneumonia in Adult Trauma Patients
Healthcare Association of New York State's Pinnacle Award recognizes hospitals for improving quality of care and patient safety
Jul 09, 2019
NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue has won the 2019 Pinnacle Award for Quality and Patient Safety from the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) for an initiative that successfully reduced the rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in adult trauma patients and improved staff compliance with care protocols to 100 percent. The project, Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia in Adult Trauma Patients, succeeded in reducing VAP in trauma patients from 3.5 percent to 0.5 percent through interventions including data analysis to determine the most at-risk patients, ventilator care protocols, an oral care tracking system, sedation guidelines and real-time monitoring. Presented annually, the Pinnacle Award for Quality and Patient Safety celebrates significant achievements in the areas of quality improvement and patient safety. Established by HANYS in 2001, the program recognizes and encourages broad dissemination of successful quality improvement and patient safety initiatives.
“NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue reduced ventilator associated pneumonia by establishing protocols and improving teamwork among physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists,” said Dr. Joseph Carter, Associate Medical Director and Patient Safety Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue. “By preventing hospital acquired infections in critically ill patients, our health care team helped people recover faster, decreased duration of mechanical ventilation, avoided antibiotic use, and reduced healthcare costs.”
“We are pleased to recognize the efforts of hospitals, health systems and other providers throughout the state who all demonstrate an unwavering commitment to providing high-quality care,” said Bea Grause, RN, JD, President of the Healthcare Association of New York State. “NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue was one of five healthcare organizations from across the state presented with the award in recognition of their outstanding initiatives that enhanced patient care.”
“Bringing together the people involved in the patient’s care – the bedside nurses, ICU physicians and respiratory therapists – and making these relatively simple changes really made a difference in patient care and patient outcomes,” said Margaret Ewen, MS, PA-C, Trauma Performance Improvement Coordinator at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue.
Ventilator-associated pneumonia is a type of lung infection that can occur in hospitalized patients who require a machine to help them breathe. Prevention of VAP is important as it puts patients at risk of becoming sicker and increases hospital costs. Trauma patients are particularly at risk due to the severe nature of their injuries.
HANYS presented the Pinnacle Awards at its 51st Annual Membership Conference in Saratoga Springs, NY, in four categories based on organization size and type. For the first time, HANYS presented five Pinnacle Awards this year.