Mednax is dedicated to improving patient safety and reducing the incidence of adverse outcomes for women and children. Patient Safety Awareness Week 2021 provides an opportunity to highlight some of the remarkable strides we have taken to improve patient safety—and some of the work left to do.
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- Continuing to ask questions—and seek answers: A team of clinical specialists leads and provides oversight for national quality and safety programs in various subspecialties as part of the Mednax Center for Research, Education, Quality and Safety (CREQS). Through clinical research, education, and continuous quality and safety improvement initiatives, the effort contributes to improved patient outcomes and reduced long-term healthcare costs.
- Learning from other high-risk industries: High-Reliability Organizations (HROs) draw from standards and principles used in high-risk industries to ensure safety. Incorporating high-reliability theory into our clinical workflows enables our clinicians to deliver the safest care and improve outcomes while communicating efficiently and effectively. Creating a culture of safety is essential in encouraging open communication, reducing adverse events and improving long-term outcomes. Our HRO program is aimed at newborn, pediatric and OB patients.
- Embracing bundling: A study by the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative found that hospitals that institute bundles may reduce maternal morbidity and mortality significantly. By implementing established patient safety bundles, we can assure that quality, consistent care is delivered during every patient encounter. For example, our OB hospitalists are implementing the Alliance for Innovation in Maternal Care (AIM) supported maternal safety bundles, focusing on maternal hemorrhage, hypertension and venous thromboembolism.
- Supporting COVID-19-related research: To spur research on the risks of transplacental, perinatal and postnatal transmission of COVID-19, Mednax partnered with the American Academy of Pediatrics, Section on Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine and the Vermont-Oxford Network to develop a national registry. The registry will collect data on mother-infant pairs from select U.S. hospitals with NICUs.
- Reducing opioid use: Approximately 1 in 3 babies in the United States is delivered via cesarean section (C-section). Mednax supports a multi-pronged approach to ensuring safe opioid use, including the Enhanced Recovery After Cesarean Surgery (ERACS) Program. ERACS aims to minimize pain, expedite patient recovery and decrease perioperative complications and length of stay. Mednax-affiliated practices participate in ERACS to reduce opioid use in patients who have C-sections. In addition, the Mednax National Opioid Management Collaborative (NOPC) aims to improve the diagnosis, treatment and management of neonatal abstinence syndrome and its contributing risk factors.
- Making newborn drug dosing safer: Custom order sets help NICU providers navigate complicated neonatal dosing. Even common medications like antibiotics or Tylenol can be toxic to an infant. The system alerts Mednax-affiliated clinicians when a dose is outside the standard and tracks the maximum daily dose of a medication.
- Honing skills through medical simulation: Practicing critical decision-making, communication, and clinical skills improve outcomes in high-risk, low-volume situations. Mednax offers several customized medical simulation education programs, including rapid cycle deliberate practice approaches to support maternal-fetal medicine, neonatology and hospital-based medicine practices. The simulation team collaborates closely with the HRO and Clinical Quality improvement teams to harmonize efforts and augment the improvement in clinical outcomes.
- Improving care for little hearts: Through the Mednax Cardiology Quality Collaborative (MCQC), 20 cardiology practices and more than 125 pediatric cardiologists nationwide can share clinical and administrative best practices. MCQC works with the American College of Cardiology’s Adult Congenital and Pediatric Cardiology Quality Network to develop and submit quality metric data as part of this national collaborative. The collaborative supports individual quality improvement projects and hosts monthly teleconferences and yearly meetings.
- Using data to drive better outcomes: The Mednax Clinical Data Warehouse (CDW) is designed to support our Neonatology Clinical Quality and Safety initiatives, Value-Based Programs, Clinical Research, and inform our Genomics Collaborative efforts.
Our mission – Take great care of the patient, every day and in every wayTM—continually guides the way we deliver care. We are dedicated to ensuring that we continue to explore ways to improve care and reduce risk. To get involved in patient safety initiatives, email our Clinical Services Division.