Bethlehem, Pa. (May, 2018) – The Onsite Neonatal Partners neonatology team at St. Luke’s University Hospital, Bethlehem Campus have been selected to receive the prestigious “Excellence in Care” Achievement Award from The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) for its outstanding efforts to improve health care in the state through innovation and excellence in patient care.
Each year, HAP honors hospitals and health systems for their innovation, creativity, and commitment to patient care through an annual Achievement Awards program. The primary goal of the program is to showcase and share member hospitals’ and health systems’ innovations and best practices in a variety of areas. In 2017, over 100 Pennsylvania hospitals submitted entries for consideration, while only 13 winners were chosen.
Entitled “Don’t Just Do Something – STAND THERE: Reducing Incidence of Pneumothoraces in High Risk Newborns,” the winning St. Luke’s Bethlehem team entry seeks to decrease the pneumothorax rate for all high risk infants to a level that is better than the top quartile rates with the Vermont Oxford Network (VON). VON is an international database of participating hospitals which measures key outcomes for infants admitted to NICUs of various sizes and acuity. Once collected, data is analyzed, benchmarks are established, and opportunities to improve NICU care are identified and set into motion.
By decreasing the pneumothorax rate within St. Luke’s health system, there will potentially be less infants on respiratory support, resulting in shorter lengths of stay and ultimately, healthier babies in the end.
“At St. Luke’s Bethlehem, our goal is to serve our babies with the most up-to-date, evidenced based care to give them the best chance at a full and healthy life,” said Onsite Neonatal Partners neonatology director, Dr. Kimberly Costello. “This award recognizes a full multi-disciplinary team, consisting of not only physicians and advanced practitioners, but also respiratory therapists, nurses, managers, quality improvement experts, administration, and even other supportive NICU parents.”
When reviewing the results of the project, it’s clear that both the babies and the team members at St. Luke’s have benefited greatly from the endevour.
“Our pneumothorax rate started at 5% of babies less than 1500 grams, and now we are in the top quartile of VON, which is an extraordinarily low rate for micropremies,” explained Dr. Costello. “After these projects, St. Luke’s did a “Culture of Safety” survey, and our NICU was 1 of 2 departments in the entire 10 hospital system that scored all results in the green,” she added. What does this mean? “Our people feels valued, and we are truly a team working together for the babies best interests. Ideas were brought to the table, and ideas were heard and implemented.“
“Ideas were brought to the table, and ideas were heard, and implemented.“
– Dr. Kim Costello, NICU Director
Entries were evaluated by a 12-judge panel. The panelists, drawn from Pennsylvania and across the nation, represented the public and private sectors, health care and business organizations, and investor-owned and nonprofit entities. The Achievement Awards program began during 1978.
“HAP congratulates this year’s Achievement Award winners and all entrants for their innovative and creative efforts to transform Pennsylvania’s health care landscape.” said Andy Carter, HAP president and CEO. “Their work is on the cutting edge of consumer-focused care, and I am proud to recognize this year’s winners.”
To find out more information about Onsite Neonatal Partners, please visit www.onsiteneonatal.com or call (856) 782 – 2212, Ext. 6
