Triage: The Front Line for Patient Safety in the ED

The timely assessment and triaging of patients may mean the difference between a highly functioning Emergency Department and one fraught with complications. Adequately understanding and addressing factors that impact the quality of care provided to patients in the ED and the efficiency and competency of staff delivering that care is a complex task. It requires both a retrospective assessment of the actions and behaviors of team members and a prospective plan for performance improvement. Leveraging the proven RSQ® model that has led to consistent change in clinical behavior, TSG now offers a solution to provide triage nurses with both educational training and continuous feedback on their performance.

RSQ® Solutions for Triage satisfies every Emergency Department's need for an effective and efficient competency program. Under the guidance of nationally recognized triage expert, Shelley Cohen, RN, MSN, CEN, this comprehensive program assesses the nurse's performance through an interactive, retrospective medical record analysis tool -  RSQ® Assessment for Triage - and provides an online continuing education solution designed to help bridge identified knowledge gaps.

RSQ® Assessment for Triage

This online application is designed to engage staff in the process of assessing triage competency in the Emergency Department. Users benefit from interactive critical thinking tips that help refine their understanding of the CTAS and ESI classification systems. Clinical administrators benefit from the simplicity of validating triage competency with a series of automated reports. Analyzing performance in this manner enables nurse managers to identify those in need of remediation and recognize trends that could be present throughout the department.

RSQ® Education - Triage Fundamentals Series

Recognizing that clinical experience levels vary greatly in triage, the Triage Fundamentals Series is designed to be relevant for both novice and veteran nurses. TSG's online activities explore many critical topics, including: regulations, documentation, customer service, and exposing clinical red flags. In corpor ating these continuous education courses into the nursing curriculum will help leadership establish best practices throughout their department while providing an enjoyable learning experience for their staff. 

Cyber Security... Engaging Staff in the Discussion

Firewalls, threat intelligence engines and the IT department are generally what we think of in the defense against cyber threats, but they are only pieces of the puzzle - effectively managing cyber security requires everyone. Engaging all staff in the pursuit of cyber security is paramount, specifically those with access to protected health information. TSG has authored a course, Information Security Tips for Healthcare Providers, to aid organizations in this effort. Using case studies adapted from real breaches listed on the PrivacyRights.org website, we review everyday situations that have resulted in data loss, such as: 

• Stolen Laptop 
• Lost USB drive 
• Hacked email 
• Lost iPad

Please contact us to set up access to this course.

Patient Experience Awareness Is Here To Stay - Is It Ever!

About 12 months ago, the term "patient experience" entered the repertoire at hospitals, nursing homes, clinics and doctors' offices. It was synonymous with patient satisfaction, patient-centered care and patient engagement. What was previously considered a collateral duty for individual team members has metamorphosed into a manager's singular title, occasionally at the executive level.

I had the honor of speaking at the Cleveland Clinic Patient Experience Summit in mid-May. The word had definitely reached those in attendance. There were over 2,100 participants compared to about 850 in 2013. Why the radical increase in interest? 

The first reason is that CMS Value Based Purchasing ratings among hospitals have been updated for 2014 and have become a more recognized metric available to all hospitals and consumers. In short, high-performing hospitals in all measured domains will receive more reimbursement money for Medicare and Medicaid patients while low performers will be penalized. The patient experience domain currently represents 30% of the overall score and is a product of HCAHPS surveys given to discharged Medicare and Medicaid patients.

A second and related reason has to do with the heightened competition among hospitals. Marketing efforts are utilizing more advertising dollars than ever to attract healthcare customers. Central to many of these efforts is the promise of a superior patient experience. To be fair, many healthcare providers already are delivering a high level of service to their patients, but now their institutions are openly promising the best treatment all the time - by everyone!

The noted customer service and patient experience consultant, Micah Solomon, wrote recently in Forbes Magazine that healthcare is "hospitality with healing." He advocates that medical providers and institutions resist the temptation merely to compare themselves with others in their own industry. This will only encourage acceptance of the status quo. Instead, he urges setting the benchmark for healthcare customer service as that being utilized by service-intensive industries such as retail, foodservice and financial services. Then truly exceptional patient experience can be delivered to the consumer.