As shifts in healthcare leave the industry with unyielding cost concerns, hospitals keep the unforeseeable in check with tight guidelines, reactive contingency plans and openness reflective of the industry”™s reform.
“Costs have to be watched,” said John Rodis, senior vice president of medical affairs at Stamford Hospital. “Hospitals operate at a very low margin of funds. As those dollars become increasingly scarce, we need to be cognizant to the fact that we are a safe haven for the community 24/7. Business can close for a day and reboot, we don”™t have that luxury.”
St. Vincent”™s Medical Center in Bridgeport has recently become part of 866 Recover, a national emergency management program owned by Service Master. 866 Recover provides resources in case of fire, flooding and other interruptions to continuity of patient care.
Susan Davis, president and CEO of St. Vincent”™s, said hospitals have extensive procedures for emergency situations and conduct disaster drills with their existing risk management team and local emergency management resources.
Another layer of protection
“We”™re well acquainted with emergency planning but this added layer of protection gives us access to national resources we did not have before,” said Davis. “Of course we hope they are never needed. Anything you can do to save time, cost and face in a hospital is important to the operation. Establishing consistent trust in a community is paramount for a hospital; we do that on a daily basis.”
Under the terms of the partnership Service Master will help the hospital access and manage risk related to area-wide disasters such as severe weather, flooding, fire or acts of terrorism.
Paul Plouffe, owner of Service Master Greater Bridgeport, said 866 Recover was born out of the company”™s experience at the Pentagon in the aftermath of 9/11.
“Crews from throughout the Service Master system, from Maine to Miami, were brought in to help with not only the cleanup and reconstruction but also for pre-loss contingency planning should something happen in the future,” said Plouffe.
He said Service Master is recruiting more hospitals and municipalities in the state to join 866 Recover. No Connecticut municipalities are members as of yet, though there are talks with officials in several cities and towns, including Bridgeport, Trumbull, Stratford and Danbury.
Rodis said preparedness relates to safety nets such as an emergency credential generator, which creates a speedy verification process for doctors lent from other hospitals in an emergency.
“These are significant points of the vigilance in a hospital,” said Rodis. “Having multiple campuses is helpful. In Stamford we are fortunate enough to be able to have a route of diversion and can transfer patients with a fare amount of ease. An important aspect is to build depth in redundancies.”
Multiple safety nets ensure status
Rodis said Stamford Hospital”™s medical records have multi-tier emergency backup precautions because of the reliance that is put on them.
Rodis said more than 30 staff members at Stamford Hospital are literate in the emergency preparedness system. The hospital runs four to five drill sessions each year.
Davis said the faster response and more safety nets in place for a hospital the more appreciative a community is in understanding the seriousness with which a hospital takes the status of its ability to offer care.
“There is a big link between risk management and healthcare reform,” said Patrick Broderick, chairman of emergency medicine at Danbury Hospital and president of Danbury Office of Physician Services. “In the current healthcare climate and with reform, doctors and hospitals are expected to provide higher quality care but at a more fiscally responsible way.”
Broderick said just as rational testing and best practice management are becoming stressed points in healthcare reform, so is a responsive and appropriate safety net concerning unforeseen disasters. He said hospital standards require an emergency room to screen for life threatening emergencies first and foremost. He said whenever a hospital declares a limited type of disaster event, a member of the emergency response team is responsible for calculating the costs.
“Being on top of a situation of that type is very important,” said Broderick. “Being able to understand how an incident affects the cost of a hospital is directly related to applying for federal dollars in compensation.”
Incurring damage costs in a hospital can ascend quickly into the hundred thousands of dollars, he said.
