Before the AF4Q Language Quality Improvement Collaborative (LQIC), staff at Valley Medical Center in Renton, Wash., part of the Puget Sound Alliance, thought language services processes were hardwired, but discovered there were gaps – especially when it came to communicating the patients’ preferred language to clinical staff. In addition to making changes to their registration system, the team educated providers, added a language category to the daily census sheet, placed “I Speak [language]” reminders in patient charts and in the patient room, created an “...
Compared to all other Truman Medical Center (TMC) patients, those with heart failure (HF) were found to have twice the number of emergency department visits, five times the number of hospitalizations and five times the cost. To tackle this issue, TMC, part of the Kansas City Alliance and a member of the AF4Q Equity Quality Improvement Collaborative (EQIC), implemented a standardized approach to HF education at discharge, called “Living with Heart Failure.” A health coach uses this to reinforce self-management skills during post-discharge follow-up calls. For those who also...