Kuakini Joins a Nationwide Initiative to Improve Patient Care and Satisfaction in the Emergency Services Department

Kuakini Medical Center (Kuakini) and 13 other hospitals across the U.S. have joined a two-year Emergency Department Safety Initiative with Premier, a national health care alliance, to improve safety, efficiencies and patient satisfaction in the emergency department (ED).

The participating hospitals, which represent more than 730,000 annual ED visits, admissions and discharges, will work together towards better treatment outcomes in the ED through efficient teamwork and communication among initiative participants. By sharing with and learning from other emergency health care professionals, the initiative team will identify best practices for managing potentially high-risk patients. The initiative will first target ED patients with chest or abdominal pain.

EDs account for 10 percent of all ambulatory care in the U.S., with more than 116 million patients visiting them annually (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), a 26 percent increase since 1996. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, abdominal pain is the fourth highest principal reason for all ED visits in the country, with 4,622,700 visits in 2007. Nonspecific chest pain is the fifth highest principal reason for all ED visits in the country, with 3,766,469 visits in 2007.

Other participating hospitals include: Eisenhower Medical Center - Rancho Mirage, Calif., Methodist Medical Center of Illinois - Peoria, Ill., Baptist Hospital East - Louisville, Ky., Baptist Hospital Northeast - LaGrange, Ky., Baptist Regional Medical Center - Corbin, Ky., Central Baptist Hospital - Lexington, Ky., Western Baptist Hospital - Paducah, Ky., Baystate Medical Center (Baystate Health) - Springfield, Mass., Fairview Southdale Hospital (Fairview Health Services) - Edina, Minn., Presbyterian Hospital, (Presbyterian Healthcare Services) - Albuquerque, N.M., Summa Akron City Hospital (Summa Health System) - Akron, Ohio, Johnson City Medical Center (Mountain States Health Alliance) - Johnson City, Tenn. and Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas (Texas Health Resources).