Olean General Hospital

Programs: In 2016, olean general hospital (ogh) discharged approximately 6,400 patients and provided services to approximately 210,000 outpatient visitors. Ogh includes 186 patient rooms, together with comprehensive patient, administrative and physician services and accommodations to meet the diagnostic, treatment, administrative and educational needs of its patients and medical staff. Ogh offers patients and their families a full range of diagnostic and medical services, as well as many specialty services. A wide array of multi-specialty physicians and clinicians offer services ranging from cancer, cardiac and vascular care, ob/gyn, general surgery, urology, women's health, internal medicine, pediatrics, sleep medicine, and psychiatric care. Highlighted below are some of the initiatives that were realized in 2016 at ogh. 2016 financial performance- ogh had an operating loss of ($3. 2m) compared with a 2015 gain of $1. 675m. The operating loss was the result of two primary factors, a drop in inpatient volume and upward pressure on key operating expenses. - in 2016 ogh's board of directors voted to become part of the kaleida health system, a buffalo, new york-based health system. This decision was based on a five year long-term financial plan that was developed for ogh and its sister hospital under ogh's parent company - upper allegheny health system (uahs), which demonstrated a future inability to remain financially viable given the downward pressures on revenue in the health care industry as well as rising costs to provide care. Ogh is not unique in this vulnerable position. Hospitals across america, especially rural hospitals, face a daunting challenge of survival. Significant time was spent analyzing ogh's and uahs' finances and evaluating kaleida health as a partner. A decision to affiliate was made in the fall of 2016. Ogh's management expects the affiliation to be completed in 2017. Financial improvement of over $10m annually at uahs is expected under the affiliation plan. 2016 quality matters:- physician electronic documentation (pdoc)- ogh began rolling out this physician documentation system that then feeds into the electronic health record of our patients. This is a significant change from dictating, scanning and copying into the electronic health record. The full roll-out will take well into 2017 to complete. - ogh underwent a successful survey by the joint commission in 2016. Amongst other benefits, the survey is required in order to participate with medicare. Ogh received a full three year accreditation. - ogh began education around a "just culture organization" in 2016. The just culture is a system of shared accountability where management is accountable for the systems they have designed and to responding to the behaviors of their staff in a fair and equitable manner and where employees are held accountable for the quality of their choices and for reporting errors and system vulnerabilities. Information technology- ogh continued to expand the usage of its physician documentation software making it available in the emergency department. Electronic physician documentation systems help standardize physician documentation to ensure required data elements are captured and patient care is delivered in accordance with evidence based practice. Also, since data is entered as discrete elements, it allows for improved quality reporting and monitoring. Finally, electronic physician documentation eliminates the potential for transcription errors. - ogh expanded the usage of its electronic medication prescribing system (erx) to include controlled substances. Erx systems allow health care providers to send prescriptions electronically to a patient's pharmacy. E-prescribing is convenient for patients, helps reduce transcription errors, and can reduce fraud associated with traditional paper prescriptions. - ogh implemented the meditech emergency department management solution. This allows all care providers to document in the same electronic health record (ehr) thus ensuring everyone involved in the patient's care has immediate access to the latest clinical data. It eliminated the need for staff to document the same information in two separate systems thereby eliminating transcription errors. Also, by centralizing all data into meditech, it will allow uahs to create enhanced data reports that incorporate clinical data from both the ed and inpatient stay. Operations/programs- a comprehensive program of employee engagement was organized and implemented at ogh. The program acknowledges the value of each and every employee in taking care of our patients and provides an opportunity to interact with employees as they do their jobs.