As a not-for-profit community hospital, we feel it is important to share with our community the planning and project implementation that is always underway to bring high quality services to the area as well as a improve the patient experience for all. Below you will find summaries of our past strategic initiatives as well as quarterly updates for the initiatives being undertaken this fiscal year. Should you have any questions about these projects, please contact Atlantic General Hospital administration at 410-641-9600.
View our Strategic Plan for 2011-2015
Fiscal Year 2012
Emergency Room Expansion
AGHS Loyalty Cards and Kiosks
Center of Excellence for Joint Surgery
Kronos
Project Management Software
Fiscal Year 2011
Electronic Archival of Paper Records Purged
Emergency Department Discharge Process
Digital Mammography Services
Non-AGHS Physician office EMR rollout
Ophthalmology Center of Excellence
Fiscal 2012 Budget
Emergency Room Expansion
With the number of Emergency Room visits continuing to rise, Atlantic General Hospital recently created a pilot program to redesign patient flow, converting two registration areas to triage rooms, where patients are first evaluated, and turning the existing triage room into a protocol room. The protocol room is a space where treatment and diagnostics such as blood draws and EKGs can begin, allowing for a more continuous flow of patients even when the emergency room beds are full. This plan has reduced Emergency Room wait times and increased the community’s access to emergency care. Planning for a more permanent change will begin in the fall of 2011.
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AGHS Loyalty Cards and Kiosks
This fiscal year, computer kiosks will be placed in each of the Atlantic General Health System offices. The new system will offer patients the ability to check in for an appointment, update their personal information such as address, marital status and insurance information as necessary, and pay their co-pays for the appointment – all by using their patient loyalty card. The system will help ensure that the most accurate patient information and medical histories are maintained within the electronic health record. The kiosks will feature easy-to-use large button touch screen navigation, PalmSecure identification, patient summary screens, a credit card magnetic swipe, and multi-language support.
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Center of Excellence for Joint Surgery
This fiscal year, Atlantic General Hospital is continuing to improve the patient care experience in its Center for Joint Surgery with the goal of evolving the program into a nationally-recognized Center of Excellence that provides patients with the ultimate healing environment – world-class physicians, specially chosen for skill in orthopedic joint replacement, combined with an effective program designed to educate and rehabilitate, through advanced preoperative care, enhanced inpatient experience, and coordinated after-care. Atlantic General Hospital Joint Center specializes in knee, hip and shoulder replacement.
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Kronos
Kronos is a staff scheduling software system that furthers Atlantic General Hospital’s e-strategy plan to increase efficiency of hospital operations, thereby allowing the organization to intensify their focus on improving the overall patient care experience.
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Project Management Software
This plan will establish a Project Management Office (PMO) for information services, which is a software program that will be used to track Atlantic General’s strategic initiatives and provide standardized status updates for all projects. This initiative is of tremendous importance in a time when large-scale information technology projects are the pathway to a more patient-centered model of care and improved quality measures for healthcare organizations nationwide.
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Fiscal 2011 Budget
Electronic Archival of Paper Records Purged
This plan calls for Atlantic General Hospital to scan older records that need to be purged from the main department (2008 Emergency Department, Inpatient, and Outpatient Surgeries), moving them into an electronic environment thus eliminating the need to box and store them in a warehouse. The paper records once scanned, indexed, and checked for quality, will be destroyed as outlined in the Medical Records Destruction Policy. Recently discharged medical records will be scanned; indexing, analysis, deficiency management, quality checks, release of information, auditing, and some coding electronically will be performed, resulting in:
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Improved patient satisfaction because past and recent historical information will be readily available to patients as the archive builds over time.
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Improved physician/provider satisfaction because historical information will be readily available to providers as the archive builds over time.
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Greater efficiency for the Medical Records Department – information will be retrieved easily and can be faxed from the work station instead of from a separate fax machine.
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Improved control and security of information through audit trails, thus complying with HIPAA and HITECH requirements.
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Elimination of significant space issues for the Medical Records Department and the warehouse.
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Elimination of risk of lost patient records.
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Improved productivity in all positions in the departments.
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Integration of back-scanned records and adequate infrastructure to support implementation of the Medical Record tools of the “E”-Strategy initiative.
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Emergency Department Discharge Process
Implementing this plan will allow Atlantic General Hospital to schedule future services for Emergency Department patients with a follow up physician(s) visit if required, to counsel patients on various Medicaid programs available and the AGH/HS Financial Assistance Program, and to collect any amounts due resulting in:
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Improved customer service.
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Better patient education on the various programs available.
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Screening and assistance for patients applying for Medicaid and our Financial Assistance programs.
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Digital Mammography Services
This plan is designed to restructure the Women’s Diagnostic Center into a filmless and paperless environment by purchasing a digital mammography unit. The current service/process causes dissatisfaction among referral base and increased operating expenses. This plan will result in an increase in patient visits, increase in patient and provider satisfaction, reduced radiation exposure and reduced film and accessory expense.
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Non-AGHS Physician office EMR rollout
A non-AGHS physician office EMR (Electronic Medical Record) rollout will allow four independent physicians immediate access to the e-prescribing functionality and critical interaction checking (lab-drug, allergy-drug interaction, etc.). The inclusion of additional providers within the EMR will result in more clinically complete and accurate patient records, which in turn are available to all providers as needed.
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Ophthalmology Center of Excellence
Atlantic General Hospital will establish an Ophthalmology Center of Excellence, beginning with AGH partnering with local ophthalmologists and ending in the expansion of services to include retina surgery. The current structure does not allow for more complex eye surgeries such as those involving the retina. As a result, patients are traveling longer distances to other hospitals for this service. The initiative will result in increased service availability to the community within an already exiting patient friendly environment.
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