Joint Commission Logo

The Joint Commission, in conjunction with The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, recently recognized St. Rose Dominican Hospitals-Rose de Lima Campus with Advanced Certification for Primary Stroke Centers. With this new Primary Stroke Center certification, all three St. Rose Dominican Hospitals are certified as Primary Stroke Centers by The Joint Commission. The Siena Campus earned its certification in September 2010 while the San Martín Campus in southwest Las Vegas earned its certification one year ago.

Achievement of Primary Stroke Center Certification signifies an organization’s dedication to fostering better outcomes for patients. The Rose de Lima Campus’ Primary Stroke Center Certification has demonstrated that their program meets critical elements of performance to achieve long-term success in improving outcomes for stroke patients.

The Rose de Lima Campus underwent a rigorous on-site review in September where a Joint Commission expert reviewed its compliance with the requirements for The Joint Commission’s Disease-Specific Care Certification program as well as primary stroke center requirements, such as collecting Joint Commission core measure data and using it for performance improvement activities.

“In achieving Joint Commission advanced certification, the Rose de Lima Campus has demonstrated its commitment to the highest level of care for its stroke patients,” says Jean Range, M.S., R.N., C.P.H.Q. executive director, Disease-Specific Care Certification, The Joint Commission. “Certification is a voluntary process and The Joint Commission commends St. Rose for successfully undertaking this challenge at all three of its hospitals to elevate its standard of care and instill confidence in the community it serves.”

Developed in collaboration with the American Stroke Association and launched in 2003, The Joint Commission’s Primary Stroke Center Certification program is based on the Brain Attack Coalition’s “Recommendations for the Establishment of Primary Stroke Centers.” Certification is available only to stroke programs in Joint Commission-accredited acute care hospitals.

“St. Rose Dominican Hospitals is thoroughly committed to providing our patients the highest quality stroke care centered on current scientific research to ensure continued improvement in treatment,” said Rod Davis, president and CEO of St. Rose Dominican Hospitals and senior vice president of operations, Dignity Health Nevada. “In addition to The Joint Commission accreditation, the Primary Stroke Center Certification has given us the opportunity to highlight the exceptional stroke care we provide for our patients, and help us improve care overall for our community.”

St. Rose Dominican Hospitals-Rose de Lima Campus will now be able to display The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® and the American Heart Association Heart-Check mark for their Advanced Certification for Primary Stroke Centers. Displaying the seal and Heart-Check mark signifies that St. Rose is providing the “next generation of stroke or heart failure care” and will help patients easily identify this hospital as one of quality that has surpassed numerous goals in the treatment of stroke.

St. Rose Quality Care Network Launches with 600 Physicians

Physician Network Aims to Improve the Quality and Efficiency of Patient Care

The St. Rose Quality Care Network, LLC, a physician-driven and physician-led clinical integration organization, launched with 600 community physicians participating in the network.

St. Rose Quality Care Network (SRQCN) is a network of physicians who are united in a proactive, common-sense approach to health care reform and committed to improving quality of care and patient outcomes, as well as the efficiency and cost of the care provided. The SRQCN allows physicians to collectively negotiate with health plans while demonstrating their ability to achieve certain quality benchmarks.

This summer, 24 of the founding physicians and two hospital managers officially formed SRQCN by filing with the State of Nevada to become a limited liability company and establishing its Board of Managers. In addition, several members of the SRQCN’s leadership team traveled to Washington D.C. and presented SRQCN’s mission, quality program, operational capabilities and physician governance to the Federal Trade Commission. The success of this meeting marked the culmination of a year-long organizational process and a milestone that enables SRQCN to continue its development and start actively engaging insurance companies once its clinical integration technology system is implemented.

“The 600 physicians who joined the St. Rose Quality Care Network are a diverse group who share a common understanding that implementing programs to improve communication, reduce errors and use evidence-based practices will result in a higher level of quality in the medical care delivered to patients. Improving quality in medicine will result in a healthier population that is less likely to place additional demands on an already burdened system,” said Dr. Arthur Herpolsheimer, SRQCN Chairman of the Board.

SRQCN is a clinical integration organization, a collective network of independent physicians who commit to holding one another accountable for best practices in order to achieve quality and efficiency goals. SRQCN is not an accountable care organization (ACO). ACOs are usually associated with federal health care reform and, in particular, the Medicare Shared Savings Program.

“With much of the nation focused on health care reform, we, as providers, are certain that significant changes are ahead for every aspect of our health care delivery system,” said Rod Davis, president and CEO of St. Rose Dominican Hospitals and senior vice president of operations, Dignity Health Nevada. “The development of the physician-led St. Rose Quality Care Network is a major step toward building a clinical integration program that will drive improvements in quality and efficiency.”

SRQCN will combine hospital and physician office data to help physicians monitor and manage patient outcomes. Physicians will be able to access and track their own performance; analyze patient outcomes and aggregate data; accept multiple means of data submission; and apply custom data inputs, initiative guidelines and performance benchmarks. Among the goals of the physician-led network are reducing unnecessary and redundant tests and screenings, improving efficiency and controlling the cost of care. The program’s initiatives are designed to achieve improvement in health care quality and effectiveness.

“As health care is currently changing from fee-for-service to fee-for-quality, St. Rose Quality Care Network is our attempt to address this movement toward health care reform and assemble a structure that we can drive and influence rather than waiting for someone else to tell us how to change,” said Dr. Robert Gong, SRQCN Quality Committee Chairman. “This is a physician-driven and physician-led network that is united in its commitment to improving quality care and patient outcomes across the continuum of care.”