• Matching our program size to clinical resources in order to support excellent training and clinical experiences for our learners

• Maintaining fiscal responsibility to ensure institutional and program viability and durability

• Creating opportunities for professionals in the community to enhance the educational experiences of our learners by participating in the academic process

• Recruiting excellent learners whose talent, ambition, hard work and compassion, strengthens the overall mission and vision of Mercy as a major academic organization

As part of its commitment to excellence in graduate medical education, Mercy will be recognized for:

• Improving the health of the community we serve

• Fostering a corporate and institutional environment that is encouraging and conducive to learning, patient safety and quality care

• A strong commitment to both allopathic and osteopathic disciplines

• Encouraging use of innovative methodologies and research in education and patient care

• Achieving full accreditation for its institutions and the programs by the accrediting organizations

• Striving to match its training programs to current and anticipated manpower needs, particularly of its community and that of the system through prioritization and coordination of program offerings.

AWARDS

Catholic Health Partners Named One of the Nation's Top Ten Health Systems for a Second Year

For the second year in a row, Catholic Healthcare Partners (CHP) has been ranked as one of the nation's top ten health systems by Thompson Reuters, a national research firm that reviews hospitals and health systems for quality and cost of care. CHP was recognized, along with nine other hospital systems, for setting the national standards for excellence in balanced performance.

CHP is the parent company of Mercy. Data on the clinical outcomes from Mercy's seven hospitals in Northwest Ohio were included in the data studies by Thompson Reuters.

According to Michael Connelly, president and CEO of Catholic Healthcare Partners, the distinction gives further evidence that the health system is maintaining its goal of excellence in healthcare. "We are honored to be recognized again as a Thompson Reuters Top 10 Health System. We are not only the largest health system ranked in the top 10, but we are the only Catholic system and one of only three multi-state systems to earn this independently verified recognition. We are delighted at this recognition of our continuing efforts to improve and enhance clinical quality and patient safety."

based on this year's assessment, the Top 10 health systems have 12.3 percent fewer mortalities, 13.2 percent fewer complications and 5.4 percent better patient safety than peer systems. Additionally, the firm noted that the average length of stay was more than half a day shorter than similar systems and patient had better longer-term outcomes.

HealthGrades recognizes St. Charles for outstanding patient experience

Mercy St. Charles Hospital is the recipient of the Outstanding Patient Experience AwardTM for 2009. This award places Mercy St. Charles Hospital in the top 15 percent of hospitals nationwide. Awardees were determined based on HCAHPS patient satisfaction scores. HCAHPS scores for 2,592 hospitals were analyzed for the award.

St. Vincent is recognized for best practice by JCAHO

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) recognizes St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center as a best practice model for its medication reconciliation program, which accurately ensures that all medications a patient is taking, both prescription and over the counter, are safe and do not interfere with one another.

As a result of the recognition, JCAHO profiled St. Vincent and Mercy Children's Hospital in its "Focus on Medication Reconciliation" educational program. Through the program, St. Vincent and Mercy Children's were profiled as a model for hospitals across the country on how to implement a medication reconciliation program successfully.  In the video, Kelley Shultz, M.D., and others from St. Vincent and Mercy Children's speak about the importance of having an effective reconciliation process and the steps taken to implement this process in Mercy Health Partners' Electronic Health Record.

JCAHO is the nation's predominant standards-setting and accrediting body in health care, evaluating and accrediting more than 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. 

In 2006, JCAHO established a new goal requiring all hospitals to accurately reconcile medications, including home medications, vitamins and herbals, across the continuum of care.

"Medication errors are one of the most common causes of sentinel events and can be widely prevented through the creation of a medication reconciliation program," said Dr. Shultz, assistant director of Inpatient Pediatrics for Mercy Children's Hospital.  "By creating additional measures, we are working to ensure patient safety, which is our number one goal."

St. Vincent created a computerized program that flags potential medication errors and allows for the physician to review them before medications are administered.  The system can also provide detailed instructions to patients upon discharge about their medications.  In addition, the hospital uses Admin-RX, a hand held electronic device that scans and matches the barcodes on a patient's wrist band, the nurse's identification badge and the medication.

"Hospitals and care providers all across the country are struggling with medication reconciliation.  To be recognized as one of the leaders is a huge honor and a reflection of the dedication of our medical, nursing and ancillary staffs," Dr. Shultz said.

Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education awards five year accreditation to Mercy Health Partners' teaching hospitals  and commends Mercy Health Partners Graduate Medical Education for its "Best Practices" - June 5, 2006

The Institutional Review Committee(IRC), which is a standing committee of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education(ACGME) that accredits 702 sponsoring institutions across the nation, recently reviewed Mercy and its teaching hospitals for accreditation.

Mercy was awarded "Continued Accreditation" for 5 years with no citations or concerns. Our next site visit will be in April of 2011.  This places Mercy in the top decile in the country for GME(Graduate Medical Education) quality and is a testimony to its standards of excellence for graduate medical education. The committee went further in its commendation by citing Mercy's use of Best Practices.

Quoting from the letter from the ACGME "The IRC commends the institution on its best practices and encourages the GMEC (Graduate Medical Education Committee) to continue its efforts to support excellence in GME."  In particular, The IRC noted the institution's adaptation of the Balanced Score Card approach as an organizational tool to create accountabilities, transparency, and alignment of resources with its GME initiatives."

This high praise from the ACGME confirms what everyone in GME at Mercy have long known, medical education at Mercy ranks with the best in the country.