Northern Westchester Hospital Receives National Award for Emergency Department Care

Hospital Reaches Top 1% in Nation for Patient Satisfaction Scores

Westchester County, NY-October 14, 2009-Northern Westchester Hospital (NWH), one of only nine hospitals in the United States to have achieved the coveted Planetree Hospital Designation, announced today that NWH and members of its staff received the 2009 National Best Practice Planetree Award for Evidence-Based Methods for successfully redesigning the NWH Emergency Department (ED) processes that directly impact patient treatment and care. 

This highly effective process redesign enabled NWH to reach the top 1% in the United States in patient satisfaction as measured by the Press Ganey performance measurement survey.

Commenting on the reasons for undertaking this project, Joel Seligman, NWH President and CEO said, "The NWH Emergency Department meets the highest standards of technological and clinical excellence and our goal with the ED processes redesign project was to make the patient experience at NWH equally outstanding.  The Planetree National Best Practice Award marks our success in making the NWH Emergency Department a truly patient centered care facility." 

NWH is projecting more than 28,000 visits in 2009 with over 50% of the admissions arriving through the Emergency Department.  An elaborate two year project to examine and streamline the processes in the NWH ED commenced in March 2007 with more than 50 staff members from across the Hospital, as well as members of the local volunteer ambulance corps.  Redesign teams met weekly over five months and examined three key processes: Pre Hospital Care / EMS Process; Patient Flows through the ED; and the ED Admission Process.  The teams were charged with improving processes that would increase patient care, including shortening wait times.  The three teams took an "end to end" view of all related processes, starting with the initial ambulance call in the field and continuing through patient discharge from the ED.

The result has been a major redesign of the existing Emergency Department.  NWH patients now experience streamlined admissions that enable faster initiation of treatment, more personal patient care and substantially shorter wait times before seeing a physician.  Importantly, patients are kept informed throughout every step of treatment, including details about their treatment and how long it will take.  Improved communications with patients has been an integral part of the project's success.

Through the generosity of the Northern Westchester Community and Mary and David Boies, NWH is building a new Emergency Department that will be a state-of-the-art facility with 25 private treatment rooms and separate areas for adults, children and psychiatric patients.  The new emergency department will feature a Pediatric Suite and a new Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M. LaMotta "Fast Track Program", while basing the overall design upon the Planetree patient-focused healing model of care.

About The Planetree Patient-Centered Hospital Designation Program

The Planetree Patient-Centered Hospital Designation Program is designed to provide a level of consistency in what it means to be a patient-centered hospital while still continuing to promote individuality and innovation in the delivery of care.  In order to achieve designation, a hospital must undergo a rigorous, yet collaborative process to verify that it has successfully implemented programs that meet the spirit and intent of the designation criteria.  Designated hospitals are nationally recognized by The Joint Commission, which has approved the Planetree designation program as one of the awards that it will recognize on its Quality Check website by featuring the designation in the special quality awards section of each designated hospital's profile. A complete list of Planetree hospitals is available at www.planetree.org.

About Northern Westchester Hospital

Northern Westchester Hospital (NWH) provides quality, patient centered care through the right combination of medical expertise, leading edge technology, and a commitment to humanity.  Over 600 highly skilled physicians, state-of-the-art technology and professional staff of caregivers are all in place to ensure that you and your family receive treatment in a caring, respectful and nurturing environment.

NWH has established extensive internal quality measurements that surpass the standards defined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA) National Hospital Quality Measures.  Our high quality standards help to ensure that the treatment you receive at NWH is among the best in the nation.  For a complete list of our services, please visit www.nwhc.net.

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For more information:

Mark R. Vincent
Northern Westchester Hospital
(914) 666-1230

markvincent@nwhc.net

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