Voice of Stephanie Salazar

Governor Neil Abercrombie stopped by for a visit to the Hilo area on Tuesday, and it was the governor’s busiest schedule on the east side of Hawaii Island since he took office.

The day begins at Keaukaha Elementary shortly after 8 a.m. where the Governor was briefed on the Aquaponic System installed at the school.

An hour later, Abercrombie arrived at Hilo Medical Center, where he attended the Trauma Level 3 Celebration.

The Hawaii Department of Health, Emergency Medical Services and Injury Prevention Branch, has awarded both Hilo Medical Center and Kona Community Hospital the new designation following an intensive and rigorous survey process.

Hospital officials say Level III status means Hawaii County is better equipped to reduce death rates from trauma, which is critical given the high number of serious motor vehicle and ocean-related accidents. Hilo Medical Center and Kona Community Hospital Trauma Teams combined responded to over 464 “activations” in which these teams were fully assembled prior to the patient’s arrival at the hospitals.

After the hospital, the governor attended the dedication ceremony for the University of Hawai’i – Hilo’s new Science and Technology Building.

The new $25 million dollar facility, located at the corner of Lanikaula and Nowelo Streets, spans more than 42,000 square feet and fulfills the need for additional classrooms, office space and new state-of- the-art laboratories for UH Hilo’s expanding Physics, Astronomy and Chemistry programs.

The University expects to serve more than 1,700 students at the building daily.

After the dedication, it was up the street to the Imiloa Astronomy Center, where the Governor will be attended the Hawai’i Island Chamber Luncheon.

Finally, at 2 pm., the governor was serenaded at the East Hawaii State Office building, where a large crowd gathered to recognize volunteers.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Video for this report comes from a variety of sources: Lynn Beittel of Visionary Video filmed the UH-Hilo stop, while Tim Bryan captured the state building ceremony. Mahalo to Daniel Morii for providing video on behalf of the Hilo Medical Center showing the governor’s visit to the hospital. Still photos courtesy the Office of the Governor.

Media release | Hilo Medical Center

HILO MEDICAL CENTER AWARDED GOLD SEAL OF APPROVAL FOR NATIONAL ACCREDITATION FROM THE JOINT COMMISSION

Hilo, February 22, 2011 – Hilo Medical Center, its Home Care Program and eight Outpatient Clinics have earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval™ for accreditation. The accreditation award recognizes Hilo Medical Center’s dedication to continuous compliance with national standards. The medical facility and its staff underwent a rigorous unannounced on-site survey from January 31 through February 4, covering 400 standards on quality and safety.

A team of Joint Commission expert surveyors evaluated Hilo Medical Center for compliance with standards of care specific to the needs of patients, including infection prevention and control, facility safety, leadership and medication management. The survey team found 2 Direct Impact Findings and 12 Indirect Impact Findings. Two weeks after the survey, most findings have already been corrected with the remaining corrections scheduled to be achieved by April.

“Hilo Medical Center had an exceptional survey in comparison to the national average of 5 Direct Findings and 14 Indirect Findings,” said Gail Rhoades, Quality Manager at Hilo Medical Center. “Hilo Medical Center dramatically improved from the last survey of three years ago when we received 9 Direct Findings and, for a time, was only ‘conditionally accredited’ with the Joint Commission.”

The Home Care Department, surveyed separately, received no findings and achieved an extremely rare perfect survey. Under the hospital survey, the Emergency Department, Operating Room, Medical Unit, Laulima Unit, Overflow Unit, Intensive Care Unit and Environment of Care/Facilities Group also had no Direct findings in their areas. During the exit report, surveyors provided extraordinary commendations for the hospital’s models of excellence in its Trauma Program, Behavior Health Unit, Oncology Clinic (Hawaii Pacific Oncology Center), and Home Health Department.

“In achieving Joint Commission accreditation, Hilo Medical Center, Home Care and Outpatient Clinics have demonstrated their commitment to the highest level of care for its patients,” said Mark Pelletier, R.N., M.S., Executive Director of Hospital Programs, Accreditation and Certification Services for The Joint Commission. “Accreditation is a voluntary process and I commend Hilo Medical Center for successfully undertaking this challenge to elevate its standard of care and instill confidence in the community it serves.”

“This year’s Joint Commission survey results illustrate our employees and physicians’ commitment to being in a constant state of preparedness,” said Howard N. Ainsley, East Hawaii Regional CEO of Hawaii Health Systems Corporation. “Achieving Joint Commission accreditation represents a major feat in our ability to maintain excellence and continuously improve the care we provide. I thank everyone for their dedication to their hospital.”

The Joint Commission’s hospital standards address important functions relating to the care of patients and the management of hospitals. The standards are developed in consultation with health care experts, providers, measurement experts and patients. Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission seeks to continuously improve health care for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value. The organization evaluates and accredits more than 18,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. It also provides certification of more than 1,700 disease-specific care programs, primary stroke centers, and health care staffing services.

The Joint Commission’s Home Care Accreditation Program, established in 1988, accredits more than 5,600 organizations. An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Learn more about The Joint Commission at www.jointcommission.org.

Video by David Corrigan, Baron Sekiya | Voice of Stephanie Salazar

The East Hawaii Region of Hawaii Health Systems Corporation held a press conference at the Hilo Medical Center on Thursday, to announce they are in the hunt for upwards of $7 million in federal stimulus funds, thanks to the recent implementation of its Electronic Medical Record system.

Its a historic first in the united States. Over 100 other hospitals from across the country are eligible to begin the process of achieving “meaningful use” with their electronic medical records system. HHSC joins those hospitals in trying to qualify for the massive incentive payments intended to reward the upgrades.

Officials say this program is accelerating the transformation of healthcare by moving the country closer to nationwide interoperable electronic patient records. Hospitals that fail to effectively implement an EMR will face decreased payments for patients covered by government-insurance programs such as Medicare, beginning in 2013.

Hospital officials were thrilled with the opportunity.

“The Regional Board is most appreciative of the Health Connect team and realizes this has been an extra burden for everyone,” said Dr. Robert Irvine, Chair of East Hawaii Regional Board for HHSC, in a media release. “We applaud the Health Connect Team for their hard work and success. We anticipate improvement of care for all of our patients as a result of this.”

“The fact that we stand to receive approximately $7 million in stimulus funds is exceptional news for the people of Hawaii County,” said Howard N. Ainsley, East Hawaii Region CEO of East Hawaii Region of HHSC. “This EMR will provide safer care and it is in the best interest of our patients. I would like to commend our dedicated employees and physicians for their hard work and commitment to get this done.”

“I can assure you that our journey will not end here with Meaningful Use,” said Money Atwal, East Hawaii Regional CIO and CFO of East Hawaii Region of HHSC. “HMC will continue to invest in new technology that will improve clinical outcomes, promote physician alignment, enhance patient and employee satisfaction, and assist in strengthening the financial sustainability of the hospital.”

Atwal added: “Our project team continues to work with our physicians and clinicians to optimize the workflows to support the new technology. A tremendous amount of work and energy is being put forth by our employees to improve the patient experience through new technology and training.”

In 2009, the hospital began to organize funds, staff and resources to transition to the Electronic Medical Record system.

On May 1, 2010, Hilo Medical Center was the first State hospital to launch the system, named “Health Connect” by employees. It is projected to cost $5 million over 3 years.

In preparation for HMC’s transition, over 800 employees and 200 active staff physicians completed Health Connect training classes. In December 2010, East Hawaii Region sister hospital, Ka’u Hospital, and HMC’s outpatient clinics (including the residency program’s clinic) initiated their EMR transition. Hale Ho’ola Hamakua is scheduled to be brought onto the system in late 2011 with community physician offices to follow.

Even aside from the chance to earn millions in stimulus incentives, Atwal says the Health Connect system has been a success.

Hawaii247.com contributed video to this report.

The following media release was issued by the Hilo Medical Center:

After nearly a year of training and preparation, Hilo Medical Center (HMC) became the first public hospital in Hawaii Health Systems Corporation (HHSC) to convert to an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system on May 1. The purpose of transitioning to the EMR system is aimed at improving patient care and safety and the hospital’s financial performance.

The new EMR system, named Health Connect by HMC employees, was produced by MEDITECH and will cost $3 million over the next 5 years. It enables the hospital to connect electronically with internal and external physicians and other service providers to ensure the best possible care for hospital patients. The system also streamlines operational activities to improve efficiencies, which translates into better collections and more timely reimbursements from insurance and government providers. In subsequent phases of the project, both sister facilities, Ka’u Hospital and Hale Ho’ola Hamakua, in the East Hawaii Region will be brought onto the system along with physician offices in the community.

“We are extremely proud of our staff for their efforts to transition HMC and the rest of our region into the EMR system,” said Howard N. Ainsley, East Hawaii Regional CEO of Hawaii Health Systems Corporation. “Our success would not have been possible without their commitment and willingness to embrace this significant change in our operations. I also want to thank the East Hawaii Regional Board for their support of this project,”

Throughout the course of ramping up for the transition, over 800 employees completed training and all physicians with hospital privileges attended the Health Connect training classes. The physicians now have around the clock access to the patient record including digitally stored Radiological images like x-rays, CT scans and MRIs, dictated reports, all laboratory test results, review of orders, nursing notes, medication, Emergency Department visit information, long-term care charts from home, office and everywhere in between. All departments except the Operating Room department have transitioned to the Health Connect system.

“While HMC has much to do during this transition and stabilization phase of the project, the feat accomplished by the project team and employees is no small achievement or undertaking,” said Money Atwal , East Hawaii Regional Chief Information Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Hawaii Health Systems Corporation. “ Hilo Medical Center will continue to push forward with the goal and vision of achieving meaningful use by 2011.”

Hilo Medical Center received an $800,000 grant from the HMSA Initiative for Innovation and Quality (HI-IQ) for the Health Connect project. The HMSA program is an effort to transform health care in Hawaii by funding innovative advancements in healthcare. The HI-IQ project provides $50 million available in financial assistance to help Hawaii hospitals implement technology solutions to make the state’s health care system more effective and efficient.

In addition, Hilo Medical Center is working to obtain incentivized stimulus funds that were made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to encourage a nationwide transition to Electronic Health Record. Hospitals like HMC’s Health Connect project that support improvements in patient care and outcomes are able to receive this financial support. In order to receive funds from the ARRA hospitals must meet certain criteria called “meaningful use” by 2011 and be near completion by 2013.

Meaningful use criteria includes:

• Using drug-drug, drug-allergy drug-formulary checking;
• Maintaining a problem list of active diagnoses based on ICD-9 or SNOMED;
• Maintaining active medication and medication allergy lists;
• Electronically recording advanced directives, patient vital signs and smoking status
• Implementing 1 clinical decision support rule for high-priority conditions
• Checking insurance eligibility and submitting claims electronically
• Providing patients an electronic copy of their health record.
• Performing electronic medication reconciliation.
• Electronically reporting quality measures to CMS.

Hospitals that have started on their EMR journey are eligible for stimulus funds while those who wait are at risk for reduced Medicare and Medicaid payments as well as government penalties for noncompliance. October 1, 2010 CMS will begin to increase hospital reimbursements based on the “meaningful use” incentive criteria. The estimates range up to in excess of $3-5 million of additional reimbursement for HMC.

Hilo Medical Center’s official Health Connect Baby is Myah Palisbo. (photo above, with family) She was born at 6:30 am on May 1. She is the first baby born into the electronic medical record system. Her complete record will accompany her throughout her care at Hilo Medical Center .

The Hilo Medical Center has released a timeline of the hospital’s emergency preparation on February 27th, the day that Hawaii scrambled under the threat of a tsunami that ultimately spared the islands from damage.

“Hilo Medical Center has an effective process and plan for responding to emergency situations like the recent tsunami event,” said Howard N. Ainsley, East Hawaii Regional CEO of Hawaii Health Systems Corporation. “It was very evident that our staff dedicates countless hours of training to ready the hospital on a moment’s notice.”

According to the Hilo Medical Center, personnel began to mobilize the moment they received notice of the approaching tsunami, in the early morning hours on Saturday.

2:30 am: Department of Health Hawaii District Health Office contacted Tracy Aruga , HMC Environmental Safety Officer/HAH’s (Healthcare Association of Hawaii) HI Island Area Coordinator. He reported to the Hawaii County Civil Defense Emergency Operations Center for a briefing on the situation

4:00 am: HMC Environmental Safety Officer/HAH’s HI Island Area Coordinator briefed Reggie Agliam, HMC House Supervisor, of tsunami event.  He also briefed the other East and West Hawai`i healthcare facilities.

4:18 am: HMC Environmental Safety Officer/HAH’s HI Island Area Coordinator connected to hospitals statewide including HMC via HAH’s Web Emergency Operations Center (WebEOC).

5:00 am: HMC Environmental Safety Officer/HAH’s HI Island Area Coordinator briefed Arthur Sampaga , HMC Emergency Management Coordinator, of tsunami event.

5:45 am: HMC’s Hospital Command Center (HCC) opened and manned by HMC Emergency Management Coordinator.

6:00 am: HMC assessed for staffing, logistical resources, and status of campus utilities such as fuel levels for emergency generators and medical gas/oxygen inventories; created a list of possible patient discharges to anticipate incoming tsunami casualties; and researched if there were any HMC home-care patients who lived in evacuation zone (none identified).

6:30 am: On-call administrator, Dan Brinkman , Regional Chief Nurse Executive, assumed leadership role of Incident Commander for the Hospital Command Center .

6:45 am: Hospital Command Center staffed with Command Chiefs and Section Leaders.

7:00 am: HMC participated in HAH statewide conference call.  Incident Action Plan developed for the first 4 operational hours. 

8:00 am: All department heads and charge shift personnel briefed at Command Center .

9:00 am: HMC’s Residency and Pediatrics Clinics on Mohouli Street secured in tsunami zone.

10:00 am: HMC participated in conference call with HAH for a statewide update on situational status.  IAP updated.

10:30 am: Complete assessment of up coming shifts and patient census performed in anticipation of prolonged event.

10:30 am-2:30 pm: HMC stood ready for approaching tsunami and its after effects.

2:00 pm: All clear given for tsunami threat. HMC Incident Commander terminated HCC operations.

Hilo Medical Center says that the hospital’s emergency personnel “had to assess the facility’s capacity and ability to care for and feed patients. The Maintenance Department checked and prepared emergency infrastructure to keep services going in the event a power outage would have occurred. The Pharmacy Department reported its supply of medication. The Operating Room rearranged the operating schedule. In addition, physicians were available to assure care. Departments that reported to the Hospital Command Center include: Nursing, Emergency, Imaging, Patient Services, Human Resources, Maintenance, Housekeeping, Bio-Medical, Dietary, Pharmacy, and Security.”

Dr. Robert Irvine, Chair of the East Hawaii Regional Board, reflected on the institutions’ readiness. “Our community and its hospital are in the hands of capable and well practiced team of emergency responders,” he said. “Preparing a hospital as large as ours is an enormous feat. I thank everyone involved.”

Hilo Medical Center is part of the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, which also operates Hale Ho’ola Hamakua and  Ka’u Hospital.

VIDEO by David Corrigan

The official first step in improving trauma care on the island was taken in Waimea on Friday.

The inaugural meeting of the Big Island Trauma Advisory Council took place at North Hawaii Community Hospital. Hospital leadership, physicians and emergency first responders from all regions of the island met to talk about developing a systems approach for trauma care providers in Hawaii County.

According to the numbers, the need to improve trauma care, especially in the area of transport time, is evident.

Hilo Medical Center has been designated at the lead facility in this initiative.

In 2007, the Hawaii State legislature released funding through the Department of Health to organize the statewide trauma system, which facilitated the creation of the Big Island Trauma Advisory Council.

August 14, 2008 – Hilo, Hawaii
VIDEO by David Corrigan

Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim’s recent heart attack forced the mayor to be flown off the island, and out of his own county, in order to receive the needed treatment on Oahu. In light of this news, Hilo Medical Center explains the current state of the hospital’s cardiac care, and how the hospital plans to be able to treat similar cases in just a few months.