The vision and mission of the HCA South Atalntic Division Quality Department is to promote the delivery of quality patient care in a safe healthcare environment.

In pursuit of our mission, we believe the following value statements are essential to this accomplishment:

• We constantly look for ways to innovate through technology and improve the quality of our care and services.
• We monitor the effectiveness of patient safety, patient safety initiatives, and implement strategies to continuously improve our environment.
• We share best demonstrated clinical practices and knowledge to improve the outcomes of our patients across our division and HCA.

The South Atlantic Division of HCA strives continually to provide excellent quality care in a safe environment. Our organization is involved in the following state and national healthcare quality initiatives:

• JCAHO and CMS Healthcare Quality Alliance
• Leapfrog Group and National Quality Forum Safe Practices
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement
• Agency for Healthcare Administration

Core Measures

• Acute Myocardial Infarction
• Congestive Heart Failure
• Pneumonia
• Surgical Infection Prevention/Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP)

Within each hospital, we utilize a healthcare team to make improvements in the following areas:

• Patient Safety
• Pain Management
• Patient Flow Efficiency throughout the Hospital System

Multiple areas are monitored to evaluate processes and outcomes. Some examples include:

• Hand washing
• Restraints
• Patient Safety Goals
• Resuscitation Practices and Outcomes
• Perinatal Safety
• Appropriateness of Procedures Performed

Working with caregivers from across the country, HCA has invested more than $300 million to develop industry leading technology, systems, and processes to improve patient safety. This is just one part of our commitment to providing a broad range of high quality services that meet the growing and changing healthcare needs of our community.

Patient Safety is a vital concern for all healthcare providers. The 1999 report from the Institute of Medicine, To Err is Human, triggered significant action at HCA. In February of 2000, HCA began an in-depth analysis of patient safety issues within hospitals. This analysis lead to a company-wide commitment to assuring patient safety practices are implemented in every HCA hospital. Through this web site we will share our learnings, our mistakes, and our successes with other healthcare providers in the belief that healthcare providers, working together, can eliminate many patient safety concerns.

Patient safety is our culture

The HCA mission statement affirms that "Above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life." This simple statement is the foundation of our culture and our passion for patient safety.

Thomas F. Frist, Jr., MD, a co-founder and former chairman, is fond of saying "putting patients first" is the secret of success in healthcare. Jack Bovender, CEO and Chairman of HCA describe the patient safety initiative as a response to the "sacred trust" that healthcare providers have with their patients.

At HCA, Patient Safety is a company-wide effort to ensure that we are using the best practices and the most appropriate, state-of-the-art technology in the medication use process.

Patient safety goals for HCA

Our goal is to create a culture of patient safety as a tangible expression of HCA's commitment to putting patients first.

• Establish patient safety as a visible commitment to our "putting patients first" philosophy
• Move from blaming people to improving processes
• Improve use of technology to prevent and detect error
• Use data to identify and measure improvements