Courtesy Photo | Womack Army Medical Center’s Gastrointestinal Endoscopy unit earned recognition...... read more read more
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By Eve Meinhardt
WAMC PAO
FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Womack Army Medical Center’s Gastrointestinal Endoscopy unit earned recognition status by the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, June 1.
The ASGE Endoscopy Unit Recognition Program, the only national program of its kind, honors units that demonstrate a commitment to patient safety and quality in endoscopy.
The WAMC GI Endoscopy Unit is only the second in the Department of Defense to achieve this recognition and one of only 500 organizations to receive this honor.
“The ASGE is a well-known organization and this recognition validates that we’re providing high quality care,” said Lt. Col. (Dr.) Viet-Nhan Nguyen, chief, Gastroenterology Service, WAMC. “The process allowed us to undergo a peer review where we were evaluated on infection control, patient care and providing quality endoscopy.”
In order to be recognized, WAMC had to meet high quality measures critical to GI endoscopic patient care. According to the ASGE website, these measures include: Patient assessment for procedural risk; adequacy of bowel preparation; cecal intubation rate; adenoma detection rates; adverse event tracking; and use of patient satisfaction surveys.
“We took the quality metrics looked for by the ASGE and rewrote our policy to ensure we were providing the best quality care,” said Nguyen. “While we were doing endoscopy procedures appropriately before, we never really compared our data to the national data. When we did, we found that not only were we meeting the standards, we were exceeding them in some areas.”
Maj. (Dr.) Michael Dann, assistant chief, chief, Gastroenterology Service, WAMC, spearheaded the process to achieve ASGE recognition. He said that going through the evaluation has helped improve communication among all members of the team.
“It’s not just the physicians who played a role in achieving this recognition,” said Dann. “It’s changed the way the technicians process equipment and helped create an environment where the nurses feel more comfortable coming forward if they see something wrong so it can be immediately addressed.”
The unit’s accreditation with the Joint Commission was also instrumental in qualifying for the recognition.
The recognition status is good for three years, but the WAMC GI Endoscopy Unit must continue to gather data quarterly to ensure they are continuing to meet the quality metrics.
“This isn’t the end for us,” said Nguyen. “By still gathering the data, it keeps us honest and ensures we remain a high-reliability organization focused on patient care. We will continue to work to improve the patient experience.”
Nguyen said one of the next steps to help improve the patient experience and provide quality care is to create an all-female endoscopy team as a treatment option for patients uncomfortable with a male provider.
The WAMC GI Endoscopy Unit performs about 4,000 procedures a year. These procedures include colonoscopies, upper endoscopy, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), endoscopic ultrasounds, as well as other less common endoscopic procedures, as needed.
| Date Taken: | 07.01.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.01.2015 16:21 |
| Story ID: | 168822 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 100 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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