In any year, Memorial Health receives numerous awards.
So many, in fact, that it can become difficult to determine which ones are truly big deals.
A recent accolade earned by the hospital’s pharmacy department, however, is “really unprecedented” according to Memorial CEO Chip Hubbs.
The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) recently selected Memorial Hospital to receive the “2018 ASHP Best Practices Award.” The award honors hospitals that have shown innovative programs in their pharmacy operations.
The national award is given to just six organizations annually and Memorial is the second smallest hospital in the past 20 years to receive the honor.
“It is thrilling to be selected for this prestigious national award,” Hubbs said. “Winning this award is particularly special because of the stiff competition it draws every year.”
He said that all past award winners have come from large teaching hospital systems.
Recently retired Director of Pharmacy Britt Cummins and his replacement Craig Baker received the award at the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting in Anaheim, California, in December. They were also featured presenters on medication therapy management during the conference, a gathering of health professionals with more than 25,000 in attendance.
Award evaluators selected Memorial because of the approach used for managing medications and chronic diseases in the hospital.
Baker gave a presentation noting the 2018 achievements within the pharmacy department to Memorial’s Board of Trustees Tuesday night.
One of the new programs cited by ASHP was the pharmacy’s medication/disease management services which assist patients with solving medication and lifestyle challenges. The model developed by the Memorial Hospital Pharmacy essentially helps patients with chronic conditions, such as diabetes or cardiac issues, take medications appropriately once they transition from the hospital back into their homes.
According to Baker, about 70 percent of patients do not take medications correctly once they return home. He said this can lead to a quick return to the hospital.
The goal of the program is to cut down readmissions and it appears to be working according to statistics tracking 30-day readmissions for patients with chronic conditions. Over a 30-month period, from April 2015 to September 2017, the readmission rate fell from 21 percent to 4 percent.
The result of the drop in readmissions resulted in an estimated savings of $1.5 million, not to the hospital, but to patients and their employers.
Hubbs said Memorial’s pharmacy, which distributed 1.4 million doses of medication in 2018, is one of the top three operations in Ohio.
“We’ve got a team of strong, energetic individuals,” Hubbs said.
The board also honored Tom Ranney who is leaving the board after 12 years of service. Ranney praised the board’s atmosphere of cooperation, noting one of the main things he learned in his years of service is just how much physicians are involved in the operation of the hospital beyond direct patient care.
Tina Owens-Ruff, a partner in the Allen, Yurasek, Merklin and Owens-Ruff law firm, will replace Ranney. She received her Juris Doctor of Law from Ohio Northern University after receiving a bachelor of arts in political science and philosophy from Ohio State.
In other business, the board:
-Learned that the Memorial 2020 Campaign had surpassed its $4 million fundraising goal for the hospital’s inpatient and outpatient tower expansion project. The total cost of the expansion is $50 million.
-Heard an update on Memorial’s cybersecurity operations from Chief Information Officer Andy Chileski.
-Approved routine staff appointments.
-Heard a brief overview of the hospital’s conflict of interest policy.