NURS 6052 WHERE IN THE WORLD IS EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE?
NURS 6052 WHERE IN THE WORLD IS EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE?
Mary Washington Hospital is a not-for-profit healthcare system located in Fredericksburg, Virginia. On review of their website, evidence-based practice (EBP) is recognized by this organization through its mission, vision, and value statements supporting improved health of all people in the community, creating outstanding health experiences through integrity, compassion, accountability, respect, and excellence (Mary Washington Healthcare, 2021a). Furthermore, EBP appears within the leadership, programs, departments, foundation, and the hospital-affiliated accountable care organization (ACO) descriptions. These programs describe the quadruple aim in healthcare. In particular, the Mary Washington Health Alliance ACO focuses on value-based healthcare, managing over 75,000 Medicare beneficiaries connecting them with high-quality medical providers who will provide them with evidence-based care and cost-effective treatments (Mary Washington Health Alliance, 2021). These examples show that this organization’s work is grounded in EBP.
The information gained from reviewing the Mary Washington Hospital website assures that this organization is dedicated to promoting and delivering quality patient care and providing nurses and other providers the opportunity to collaborate and impact the system in multiple ways. Some examples of this commitment are seen in multiple teams within the hospital and community. The first example is the high-reliability organization (HRO) team of coaches, which teaches tools to help associates communicate concerns, speaking up for safety, and develop self-checking techniques. The HRO team reviews various care communication delays, issues with medications, specimen collection, transfers, falls, etc., providing solutions to avoid harm to patients (Mary Washington Healthcare, 2017b). These error prevention tools or safety behaviors, when implemented, support patient safety and collaboration, leading to improved outcomes and patient satisfaction. Another example of implementing EBP is integrating technology with the EPIC system, providing continuity of care for providers and patients across the care spectrum. Another example of EBP was found when reviewing the Mary Washington Regional Cancer Center. The center provides cancer treatment and care through specialty programs, physician specialists, cancer nurse navigators, advanced cancer treatments, integrated medicine, research and clinical trials, and accreditations and certifications. Moreover, spending quality time with each patient explaining treatments and options, physicians work as a team with a cancer specialist to deliver the most effective, coordinated care unique to each patient’s needs, and discussion of their most complex cases with oncologists, surgeons, radiologists, and other physician specialists to provide the most innovative treatment methods for best results (Mary Washington Healthcare, 2021b). Finally, the Mary Washington Health Alliance ACOs relationship with Mary Washington Healthcare has provided a platform where physicians are connected and share a similar vision to improve the community’s health. A five-year program initiated in 2017 by the ACO, the Million Hearts Model, focuses on reducing the incidence of first-time strokes and heart attacks by taking a controlled population and screening patients to determine the risk of first heart attack or stroke within 10 years. Using analytics to gather clinical data on patients across eight primary care practices and multiple cardiology practices helped determine that this risk has a high prevalence of diabetes in their population as 31% of the overall population and 69% of the high-risk population are diabetic. This data allows providers to work with these patients on a plan to significantly lower their risk using medications and lifestyle-changes (Mary Washington Health Alliance, 2017).
In conclusion, Mary Washington Healthcare’s perception is that they participate in EBP and are dedicated to value-based care. The nursing professionals, along with other members of this integrated network, are supported by leadership that values continuing education, implementation of evidence-based practice, use of current technologies and methodologies, and continuous evaluation of process and outcomes.
Reference
Mary Washington Health Alliance. (2021). About Mary Washington health alliance. https://www.mwhealthalliance.com/about-us
Mary Washington Health Alliance. (2017). Million hearts. https://www.mwhealthalliance.com/news/2017/august/million-hearts-update
Mary Washington Healthcare. (2021). About Mary Washington
