SCL Health

Mission Forward 2025: Growth

January 22, 2019 by PVMC Leave a Comment

For the past year, SCL Health’s Ministry Leadership Team (MLT) – comprised of system senior leadership team and our care site presidents – has been working to create a new long-term strategic blueprint for our ministry to help guide our system-wide priorities and enable us to focus investments and resources on the most important initiatives that support our mission and will have the greatest impact on the patients and communities we serve.

This week we focus on the strategic imperative of Growth. We have meaningful opportunities to grow our ministry, and our growth strategy takes into account the need to differentiate our tactics to meet the unique market dynamics and needs of our patients in each of our regions. We have carefully assessed the health care needs of each of our communities and created a plan focused on creating the right access to care across the care continuum that will have the greatest impact and benefit to our patients. Click here to watch this week’s featured video.

New Power to the Patient Advertising

January 15, 2019 by PVMC Leave a Comment

This month, we’re launching our next wave of Power to the Patient brand advertising, starting with a television commercial celebrating how we deliver our mission to our patients. The spot highlights why our work matters: by providing convenient, person-centered care, we allow individuals to support the ones they love and live their best lives.

We invite you to preview the new television spot on WeAreSCLHealth.org before we launch it to the public and encourage you to watch a brief behind the scenes video explaining how this advertisement supports our mission and vision.

Below is a list of some high-visibility ad placements for our new TV commercial. Now you finally have a reason to watch the Super Bowl!

Rent, The Musical (on Fox) – January 27 – :30 placement
:30 V2 – Features little girl, mom/baby, chef and golfer
Super Bowl – February 3: – 15 placement :15 E – This is the only :15 that features three of the talent – horseback rider, chef and motorcycle guy
Grammy Awards – February 10 – :30 placement :30 V1 – This is our “winter” :30, so best to run during our colder months.
Oscars – February 24 – :30 placement
:30 V1 – Winter version.

Mission Forward 2025

January 8, 2019 by PVMC Leave a Comment

At its core, Mission Forward 2025 focuses on critical elements of transformation and growth to proactively position SCL Health for success in a challenging time of rapid change in the healthcare industry. Our strategic ambition reflects our desire to become an essential provider in each region we serve, continues our focus on clinical excellence, and drives opportunities for cost leadership. Learn more here.

Video: We Are SCL Health

January 8, 2019 by PVMC Leave a Comment

2018 was a great year. We accomplished so much together, as one SCL Health. We can’t wait to see what is in store for the new year. Thank you to all of you for making Platte Valley a warm, special place for our patients and the communities we serve. Watch this video which shows how we are a part of something big!

Founders of SCL Health Celebrate 160 Years of Service

November 13, 2018 by PVMC Leave a Comment

In honor of SCL Health’s Founders’ Day, we remember the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth (SCL) arriving in Kansas 160 years ago. They started a healing ministry out of love, hope, and determination. Their legacy and spirit live on today with us.

Learn a little more about the history of our health system and the philosophies it follows.

The View From You Survey Begins Next Monday

August 27, 2018 by PVMC Leave a Comment

One of the most important opportunities we have to make Platte Valley an outstanding place to work is gathering, listening to and taking action on the feedback our associates provide through “The View from You” associate survey. This year’s associate survey will be conducted September 4 through September 25. Your view matters! Check your SCL Health email for a message from Press Ganey on September 4. The email contains a secure link and unique password for the survey.

This year’s Associate Engagement survey includes Culture of Safety questions. In addition, Registered Nurses will have questions about Nursing Excellence. The survey is completely confidential. The online survey does not track back to individuals’ computers. The survey response data are located on the vendor’s server and SCL Health never sees individual responses. All responses are grouped with other responses. The online survey will take about 20 minutes to complete. You can take the survey from your work computer, a computer workstation, your personal computer or your mobile device, such as your phone or tablet.

This is your chance to tell us what you think about our culture, resources to do your job, teamwork, your work team and manager. Share your view about what’s working well and where we have opportunities for improvement. Your input will help to shape our work environment – last year we created action plans to make improvements as a result of the 2017 survey, and together we’ll do the same with this year’s survey results.

It’s easy to complete the online survey. Watch for an email from Press Ganey on September 4. The email contains a link to the survey and your unique password. You can forward the message to yourself, but do not forward it to anyone else. Note: If clicking on the survey link within your email doesn’t open the survey in your browser, go to apps.sclhs.net and launch Internet Explorer from there. Once it opens, copy and paste the survey link into that browser and take the survey. If you still have trouble, contact TAC.

Last year we had a great completion score! We’re hoping to reach 100 percent participation this year, so please make sure to keep your eyes out for the email from Press Ganey. Your careful feedback is vitally important and extremely valuable.

Update Your Email Signature

May 22, 2018 by PVMC Leave a Comment

Is your email signature out of date? When we first began the process of integrating with SCL Health, we adopted the system-wide guidelines for email signatures. Now that our logo has changed, it’s important to update our email signatures to reflect the current logo.

Emails from Platte Valley Medical Center associates should contain sign-off information listing the sender’s name, title, care site, contact address, email, telephone numbers and/or direct extension, fax and website. You may choose to develop a shorter version for internal use only. We have also prepared a smaller version of our logo for use in your signature – click here to download it. It’s the sixth file on the list, entitled “PVMC_email_signature.”

Please use the following brand standards when setting up your email signature.

Font: Verdana
Point size: 8
Color: Black

Example:
Jane Doe
Title, Department
Care Site Name
Street address, Suite #
City, State, Zip Code
P: 555.555.5555
M: 555.555.5555 (optional)
F: 555.555.5555
jane.doe@sclhs.net
www.pvmc.org (or care site/physician practice website)

For executive signatures, the following block may be added:

Administrative Assistant
[Insert Name]
P: 555.555.5555
[Insert email]

Please do not add background graphics, symbols or colors to email signatures. Short phrases or quotes at the end of signatures are acceptable as long as they appropriately relate to our mission, vision or values.

If you need assistance with editing your signature, here are several guides. Be sure to select the one that corresponds with your version of Outlook.

Outlook 2010 Guide

Outlook 2013 Guide

Thanks For Celebrating with Us!

May 16, 2018 by PVMC Leave a Comment

We had so much fun putting together the Brand Celebration for you yesterday and Monday. Almost 400 of you stopped by our booth to spin our prize wheel, take photos with your friends and snack on those delicious cake pops! We’d like to thank you all for participating in the event and making our Brand Celebration a great event! To learn more about our new Power to the Patient campaign, and see your photos (system employees will post them sometime in the near future), visit www.wearesclhealth.org.

You’ve Got Ideas. Pitch Them in the 2018 Innovation Challenge!

March 6, 2018 by PVMC Leave a Comment

SCL Health believes the best solutions to solving today’s toughest healthcare challenges come from within. That’s why we are again inviting all associates to put on your thinking caps, form teams and come up with innovative ideas that improve care during the second annual Innovation Challenge. You could win up to $150,000 to turn your idea into reality, plus $1,000* in take-home cash!

This year we challenge you to come up with ideas that will help improve care for communities and populations – not just individuals with immediate health needs – by focusing on the social determinants of health.

We’re calling this concept “360˚ of Caring,” and we can’t wait to hear your ideas!

To submit your team’s idea and learn more about the challenge, visit SCLHealthInnovation.org. The deadline for submissions is March 25 at noon.

Ready to get started? Here is what you need to know:

Read the additional materials on the website to help inform and shape your idea!
Form a team and get to work on the solution. When your idea is ready for primetime, submit it online: http://www.sclhealthinnovation.org
Ideas will be evaluated by an Innovation Council consisting of the Innovation and Virtual Health team, clinical experts, and senior leaders, using criteria such as:
- ‘Degrees of caring’ (inclusion of social determinants of health – read section below)
- Positive impact on the patient journey or quality
- Feasibility
- Time-to-execution
- Return on investment or Cost Avoidance
Ideas will also be posted online and subject to popular vote. Semi-finalists will be asked to supply additional details required to further vet the viability of their ideas. Finalists will receive special training and be asked to present ideas to senior leaders. Winners will be provided funding and resources to implement their ideas.

Good luck!

*In accordance with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations, items of value given to associates are considered compensation subject to federal, state and employment tax withholding.

Get a Preview of SCL Health’s New Brand Campaign, Power to the Patient

January 16, 2018 by PVMC Leave a Comment

This year we’re unleashing the collective power of SCL Health to connect with our patients in a new, powerful way.

As we shared last September, for the last five years, SCL Health has been on a transformative journey, becoming increasingly more integrated, connected and coordinated. We’re excited to announce that our new brand campaign, “Power to the Patient,” will launch in the Front Range beginning the week of January 22. The campaign will include new television and radio commercials, digital, social media, and print ads. Our ads will play during popular headline events, so if you’re in the Front Range, make sure to tune in to the Grammy Awards, Super Bowl, Olympics and the Oscars!

Power to the Patient will replace our successful “People Healing People” campaign, with a focus on all the ways SCL Health has evolved to meet our patients’ needs for empowerment, empathy and being treated as a whole person.

Our new campaign is about putting the spotlight where it belongs: On working moms. On new dads. On active seniors. And everyone in between. We listened to our patients when they asked for more ways to be involved in their own healthcare, and we’re demonstrating our commitment in many ways. By empowering patients to have more personal control over their healthcare, they have more power over their health.

What’s Next, and How Can I Learn More?

If you want to to learn more about Power to the Patient and all the ways we will be celebrating and connecting our associates and providers to our brand. We’ve set up an interactive site for associates, WeAreSCLHealth.org, where you can explore the campaign elements, follow our internal and external brand news and access other resources. Over the course of 2018, we’ll be adding new features and information to the site, including a calendar of events, games and other resources, so check in often. We will also be rolling out a revamped brand ambassador program, so stay tuned to learn more about how you can be part of this exciting program.

Visit WeAreSCLHealth.org to learn more about Power to the Patient.

New Brand Templates Now Available

October 25, 2017 by PVMC Leave a Comment

Our new logo is now available for your use! Starting today, you can now access our re-branded templates for letterhead, memos, fax cover sheets, and Power Point presentations, as well as our new logo in both regular size and optimized for email signatures. All of these files are easily accessible on The Landing.

How to find them:

Go to The Landing home page
Click the green button on the left that says “Dept & Team Sites”
Click “Marketing”
A list of available documents will appear on the lower right side of the screen.

Alternatively, you can:

Go to The Landing home page
In the menu on the left hand side of the page, click “Forms – By Department”
Click “Marketing”
A list of available documents will appear

Here’s How To Update Your Email Signature:

Emails from Platte Valley Medical Center associates should contain sign-off information (signature) listing your sender’s name, title, care site, contact address, email, telephone numbers and/or direct extension, fax and website, followed by our logo. You may choose to develop a shorter version for internal use only.

Please use the following brand standards when setting up your email signature.

Font: Verdana
Point size: 8
Color: Black

Example:
Jane Doe
Title, Department
Care Site Name
Street address, Suite #
City, State, Zip Code
P: 555.555.5555
M: 555.555.5555 (optional)
F: 555.555.5555
jane.doe@sclhs.net
www.pvmc.org (or care site/physician practice website)

For executive signatures, the following block may be added:

Administrative Assistant
[Insert Name]
P: 555.555.5555
[Insert email]

If you need assistance with editing your signature, here are several guides. Be sure to select the one that corresponds with your version of Outlook.

Outlook 2010 Guide

Outlook 2013 Guide

Understanding the Brand Refresh

October 10, 2017 by PVMC Leave a Comment

What is the Brand Refresh project?

The Brand Refresh project is an evolution, a merging of our system goals and our patient’s desires. We are engaging our associates, providers and our communities in this transformation, so that we create a version of SCL Health that creates satisfaction, preference and loyalty in everyone we serve.

You may be wondering, why are we refreshing the SCL Health brand?

SCL Health is on a mission to transform our system into a truly patient-centered organization through:

New partnerships
New care environments
New ways to access care
Exciting digital and telehealth initiatives

As patient expectations for healthcare continue to evolve, we need to reflect this transformation of our system in how we present ourselves internally and externally.

What does “patient centered” mean to SCL Health:

By the end of the week, our new logo will be live on our website. Here’s a glance at a few of the other system logos too:

Now that you have some insight into the Brand Refresh project, you probably have some questions. Please email any questions you might have about the Brand Refresh to evelyn.wiant@sclhs.net, or leave them as comments here on the ICE.

2018 Benefits Enrollment

October 10, 2017 by PVMC Leave a Comment

Great news! Platte Valley Medical Center associates are now able to join SCL Health medical, dental, wellness and short-term disability plans for 2018. There are two benefits overview meetings scheduled in the conference center for this week:

Tomorrow, Wednesday October 11 from noon to 1 p.m.
Friday, October 13 from 3 – 4 p.m.

Additionally, the annual Benefits Fair is set for Monday, October 23, from 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the conference center. The Fair is a great time to meet with representatives from the SCL Health Benefits team, and our vendor partners.

Transforming SCL Health: The Work Ahead

October 3, 2017 by PVMC Leave a Comment

Last week we discussed the upcoming system-wide Brand Refresh, and why this change is coming to SCL Health. This week, we’d like to show you the work that is being done to accomplish this refresh. So, what’s new and fresh now?

From a “big picture” perspective, here are our four goals for this refresh:

To simplify our brand so our patients can more easily identify our sum (SCL Health system) and our parts (care sites & services)
To illustrate our regional presence and range of services (acute, non-acute, physicians, virtual health, etc.)
To improve visibility for our physicians practices
To maintain the strong legacy of our care site brands in each community served

The first changes include simplifying over 200 logos within the SCL Health system down to less than 30. This makes us easier to identify, reduces costs and gives us a unified image. With that said, we’re proud to share the first preview of our logo with you today. We can start using this logo as early as next week!

If you want to order some new logo’d items, you can visit the SCL Health Logo store or call Evelyn Wiant at X1481.

Transforming SCL Health for the Future

September 26, 2017 by PVMC Leave a Comment

You may have seen this week’s email from SCL Health System, outlining an exciting new chapter in the story of SCL Health and Platte Valley Medical Center. Together, we are preparing for a “brand refresh,” which is a simple name for a system-wide transformation that will better support the needs and wants of our patients and associates, and highlight our regional healthcare network.

Why is this important?
Our patients are transforming healthcare at a lightning-fast pace. Research shows they are looking for care from a coordinated system, and most would like to receive all of their care from one healthcare brand. Patients see the value in their local doctor or hospital belonging to a larger network, as it gives them easy access to all the healthcare services they may need in a lifetime. Additionally, when receiving care from an integrated system, patients know they can expect the same philosophies of care to be shared throughout, from their doctor’s office to the OR.
Patients want a provider who treats them as a whole person – not just their illness; who empowers them with tools and access to care, and who offers empathy in every interaction.

This “philosophy of care” sounds a lot like Planetree!
Yes, it does! This brand refresh focuses heavily on patient-centered care – how lucky we are at Platte Valley to already be familiar and comfortable with this philosophy. It will be simple for us to continue to make this part of our everyday work. The only difference now is that we have the collective power of SCL Health to guide, shape and energize this mission.
We’re taking exciting steps to build brand awareness, drive patient loyalty and make finding and engaging with us as a system a whole lot easier!

Starting in the coming weeks, and continuing into 2018, we’ll be working to present a simplified, accessible brand image that inspires new and existing patients to select us as their trusted healthcare partner, no matter where they are in their wellness journeys.

Stay tuned to the ICE for more updates. Next week, we will take a deeper look at the next steps we’ll take in this transformative journey, and when you can expect to see these changes taking place. If you have questions, please email them to evelyn.wiant@sclhs.net.

Epic 2017 Upgrade Downtime, Lockdown and Command Center

August 29, 2017 by PVMC Leave a Comment

The Epic 2017 Upgrade is scheduled to take place September 9-10, 2017. These messages are meant to help keep you informed about upgrade highlights and benefits, key dates, training, and what you can do to prepare. Please follow this link to The Landing to see more Epic 2017 Upgrade Communications.

Announcing the Downtime

The eSummit with Epic 2017 Upgrade is scheduled to begin on Saturday, September 9, 2017 at 2030 MT/ 2130 CT and complete on Sunday, September 10, 2017 at 0500 MT/0600 CT.
Downtime Start Time and Duration Information
- eSummit will be in lockdown starting September 4, 2017 – September 10, 2017 when eSummit is released to all users.
- eSummit will be unavailable starting Saturday, September 9, 2017 at 2030 MT/2130 CT until recovery is complete at approximately 0500 MT/0600 CT on Sunday, September 10, 2017.
- Shadow Read-Only (SRO) will be available during the system downtime and recovery period.

Lockdown
We are using the transparent upgrade process to upgrade to Epic 2017. During the “transparent lockdown” period before the system downtime for the upgrade, you’ll notice that you can’t make changes that customize certain aspects of your workflows. This is because the transparent upgrade process is updating related data behind the scenes while you continue to use the system.

The transparent lockdown period will last from Monday, 9/4/2017 at 0600 MT/0700 CT – Sunday, 9/10, 2017 until the upgrade is complete at 0500 MT/ 0600 CT.

Applying filters in workqueues

What to do: If you see an error message when attempting to add or edit a filter, close the error message and continue your workflow. The changes that you made before the error message appeared aren’t applied to your workqueue. Use your workqueues as they’re currently set up and make any needed changes after the upgrade.

Creating or editing SmartPhrases and Smartlinks
During the lockdown, you won’t be able to create new SmartLinks and SmartPhrases or edit your existing ones.

What to do: Type the text that you want to appear instead.

Personalizing dashboards
After you click and update settings or edit the components of a Radar dashboard, an error message appears when you click Accept.

What to do: Close the error message and continue working in Hyperspace. You won’t be able to make your changes until after the upgrade.

Creating, Editing and Sharing Notewriter Macros
If you click attempt to create a macro or save changes to a macro during the lockdown, an error message appears. Additionally, the Owners/Users tab in the SmartBlock Macro Editor is read-only during the lockdown, so you can’t add owners or users for the macro.

What to do: Wait to make your changes, create macros, or share macros until after the upgrade.

Moving your notes
You cannot move the Notes activity to a floating window or sidebar or set other note preferences during the lockdown.

What to do: Wait to move the Notes activity until after the upgrade.

Creating or editing Quick Actions
When you create or edit a QuickAction in In Basket, an error message appears indicating that the QuickAction is locked. Note that there are two different error messages that can appear.

What to do: Wait until after the upgrade to create a new QuickAction. Continue to complete the action as you did previously. If you need to edit a QuickAction before using it again, you might need to complete the action without using the QuickAction until after the upgrade.

Saving SlicerDicer Sessions
When you save a SlicerDicer population or session, an error message appears when you click Save Session, and the session isn’t saved.

What to do: Continue working in SlicerDicer, but be aware that you can’t save your work until after the upgrade.

If you have questions or encounter any issues completing a workflow during the lockdown, contact TAC at 303-866-8282.

The Epic 2017 Upgrade Command Center will be in effect 24/7 beginning on Sunday, September 10, 2017 at 0500 MT/0600 CT through Friday, September 22, 2017. Call the Command Center for Upgrade-related tickets / issues throughout the duration of the Command Center. You will have local support from your Clinical Informatics (CI) Team, Health Network Informatics (HNI) Team, Super Users, and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), as well as from the Systems and Technology Service Center (STSC). Your local CI/HNI Teams, Super Users and SMEs are your first line of support.

The Command Center at Golden Hill will be staffed by:

Call Takers – entering tickets from associates
Commander – organizing call taking effort
Application Analysts – ready to address issues that arise
EL&PD – ready to augment and deploy training materials
Clinical Architects – one to triage command center tickets and another to work with informatics, analysts and EL&PD, assisting in changes and approvals as need.

While the Command Center is in effect, there will be daily huddle calls to discuss successes and outstanding issues.

Acute Daily Huddle Call, 0900 MT/1000 CT
Ambulatory Daily Huddle Call, 1200 MT/1300 CT
RSC Daily Huddle Call, 1600 MT/1700 CT (Monday-Friday only)

Timeline for the eSummit 2017 Upgrade
December 2016 – April 2017	Upgrade Release Note Review & Committee Reviews/Planning, Proof of Concept Build and Unit Testing
May 2017	Upgrade Build
June – August 2017	Upgrade Testing
June – August 2017	Training Development & Upgrade Training
September 9 – 10, 2017	Epic 2017 Upgrade Go-Live
September 10 – 22, 2017	Epic 2017 Upgrade Command Center

This upgrade will help us continue to optimize eSummit with Epic and stay current in the ever-changing field of healthcare technology. The upgrade is critical for SCL Health to maintain good standing with Epic, meet government requirements and to provide the best care for patients. Epic 2017 will continue SCL Health’s efforts to provide consistent service across care sites through standardization with special attention to the people, processes, culture and technology of the organization.

For questions about the upgrade contact Terra DeLockroy at Terra.DeLockroy@sclhs.net, or your Clinical Informatics (CI) or Ambulatory Informatics (AI) Teams.

Thank you for your support as we prepare for this exciting upgrade!

Epic 2017 Upgrade Willow

August 16, 2017 by PVMC Leave a Comment

The Epic 2017 Upgrade is scheduled to take place September 9-10, 2017. These messages are meant to help keep you informed about upgrade highlights and benefits, key dates, training, and what you can do to prepare. Each week we will draw attention to enhancements coming to specific Epic modules.

Below are examples of the enhancements for Willow with Epic 2017. Please follow this link to The Landing to see the full Willow memo and more Epic 2017 Upgrade Communications.

Willow is the Epic module that is used in the inpatient pharmacies at our acute care sites. The majority of the application supports pharmacy users (Pharmacist, Rx Technicians, and Rx Managers and Buyers), their workflows and daily clinical routines including: medication inventory, dispense and formulary lists, department specific medication preference lists, medication ERXs, default dispense NDCs and barcode scanning and medication order sets.

In addition the Willow application supports other clinical end users within the inpatient setting including: providers, nurses and other clinical users whose daily activities involve placing medication orders and the documentation of medication administration (MAR).

The Epic 2017 Upgrade for Willow includes:

Redesigned Dispense Check Activity
Updated Critical Dose Warnings
Redesigned Order Preference List Browsers
Highlighting in Verification Lets Pharmacists Know When Administration Instructions have changed
Identify Backdated Medications During Ordering Workflow
Nested Panels
Pharmacy Performance Metrics: Including anticoagulant safety and pain management

Redesigned Dispense Check Activity:

Pharmacy users can now scan several medications and queue them up in the dispense check activity.

The highlighted line will show a warnings if a technician has overridden or if the patient has been discharged. Below users can see a detail explanation about the warning.
To the right, Users can now Approve or Reject the orders.

Updated Critical Dose Warnings:

Updated Critical Dose Warnings with clearer explanation of the reason the ordering provider is seeing it now appear for any dose that exceeds the recommended maximum single dose by 200% or more.

Please follow this link to The Landing to see the full Willow memo and more Epic 2017 Upgrade Communications.

Timeline for the eSummit 2017 Upgrade
December 2016 – April 2017	Upgrade Release Note Review & Committee Reviews/Planning, Proof of Concept Build and Unit Testing
May 2017	Upgrade Build
June – August 2017	Upgrade Testing
June – August 2017	Training Development &Upgrade Training
September 9 – 10, 2017	Epic 2017 Upgrade Go-Live
September 10 – 22, 2017	Epic 2017 Upgrade Command Center

For questions about the upgrade contact Terra DeLockroy at Terra.DeLockroy@sclhs.net, or your Clinical Informatics (CI) or Ambulatory Informatics (AI) Teams.

Systemwide Policy Update for all Associates

August 16, 2017 by PVMC Leave a Comment

To all SCL Health Associates,

The following policies were approved by the SCL Health Executive Integrity & Compliance Committee (EICC) on August 8, 2017. These are systemwide policies that apply to all associates throughout SCL Health.

All Associates – Please review those policies that are relevant to your job and work area.
Leaders – Discuss in team meetings as relevant to ensure broadest communication and dissemination.
Policy Document Owners – Contact your local Document Control Administrator (DCA) to archive any local policies that are replaced by these systemwide policies.

(Please note: Use Internet Explorer as default web browser, not Chrome.)

Click here to view the SCL Health Policy Change Summary

NEW SCL Health Policies

REVISED SCL Health Policies

REVISED Supporting Documents

Drug Screen Consent – SCL Health – Form – This is a corresponding form to the Drug and Alcohol-Free Workplace – SCL Health policy.

The following are corresponding supporting documents to the Clinical Downtime – SCL Health policy:

ARCHIVED SCL Health Policies

None

World Premiere of Good Sam’s Hand Hygiene Music Video!

August 2, 2017 by PVMC Leave a Comment

Good Samaritan Medical Center has published a wonderful Hand Hygiene Music Video on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter! And, perhaps coming soon to a theater near you?

To help promote hand hygiene, GSMC filmed a music video starring associates across all departments of the hospital and the vocal talent of three GSMC associates: Tim Smolens, RN, ED; Kate Spencer, RN, OR; and Steve Soller, Customer Care Center Manager. Championed by Kelley Knapek, Infection Prevention, the video features a cover of The Jackson 5’s “ABC” using hand hygiene-themed lyrics.

Stay tuned for the Behind-The-Scenes video, to be released very soon.

PVMC Has Three Innovation Challenge Winners!

July 25, 2017 by PVMC Leave a Comment

Yes, you read that right! Three of the Innovation Challenge winners are Platte Valley employees!

Bianca Schroetlin, Chris Bowlin and Evan Landvik are all winners of the SCL Health Innovation Challenge. Associates across the system submitted nearly 300 ideas as part of SCL Health’s first ever Innovation Challenge, so we are very proud to have not one, but three winners.

Bianca Schroetlin

Chris Bowlin

Evan Landvik

Bianca’s project is to “harness the power of video emails and nurse phone follow-up to reduce hospital readmissions by enhancing patient aftercare through: connection, education, understanding and adherence.” Essentially, with the support of educational videos and follow-up, this project aims to increase the likelihood of patients adhering to discharge instructions and improve their recovery.

Chris’ project also centers around reducing readmissions, specifically of patients suffering from COPD. This project would provide COPD patients with a non-invasive ventilation device to take home after being discharged. Patients who use the device would be able to avoid exacerbating their COPD, and prevent future visits to the ED with escalated symptoms. In the long term, this project hopes to decrease the amount of time a COPD patient is admitted to the hospital, and improve their overall quality of life.

Evan’s project seeks to create a multi-agency care plan on a shared digital platform. If you’re thinking this isn’t a new concept, you may be right, but Evan’s idea takes this concept a step further than what’s currently available. “What is unique about this idea,” reads the project proposal, “is that it creates a common plan for multiple, otherwise-unaffiliated agencies to reference, document and share information with each other.”

All of the Innovation Challenge winners will receive $1000 plus the funding needed to put their projects into motion. If you see them out and about, please take a moment to congratulate Bianca, Chris and Evan, and wish good luck on their new ventures! Thanks for making Platte Valley so very PVMC Proud!

eSummit 2017 Upgrade Coming in September

July 11, 2017 by PVMC Leave a Comment

Mark your calendars: An upgrade to Epic is scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 9 – Sunday, September 10.

SCL Health will be upgrading eSummit with Epic to take advantage of the latest Epic functionality and to help ensure we can continue to provide the best and safest care for our patients. This is the first in a series of regular communications that will keep you informed about upgrade highlights and benefits, key dates, training, and what you can do to prepare. Weekly communication on this project will begin appearing in your email inbox on Monday, July 17. We will also summarize the week’s eSummit Upgrade communications in the ICE.

The upgrade is currently in testing mode, and associate training will begin soon.

This upgrade will help us continue to optimize eSummit and stay current in the ever-changing field of healthcare technology. The upgrade is critical for SCL Health for meeting government requirements and helps us to continue providing the best care for our patients. eSummit 2017 Upgrade will continue SCL Health’s efforts to provide consistent service across care sites through standardization with special attention to the people, processes, culture and technology of the organization.

Thank you for your support as we prepare for this exciting upgrade!

The System Annual Report is Now Available

July 11, 2017 by PVMC Leave a Comment

When the annual report is published, it has always been interesting to get a bird’s eye view of the hospital’s progress over the last year. Well, now that we’re part of SCL Health, the view is a lot bigger! SCL Health’s 2016 Annual Report is now available to view online. Make sure to flip to pages 22 and 23 for the section on Platte Valley!