Innovations in trauma care and acute care surgery at Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael, California are increasing patient volume, improving the hospital's payer mix and enhancing care for patients, according to a case study.
The 370-bed facility partnered with Surgical Affiliates Management Group Inc., the leading surgical hospitalist organization in the United States, to staff and manage both programs.
Created from the ground up by a team of trauma experts led by Dr. Leon J. Owens, founder of Surgical Affiliates, the Level II trauma center at Mercy San Juan Medical Center, has proven to be a driver of success for the hospital since its opening. The trauma center has consistently increased in volume growing from treating 750 trauma patients in 2001 to 1,991 patients in 2014.
"Our new Level II trauma center was so notable that the certification team from the American College of Surgeons said that they had never seen a hospital be so successful in going from almost no trauma patients, to providing excellent Level II Trauma Center care," said Brian Ivie, president, Mercy San Juan Medical Center.
Over time, the hospital has also increased the number of patient transfers into the facility per year; from 55 in 2011, to 254 transfers in 2014. What's more, the payer mix of patients improved. Plus, the hospital is now able to quickly get out-of-network and capitated patients back to their home systems when their conditions stabilized.
The trauma center also created a "halo effect" throughout the hospital, resulting in improved performance across multiple departments. For example, the institution of a massive transfusion protocol so that blood transfusions were available within 120 seconds of the patient's arrival, and rapid MRI and CT scan availability.
The collaboration between Mercy San Juan Medical Center and Surgical Affiliates Management Group also sparked the idea for a revolutionary approach to acute surgical care: Surgical Affiliates Management Group's System of Care©.
Inspired by the tremendous success of its trauma program collaboration with Dr. Owens and his team in increasing patient volume and improving patient mix, Mercy San Juan entered into a new pioneering program with Surgical Affiliates to enhance its acute care surgery services. The hospital is now seeing the results of that new initiative in shorter length of stay, fewer complications and an enhanced ability to capture patient demographics.
"Surgical Affiliates' System of Care adapts and modifies trauma care standards to an acute care surgery model. Those standards include: board certified surgeons, an interdisciplinary approach, team cohesiveness, specific and measured responsiveness, a standardized approach to care by all providers, and peer review of all cases to identify performance improvement opportunities," said Leon J. Owens, M.D., FACS, CEO of Surgical Affiliates Management Group.
To obtain a copy of the new case study entitled "Transformational Hospital/Physician Collaboration Prepares to Strike Twice," visit: www.samgi.com.