Nov. 16, 2012 | Volume 12 | Issue 45
Mercy – Des Moines earns prestigious
Consumer Choice Award for 14th year
For 14 years in a row,
consumers surveyed in
the Des Moines area
voted Mercy Medical
Center – Des Moines
the best area hospital
in terms of overall
quality and reputation.
As a result, the
National Research
Corporation (NRC)
recently recognized
Mercy as one of the
nation’s top hospitals
with its prestigious
2012/13 Consumer
Choice Award.
Results of the survey
were announced in
the Oct. 22 issue of
“Modern Healthcare”
magazine.
Benefits enrollment
ends today
Today is the last day to make changes
to your benefit elections and medical
and/or dependent care flexible spending
accounts for 2013.
For more information, visit Inside CHI
or contact CHI’s Support Center at
(888) 450-9450.
MedPAC visits Mercy
The Medicare Payment Advisory
Commission (MedPAC) was in
Des Moines on Tuesday, Oct. 23,
and Wednesday, Oct. 24, to meet with
focus groups of patients and to interview
providers and health coaches associated
with Mercy Clinics. The MedPAC team
was led by Dr. Joan Sokolovsky,
MedPAC principal policy analyst.
The Consumer Choice Awards recognize hospitals patients have rated as
the most preferred places to receive care according to quality and image.
“Consumer perception
is vitally important to our continued success,
and we value the opinions of our patients
and their families,” said Mercy President &
CEO Dave Vellinga. “Winning this award for
the 14th consecutive year shows how Mercy’s
commitment to the well-being of central
Iowans is recognized by the communities we
serve. Consumers have a choice about where
they receive their health care, and we are
truly honored when they entrust their care
or that of their loved ones to Mercy.”
Consumer Choice Award winners are
determined by survey results of more than
250,000 households representing more than
450,000 consumers in the contiguous 48
states and the District of Columbia. “The
Award provides a benchmark for consumers
to show how important quality health care is
to them and to their families,” said Susan L.
Henricks, president and COO at NRC.
“Customer-centric care . . . advocates an
all-inclusive, cross-continuum view of care
experiences for all health care participants
and stakeholders,” said Susan L. Henricks,
president and chief operating officer for
National Research Corporation. “The goal
of this empowering movement and quality
improvement initiative from providers is to
provide better outcomes—and create positive
consumer perceptions. The Consumer
Choice Awards recognizes hospitals that
patients have rated as the most preferred
places to receive care according to quality
and image,” she added.
MedPAC is an independent
Congressional agency established to
advise the U.S. Congress on issues
affecting the Medicare program. MedPAC
specifically makes recommendations
for the type of services Medicare
should reimburse. At this time, Iowa
has one of the lowest Medicare
reimbursement rates, so this was a
wonderful opportunity to showcase the
high-quality services provided by Mercy
Clinics family practice, health coaches,
and shared decision making. Discussions
with MedPAC also allow Mercy to have a
voice in policy making for reimbursement
for the outstanding care Mercy provides
to Iowans.
PICU opening and R2D2 event draws
hundreds to Mercy for activities, photos
Another successful year
for Shoes That Fit
The number of Des Moines area children
in need of warm clothing continues to
increase each year. Through the Shoes
That Fit program, Mercy Family members
purchased nearly 700 new winter clothing
items including coats, shoes, boots,
jeans, shirts, hats and mittens this year.
The staff members at Mercy Pediatric
Subspecialty Clinic took the challenge to
heart by getting started on their shopping
earlier this year. Mary Jo Staniger, clinical
nurse at Mercy Pediatric Subspecialty
Clinic, gathered her co-workers together
this past January and took advantage of
sales on last season’s winter clothes. Due
to the great deals, they were able to buy
approximately 35 items.
Mercy Children’s Hospital & Clinics celebrated the opening of the renovated Pediatric Intensive
Care Unit on Friday, Nov. 9, with a visit from Star Wars’ R2D2 and his friend Rick Thames. More
than 1,500 children and adults enjoyed fun activities, games and photos with R2D2. Event
attendees also donated 775 pounds of food for Combat Hunger.
Shoes That Fit items can be turned in to
Public Safety at Mercy Central Campus
or the Gift House at Mercy West Lakes
until Nov. 30.
McKesson STAR – an important new tool,
coming to a workstation near you
McKesson STAR is an IT platform to
standardize revenue cycle workflow,
reporting, measurement, and communication
across Mercy Des Moines starting Dec. 1,
2012. It will replace the current Healthquest
revenue cycle applications. Much of the
project work for Mercy Des Moines has
already been done as training and final
testing are now underway.
Implementing this industry-leading
application is part of a national initiative
to standardize the applications used at
CHI facilities, which is important for cost,
consistency in financial reporting and more
stringent compliance in light of continuing
health care reform.
How does McKesson STAR fit in with
OneCare at Mercy?
OneCare is also a CHI national initiative –
one that will transform health care by creating
a shared, electronic, universal health record
for each patient. Though McKesson STAR and
Cerner (the software that will be used for the
hospital-based electronic health care record)
are separate projects, the implementations are
being coordinated and teams are working
together to ensure success for both revenue
cycle and clinical operations.
What does this mean for staff and
patients at Mercy?
Think of it as one single, smooth process
from pre-registration through final payment.
STAR has steps built in on the front-end of the
process to reduce the chance of error and the
possibility of more work when the bill or claim
is generated. It also will reduce the number of
separate software applications now in use,
streamlining work steps and making the best
use of employee time. Once Cerner also is in
place, the two will work together to create a
unified system – from the time an appointment
is requested to the time the bill is paid.
If you will use a part of McKesson STAR
in your daily work to perform admitting/
registration, coding/abstracting, account
review/inquiry or non-clinipac charging
functions and have not received notice you’ve
been scheduled for a training session, please
talk to your supervisor, email Suzan Perreault
or call (720) 874-1318.
Employees from Mercy Pediatric
Subspecialty Clinic took advantage of
winter clothing sales this past spring to
get an early start on shopping for this
year’s Shoes That Fit clothing drive.
The Bulletin is published weekly for employees
and friends of Mercy Medical Center, 1111 6th Ave.,
Des Moines, Iowa 50314-2611.
Editorial Staff
Lisa Jones......................................... Editor
Mark Baldwin. . ............................ Contributor
Amy Bentz. . ................................ Contributor
Heidi Feltz.................................. Contributor
Nicole Galles. . ............................. Contributor
Allison Hay................................. Contributor
Gregg Lagan............................... Contributor
Matthew Meyer. . ......................... Contributor
Kaitlyn Summitt........................... Contributor
Sarah Todd.................................. Contributor
Laura Vanden Bosch......................... Director
Sara Conrad....................... Graphic Designer
If you are interested in submitting information
to be printed in the Bulletin, send it to PR and
Marketing or call 515-247-3050.