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Alamo, CA, October 6, 2010— BETA Healthcare Group (BETA), the largest writer of hospital malpractice coverage in California, and Advanced Practice Strategies (APS), a leading provider of online education solutions for patient safety, today announced a partnership to provide BETA hospitals with OB-intensive patient safety education that yields better patient care, improved staff communications, and an opportunity for hospitals to reduce liability costs.
The partnership provides all of BETA’s member hospitals, which includes over 10,000 licensed beds in more than 100 city, county, district and nonprofit hospitals and healthcare facilities in California, with access to APS’s innovative online educational program. To date, BETA has enrolled 34 of its 35 eligible hospitals in the program, and hundreds of obstetrical nurses, midwives, residents and doctors completing the courseware are helping their respective hospitals lower healthcare professional liability costs as well as reduce and manage risk throughout their organization.
“BETA understands that patient safety drives sound risk management, which in turn leads to reduced claims frequency and severity. The program is a win-win for our member hospitals, physicians and medical teams and, most importantly, for their patients,” said Annie Herlik, RN, JD, CPHRM, Vice President of Risk Management at BETA.
APS’s innovative and clinically focused curriculum addresses the primary drivers of obstetrical claims and adverse outcomes that hospitals and obstetricians may experience. These interactive, team-oriented courses focus on clinical challenges and critical elements of communication and include Advanced Fetal Assessment and Monitoring, Managing Shoulder Dystocia, Postpartum Hemorrhage, Operative Vaginal Delivery, and SBAR+R Communications. Also included in the curriculum is APS’s Competency Maintenance case study series, a monthly subscription product that reinforces a clinician’s knowledge throughout their lifelong path of learning.
“At APS, our goal is to empower clinicians with cutting edge knowledge that enables them to deliver the highest quality and safest care possible,” said Dr. Martin November, MD, APS Chief Medical Officer. "I applaud BETA on its efforts to reduce medical errors, as they can have significant clinical, emotional, and economic consequences. APS online education, with its engaging, case-based format, has proven to be an effective way to equip clinicians with the knowledge necessary to protect themselves and their patients and to improve the quality of care they deliver.”
The program requires all members of the participating hospital’s perinatal team to meet specific quality of care criteria, including proof of competency in reading and interpreting a fetal heart monitor, utilizing a common language in all communication and multidisciplinary fetal monitor strip reviews. This includes OB physicians, L&D unit nurses, residents and midwives jointly reading and interpreting the monitor strip safety training measure that helps build teamwork and stimulates rich discussion while reinforcing a common language for describing fetal heart tracings.
“APS is focused on developing transformative education that is centered around the collaborative practice model,” said John Harrington, APS Founder. “The benefits of this approach are improved communication and enhanced teamwork through the adoption of a common language and a shared vision of care among every member of the healthcare team.”
To assist hospitals in delivering APS’s clinically focused curriculum to its OB teams, BETA covers 50% of the costs of the education. Further demonstrating its commitment to patient safety, BETA provided a 5% rate credit to reduce the hospital’s healthcare professional liability coverage costs to the hospitals that demonstrated 100% compliance with all elements of the curriculum.
“Delivering exceptional care with the highest level of patient safety is the driving goal of hospitals and medical staff leaders. Working together, we can successfully navigate the changing and challenging healthcare landscape and make patient safety and care the top priority,” Sam Downing, Chair, BETA Healthcare Group.
Success on the Frontline
California-based hospitals that have achieved success through this partnership include Lompoc Valley Medical Center (LVMC), Mendocino Coast District Hospital, Natividad Medical Center, Plumas District Hospital, Sierra View District Hospital and Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System.
“Through the intensive online education, individual competency is assessed at every point and the learning experience customized to each participant,” Dr. Peter Chandler MD, MPH, Director, OB/GYN Services at Salinas, California-based Natividad Medical Center. “Participation has been shown to be an important driver of patient safety. The feedback from our clinicians has been overwhelmingly positive; we’re pleased to be a part of the program.”
In Southern California, LVMC and its team of 19 OB clinicians recently completed the training and experienced immediate improvements in delivery of care and treatment coordination.
“We view these training programs as a vital step towards continuous assessment and improvement, which in turn helps ensure improved patient care and safety,” said James Raggio, CEO of LVMC.
With 30 years experience as a midwife, LVMC’s Director of Perinatal Services, Lotta Andersson, saw first-hand how the education raised awareness among all staff members about the different issues driving patient safety and risk. “In emergency situations, we can now discuss the readings from fetal monitor strips by phone with doctors who are not on the hospital floor and because of the training, we’re all speaking the same language regarding complex technical issues,” noted Andersson. “That’s a tremendous plus for patients, our team and the hospital.”
BETA and APS partner to offer the education and OB risk assessment programs as part of a comprehensive patient safety initiative to member hospitals. Interested members are encouraged to contact BETA for more details about the program’s focus on risk management and its proactive clinical improvement process to reduce healthcare professional liability coverage costs.
About APS Advanced Practice Strategies (APS) is dedicated to improving the lives of both patients and their caregivers through effective, innovative education solutions. APS’s flexible, state-of-the-art eLearning program has helped hospitals and clinicians reduce risk and enhance patient safety across the country. APS’s Demonstrative Evidence Group is the nation's leading provider of visual strategies and materials for courtroom defense against medical malpractice claims. Strategic partners include the Risk Management Foundation of the Harvard Medical Institutions and the Hospital Corporation of America. APS is headquartered in Boston, MA, with offices in Brooklyn, NY. For more information, visit www.aps-web.com.
Media Contact: info@aps-web.com
About BETA Healthcare Group
BETA Healthcare Group www.betahg.com (BETA) is the largest writer of hospital professional liability coverage in California, covering approximately 10,000 licensed beds and 4,500 physicians in the state. Founded in 1979 as an alternative to commercial malpractice insurance, BETA now serves more than 100 city, county, district and nonprofit hospitals and healthcare facilities in California. In addition to comprehensive healthcare liability coverage www.betahg.com/coverages/hcl.asp, the organization offers its members directors and officers (D&O), employment practices and automobile liability coverage.
BETA offers liability coverage through the BHG Risk Management Authority and Health Providers Insurance Reciprocal, RRG. The cost-effective structure and dedicated management of these risk financing vehicles have earned BETA a reputation for financial strength, rate stability, service quality, and breadth of coverage that is unparalleled in the industry.