Re-Accreditation Earned
FRUITLAND — Apple Drugs Diabetes Center has recently been re-accredited by the American Association of Diabetes Educators. The accreditation comes after an annual review process through the Diabetes Education Accreditation Program (DEAP).
The report revealed that Apple remains in compliance with the National Standards.
“The review process forces us to go back and review our patient’s outcomes,” said John Motsko, certified diabetes educator. “We also have to meet certain standards such as all instructors at the center completing at least 15 hours of continuing education, a biannual meeting of our advisory team and compliance with HIPPA regulations.”
Apple’s Diabetes Center sets standard outcomes on patient behavior. For example, did the patient do something different to reach a self-selected goal? The goals can be focused on healthy eating, medication
compliance, checking blood sugar, becoming more active and weight reduction. The standard set by DEAP is 75% achievement of this goal. Sixty Apple patients participated in the goal setting portion and over 75% achieved their goal.
Clinical outcomes were also measured. The average reduction in A1C was 1.38 and the reduction in BMI (body mass index) was 4.98. The A1C measure is a calculated average of a patient’s blood sugar over the past three months. For this group of patients, the average blood sugar was reduced from 206 to about 156. The BMI or body mass index is calculated on the combination of a patient’s weight and height. For a patient 70 inches tall and weighing 235 pounds, the reduction would equate to about a 20-pound weight loss. A total of 160 patients with diabetes used Apple diabetes services in 2012
“The goal of the Apple Drugs Diabetes Center is to empower the patient with diabetes to take an active role in the management of their disease of diabetes, and to partner with them and their health care provider to give patients a better quality of life and to reduce overall health care expenses. We intend to do this in a comfortable and accessible setting,” said Motsko.
Diabetes Education Accreditation Program Director Leslie E. Kolb added, “Trends show that diabetes education is moving out of the hospital and into the community, so AADE’s accreditation program was created, in part, to encourage diabetes education where the patient is seeking care. Apple Drugs Diabetes Center is exactly the type of program we envisioned when we set up our accreditation program in 2009.”
Hospital Launches
Patient Records Service
BERLIN – A year after beginning the project, Atlantic General Hospital has launched PERKS, or the Patient Electronic Record-Keeping Service.
The new system, which went live Jan. 28, digitally links all documentation and physician orders for care throughout the inpatient and outpatient units of the hospital. So, no matter where a patient’s entry point or how many services received, his or her caregiver has access to a full record updated in real time.
Electronic records provide a number of benefits, including improved efficiencies in care because the incidence of duplicated testing is reduced. Electronic records also eliminate time lost tracking down paper records from other departments or pulling information from disparate systems. There are substantial patient safety benefits, such as alerts that pop up in the system to warn of potential errors.
Atlantic General began its journey with electronic medical records in 2008, when it installed an electronic medical record system in its Atlantic General Health System outpatient physician practices. The organization pushed on to install the electronic system in its Emergency Department in 2011, and they have spent the last 12 months expanding PERKS to the entire hospital.
“This has been a very solid implementation,” said Barbara Riddell, Atlantic General’s vice president of information services. “I have been through many implementations in the last 16 years and this one has been an excellent journey, with the clinical and business team in the hospital working closely with our vendor partners to build a system that always puts the patient at the center. The transition has been smooth, which was made possible only through outstanding team work.”
In 2012, these efforts allowed Atlantic General to achieve Stage 1 Meaningful Use, a federal mandate that requires hospitals install electronic medical records by 2014. Atlantic General Hospital is one of only two hospitals on the Eastern Shore to reach this status. They are ahead of more than three-quarters of U.S. hospitals in doing so, based upon a recently published federal report.
“We are in a unique position as a community and as a hospital in this community, because of our ability to coordinate care throughout Worcester County and southeast Sussex County,” said Michael Franklin, president and CEO of Atlantic General Hospital. “Through Atlantic General’s efforts, this community will have the most advanced system of care available.”
New Hires At Company
SALISBURY — Doug Marshall, president of Marshall Real Estate Auction Company, Marshall Home & Land Company and The Amphitheater at Heron Ponds, has announced two staff additions.
Scott Cocklin will work with the companies on marketing, website design, with a focus on growing the use of social and internet marketing. He recently graduated from Salisbury University with a degree in both marketing and public relations. He gained experience and knowledge through various classes he took and the marketing competitions he competed in, which include a Google AdWords Campaign, DMAWEF MAXI Competition and the Target Case Study Competition.
Jennifer B. Thompson will serve as Vice President of Real Estate Operations. She comes to The Marshall Companies with nine years of experience in Real Estate Settlement Services and adds a new dimension to the services and knowledge that Marshall Real Estate Auction Company and the Marshall Home & Land Company is able to offer clients.