Springfield Memorial Hospital | Springfield, Illinois

Springfield Memorial Hospital has baked safety into its culture. This 500-bed medical center in central Illinois serves as a major hub for medical education in affiliation with the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. Located in the state capital, it delivers care to a substantial portion of the governmental workforce, including retirees. It serves and employs community members, standing as one of the region's largest employers alongside academic and government institutions. As one of the five hospitals in the Memorial Health system, Springfield Memorial Hospital provides services to approximately 40 counties in central Illinois and extending to St. Louis within a 90-mile radius. It holds the distinction of being a Level 1 trauma center and one of two Joint Commission-accredited, comprehensive stroke centers outside of Chicago in the state.

In 2019, after careful review, the system revised its statement of values to elevate safety as its foremost priority, followed by integrity, quality, and stewardship. To support and enhance a “Safety First” culture, the system launched a variety of successful programs at all of its hospitals, including Springfield Memorial Hospital. Three of the most unique and impactful patient safety programs that Springfield Memorial Hospital implemented are the Great Catch Award, Equity Scorecard, and Safety Summits.

Great Catch Award

The Great Catch Award upholds a culture of continuous improvement by catching safety gaps before they reach patients or staff. Through a sophisticated electronic event reporting and management system called SENSOR (System for Event Notification to Support Organizational Reliability), the hospital has significantly enhanced its ability to learn from actual and near-miss events to bolster the culture of safety.

The hospital encourages employees at any level to share positive stories of safety practices being maintained in their units and to file reports on incidents of concern for hospital leaders to address. This helps Springfield Memorial Hospital recognize achievements and gather valuable data to understand safety concerns from patients and staff. These stories are then showcased throughout the hospital and the larger health system workforce to encourage positive and healthy feedback.

The process of gathering nominations for the Great Catch Award reflects an organic and inclusive approach to feedback collection, essential for driving ongoing enhancements in patient care and operational efficiency. The Great Catch Award emphasizes the significance of embracing best practices from the field and implementing strategies to promote a positive and rewarding workforce culture. Ultimately, it enables Springfield Memorial Hospital to strengthen policies and systems for detecting and preventing harm, all while empowering leaders to support patients, staff, and those friends, family members, or partners of someone affected by a patient safety event.

Equity Scorecard

Springfield Memorial Hospital utilizes an Equity Scorecard to highlight outcomes and strategically prioritize initiatives to alleviate disparities. This visual scorecard is used to understand health inequities by portraying clinical outcomes stratified by social determinants of health (SDOH) and demographics for all projects the hospital undertakes. Community outreach is critical for developing tools like the scorecard because it directly incorporates the voices of patients and community members, which informs the hospital’s community health needs assessment.

The Equity Scorecard can be used to identify variations in care delivery and outcomes for a range of diseases and conditions. For example, an Equity Scorecard is used to assess disparities in mammography efficacy and the detection of cardiovascular symptoms among different racial groups. Other goals of the scorecard are reducing emergency department return visits, especially among marginalized groups, and enhancing early detection and treatment for conditions such as lung disease and breast cancer.

In addition, Springfield Memorial Hospital is utilizing other sophisticated data analyses to understand how specific care processes may lack efficacy in delivering equitable outcomes. These data analyses aid administrators in assessing patients' comprehension of discharge instructions, their access to and ability to obtain prescribed medication, and the availability of equitable post-acute care in primary or specialty clinics. By directing its efforts toward improving specific processes, the hospital aims to address health care outcome disparities and cultivate a health care environment throughout the population it serves that is both equitable and centered around patients’ needs.

Improving patient care at the bedside involves a multifaceted approach that considers factors such as cultural diversity and inclusive practices to ensure equitable outcomes for all patients. The data gathered through Equity Scorecards have helped the hospital forge community partnerships that have advanced its ability to support patients’ needs outside the hospital and help them stay well. Finally, the Equity Scorecards keep the hospital accountable for having a Board, leadership, and vendors that are representative of the community and inclusive of marginalized communities.

Safety Summits

Recognizing hospitals as the third most likely place for workplace violence events, Springfield Memorial Hospital has actively collaborated with local law enforcement agencies, including the chief of police, sheriff, and district attorney, to enhance understanding and develop improved methods for addressing violence perpetrated upon health care workers—particularly in the emergency department. To ensure a safe environment for both staff and patients, the hospital has organized recurrent Safety Summits to raise awareness about the challenges faced by health care workers and foster more effective partnerships with law enforcement.

To ensure a safe environment, Springfield Memorial Hospital utilizes the following strategies as part of its Safety Summits:

1. Reinforcing a zero-tolerance stance on violence against workers, patients and visitors
2. Collaborating with law enforcement for prosecution when appropriate
3. Setting clear visitation expectations at the front entrance
4. Developing and implementing planned responses to disruptive or violent individuals
5. Increasing presence of off-duty police officers in the emergency department
6. Advocating for legislation designed to protect health care workers
7. Supporting a Multi-disciplinary Workplace Violence Committee to advance progress

Cultivating a Culture of Safety Is Key to Improving Care

Springfield Memorial Hospital embodies a steadfast commitment to patient safety, continuous improvement, and equitable care delivery. Through strategic collaborations with law enforcement and innovative initiatives, like Safety Summits, the hospital prioritizes a safe environment for both staff and patients. The implementation of the Great Catch Award and the Equity Scorecard further underscores Springfield Memorial Hospital’s dedication to a culture of excellence, transparency, and inclusivity. By embracing best practices, promoting a just culture, and addressing health inequities, Springfield Memorial Hospital continues to lead the way in providing high-quality care to its diverse community, prioritizing equitable outcomes for all.