Joint Commission closes inspection with briefing

Published Feb. 14, 2013
By Steve Pivnick
81st Medical Group Public Affairs

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- The week-long survey by the Joint Commission of every facet of the 81st Medical Group's patient care ended with a Feb. 8 briefing to the 81st MDG senior staff and 81st Training Wing leadership.

Official results are expected soon.

The three-member Joint Commission team was led by Dr. Larry Kachik. Other members were nurse surveyor Nina Smith and life safety surveyor William Johnson.

As he went through the team's report, Dr. Kachik observed, "We were in every clinic. There was no place in the hospital we didn't touch."

Smith added, "It was a pleasure meeting all your people and seeing the hard work they do."

Kachik noted six findings that involved patient care and safety standards, but the vast majority of things in the report have already been fixed.

He continued, "From the Airmen and volunteers on up, the staff here is highly integrated."

"You have a very firm commitment to teaching," Kachik commented. "It's obvious people come here because they know they will receive excellent training.

"There has been tremendous work with patient flow in the emergency room, cataract surgery and the (gastrointestinal) lab."

Kachik also commented favorably about labor and delivery's practice of providing a CD, "You and Your Baby," to new parents as well as their "First-Time Baby" program.

He mentioned Keesler Medical Center's patient-satisfaction scores are exceptionally high, which tells him this is a hospital to which he'd want to go. The medical center's new touch-screen way-finding system also caught his attention, but in many instances hospital staff would personally take patients to their desired location.

Other areas Kachik mentioned include the pharmacy's new system that ensures the right medication gets to the correct patient as well as the pharmacy staff's ingenuity to resolve an issue with placing plastic bottles on shelves (by simply turning them into bins to prevent them from sliding off). He also said he found the genetics center very impressive. The radiology flight's recent "Mammothon" caught his attention as well.

"I've never heard of that before," he said. "Women were encouraged to make appointments. Out of 77 patients seen, eight cancers were found."

Summing up the team's impression of Keesler Medical Center and its staff, Kachik said, there is a lot of great work being done.

At the conclusion of the report, Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Kory Cornum thanked the team for coming to Keesler and teaching him and his staff.

Brig. Gen. Brad Spacy, 81st Training Wing commander added, "Great job! Keesler is a happy recipient of this great care!"

In a message to the entire 81st MDG staff, Cornum said, "Many congrats to all of you! We did great on the Joint Commission and will be reaccredited. The few findings they had are almost all fixed already. On top of that, for those who haven't heard, we are a medical center again! That is because of all the great work you all do every day for our country. It became obvious to our senior leaders that you all should be working in a medical center again. Thanks for all you do every day for our patients and for our great country. It is an honor to serve with every one of you."