What Are Our 'Hidden' Investments?

They may fly under the radar, but our considerable investments in patient safety are paramount

“How will this help improve the health of our community?” We ask this question every time we consider purchasing new lifesaving technology, launching a new program to better treat a medical condition, or making any major, capital investment.

Many times, our investments are quite visible. Just look around to see our most valuable investment—the 8,000 colleagues who help us care for our community. We go to extraordinary lengths to ensure the most talented and compassionate people work here.

If you work outside our clinical areas, our other investments might not be as obvious, but they are equally important. They are the investments we make in technology and programs that allow us to care for people in the safest, most efficient and effective way. Patients don’t necessarily see these investments in action, but they get the ultimate benefit: safety and peace of mind.

Our “hidden” investments include:

• Pharmacy robots—Ten years ago, LVH–Cedar Crest was one of the first U.S. hospitals to use a robot to pick and dispense individually wrapped medications for patients. We recently added a second robot at LVH–Muhlenberg. This technology significantly reduces medical errors, and it frees our clinical pharmacists from hand-picking prescriptions so they can give patients their undivided attention.
• Medication bar-coding—We are one of fewer than 3 percent of hospitals nationwide using bar-code technology to ensure patients get the right dose of the right medication at the right time. We also have a full-time medication safety officer.
• Patient safety video—It encourages patients to partner with caregivers by asking us about proper hand-washing techniques, understanding medication safety and learning more about an upcoming procedure.
• Lifesaving teams—When a specialized team of caregivers immediately responds to someone in need, it saves lives. Our rapid response team identifies potential patient downturns and intervenes before a patient gets to physical distress. Our designation as a JCAHO Primary Stroke Center—one of about 200 in the U.S.—means we deliver the best care and significantly decrease the rate of death and disability associated with stroke. Our award-winning MI Alert program, a unique team effort among cardiology and emergency department caregivers and emergency medical technicians, allows us to deliver lifesaving heart care to people with chest pain in 90 minutes or less.
• Orders and X-rays on computer—Our physicians directly enter patient orders into an electronic computer system (called CAPOE). This significantly reduces handwriting and transcription errors, and delivers rapid, accurate information to caregivers who need it. Also, our X-rays and imaging studies are now on a computer system called PACS. It gets caregivers images instantly for better diagnoses and treatment.

We also invest in our Bedside Scientist Institute, our research “school” for bedside nurses; our advanced intensive care unit, which provides instant critical care for patients 24/7; and our 402-CARE call center, which helps people find doctors and enroll in wellness classes. These “hidden” investments are not cheap— they sometimes cost millions of dollars—but their benefit is invaluable.

If you know someone in our community who needs care, you can tell them with pride about our “hidden” investments. Not all hospitals have the resources to make them, but we do. It’s another example of why all hospitals are not alike.

Lou Liebhaber, Chief Operating Officer

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