Two Associates at Ephraim McDowell Health (EMH) were featured speakers at a recent Breakthroughs Conference held at the Gaylord National Harbor Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, MD. This conference is one of the nation’s leading and most influential healthcare events, bringing together top professionals and thought leaders from various fields to discuss, collaborate and innovate on the future of health care. The three-day conference was attended by more than 4,000 individuals who enjoyed learning, networking and business development opportunities.

Christina Witt, Sepsis Nurse Navigator/Lead PI Reviewer, was chosen to speak on Ephraim McDowell Health’s major improvements and successes in treating patients with sepsis at all three hospital facilities. Her presentation discussed tools utilized to create a comprehensive sepsis program driven by data, including the creation of the role of a Sepsis Nurse Navigator to assist in the complete revamp of sepsis protocols, order sets, education for staff, policies and procedures. This process included a complete overhaul of sepsis education to include nursing, laboratory, pharmacy, and providers, giving ownership of the treatment bundle process to different parts of the treatment team and providing timely feedback for accountability.

Lakita Irvin, Patient Experience System Manager, was chosen to speak at the Premier Quest National Meeting.  Lakita’s presentation was titled “Accountability, Leadership Rounding and Patient Experience Classes: The Trifecta to Increase Patient Satisfaction Scores”. She shared information about the numerous improvements and changes being made within Ephraim McDowell Health to improve the patient’s experience. Having an audience from several different health care systems allowed her to reiterate how important it is to remember that patient experience improvements are not “one size fits all”. What works for one facility may not work for another. Every employee and every patient population is different, and you have to build experience around that concept.