MRMC Foundation Announces Annual Gala Event

The Magnolia Regional Medical Center Foundation is pleased to announce the theme for the 2014 fundraising gala.  In honor of MRMC’s seventy-five year commitment to Magnolia, the Foundation proudly presents 75 Strong.   The evening will include a seated dinner, musical entertainment by The Groove Agents and a spirited auction.   Festivities will begin at 6:00 pm at the Story Hog Haven on January 4, 2014. Proceeds from the night will be used to purchase necessary equipment for the Labor and Delivery Department of the hospital.  The equipment will allow physicians and clinical experts to securely view the fetal monitor strip of their patient in real time.  It will also decrease time required by the nurses to manually transfer data and keep our information current at all times.  Seating is limited.

The MRMC Foundation continues to work for the overall health of our community by fundraising efforts to support the projects of MRMC.   The Foundation was instrumental in the construction of a wellness park earlier this year.  The park provides resources to promote a culture of health, wellness and the prevention of disease.  As a qualified 501(c)(3), non-profit organization, all gifts to the foundation are 100% tax deductible.

The Foundation office is located on the ground floor of the medical center and is open Monday-Friday, 8:30am-3:30pm.

To purchase tickets or for more information, contact:

Julia Whitehead, Executive Director. 

PO Box 2161

Magnolia AR  71754

870-235-3213

jwhitehead@magnoliarmc.org

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For more information:

Tonya Watson                                                      

870-234-7883

tonya.watson@rocketmail.com

MRMC Home Health Earns HomeCare Elite

Magnolia Regional Medical Center Home Health has been notified of inclusion in the Top 500 List of HomeCare Elite nationwide.

“ The 2013 HomeCare Elite™ is the compilation of the most successful home care providers in the United States. Now in its seventh year, this market-leading review names the top 25% of agencies based on performance measures. This year those measures include quality of care, quality improvement, patient experience, process measure implementation, and financial management. The 2013 HomeCare Elite™ also recognizes the Top 100 and Top 500 of providers nationwide. The data for this study is based on publicly available information.”

“OCS HomeCare by National Research Corporation uses publicly available data from Home Health Compare and the CMS Cost Reports to create the HomeCare Elite List of agencies. Five domains of performance were cumulatively analyzed—quality of care, quality improvement and consistency, patient experience (HHCAHPS), process measure implementation, and financial performance.

The quality of care, process measure implementation, and patient experience domains measure agency performance in each of the publicly-reported Home Health Compare measures. The quality improvement index is based on changes in the 8 outcomes between data released in July 2012 and July 2013. The quality consistency score represents performance relative to the state norm in the quality measures over the past five years. The financial performance measure represents agency indexed Medicare profit margin from the 2012 CMS Cost Reports (or from previous years, adjusted, when 2012 data was not available).

Agency performance in each of the domains was compared against the performance of other organizations in their state and nationwide (including U.S. territories). The domains were combined into one overall score, using a weighting methodology that gives the greatest importance to quality of care. The top 25% of agencies in each region, both facility-based and free-standing, were identified and added to the national list. Plus, the top 100 and 500 agencies in the nation were recognized based on overall score.

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For more information:
Karen Weido
870-235-3212
kweido@magnoliarmc.org

Roberson Named Employee of the Month

LaTonda Roberson has been named Employee of the Month for November at Magnolia Regional Medical Center.

LaTonda has been at MRMC for four years and works as the charge nurse on the Medical-Surgical unit.

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For more information:
Karen Weido
870-235-3212
kweido@magnoliarmc.org

MRMC Observing National Medical Staff Services Week

Magnolia Regional Medical Center is observing National Medical Staff Services Awareness Week November 3-9, 2013.

In 1992, President George Bush issued a proclamation designating the first week of November as “National Medical Staff Services Awareness Week,” to acknowledge and thank medical services professionals (MSPs) for playing “an important role in our nation’s healthcare system.”

The American Medical Association-Organized Medical Staff Section also recognizes the medical services profession in a resolution that formally acknowledges “the importance and value of medical services professionals to the healthcare organization and its physician members, and recognizes their contribution and dedication in preserving quality patient care.”

When you visit a hospital, you see the doctors, the nurses, and other medical personnel. What you don’t see are the people behind the scenes who make certain the credentials of all practitioners who are caring for you are correct and have been verified.

MSPs are experts in provider credentialing and privileging, medical staff organization, accreditation and regulatory compliance, and provider relations in the diverse healthcare industry. They credential and monitor ongoing competence of the physicians and other practitioners who provide patient care services in hospitals, managed care organizations, and other healthcare settings.

MSPs are a vital part of the community’s healthcare team. They are dedicated to making certain that all patients receive care from practitioners who are properly educated, licensed, and trained in their specialty.

For more information about MSPs and the National Association Medical Staff Services (NAMSS), visit www.namss.org.

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For more information:
Karen Weido
870-235-3212
kweido@magnoliarmc.org

MRMC Recognizes Medical-Surgical Nurses Week

Medical-surgical nurses focus every day on caring compassionately for patients and families. The Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses (AMSN) has designated a special week to shift that focus to the nurses themselves. Magnolia Regional Medical Center will participate in recognizing their medical-surgical nurses during Medical-Surgical Nurses Week, November 1-7, 2013.

Medical-surgical nurses possess specialized skills and knowledge of the entire spectrum of nursing care. They make a difference by building the profession of nursing and the medical-surgical nursing specialty, mentoring and nurturing each other, advocating for patients and families, serving their communities through care and education, and improving patient care.

More information about the work of medical-surgical nurses, Medical-Surgical Nurses Week and products promoting the event are available on AMSN’s Web site.

The special week is also meant to raise awareness of the medical-surgical nursing specialty among other nurses. One of the most diverse nursing specialties practiced today, medical-surgical nurses care for adult patients in a broad range of settings, applying their expert knowledge to all body systems and disease processes.

To learn more about medical-surgical nursing and AMSN, visit www.amsn.org.

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For more information:
Karen Weido
870-235-3212
kweido@magnoliarmc.org

MRMC Home Health Celebrates National Home Care Month

Magnolia Regional Medical Center Home Health Agency will celebrate National Home Care Month during the month of November, as well as Home Care Aide Week on November 10 to 16. These critical workers play a central role in their patients’ lives, and the National Association of Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) recognizes their efforts with this year’s theme: “Home is the Center of Health Care.”

In coming years, home care and hospice are poised to play a central role in the delivery of healthcare throughout the country. A wide range of forces is joining to push care away from nursing homes and drive it toward home and community-based care. Based on demography and dollars, experts agree that the destiny of health care lies in the home.

There is growing demand for home care, yet the Medicare home health benefit has been cut by $77 billion over 10 years. The cumulative effect of these disproportionate cuts has been to weaken what was once a $17 billion industry by pushing thousands of providers to the point of bankruptcy. The cuts have an even more serious impact on patients by limiting their access to the care they need at home. 

There will be even more patients who need home care as the 78 million baby boomers continue to age. The first of the boomers turned 65 last year and the rest will reach their golden years over the next two decades. As they do, health care dollars will grow even scarcer, especially if Medicare provides the boomers with costly institutional care.

But there is a better way. Home care is not just the preferred choice for most patients; it’s also the best bang for our health care dollars. It costs Medicare nearly $2,000 per day for a typical hospital stay and $559 per day for a typical nursing home stay. Meanwhile, home care costs just $44 a day on average. And home care, combined with technology, helps the many U.S. seniors who live at home to stay independent, enrich their lives, and keep in touch with those they love.

Home care aides also play a central role by joining in patients’ lives, whether this involves running errands, going with them to the doctor, or assisting them with medical conditions. Aides are there to provide seniors with company and conversation, and many aides are more than caregivers for their patients. They are often friends who give warmth and comfort to the aged and ill.

NAHC looks to the future in its theme, “Home is the Center of Health Care,” the product of a brainstorming session at the NAHC Strategic Planning Congress in February 2013. The session brought together members of NAHC’s board of directors and the heads of its Forum of State Associations, along with key leaders from the home care and hospice industry. They exchanged their thoughts under the leadership of Dr. Lance Secretan, management expert, author, editor and former corporate CEO. Their joint expression of home care’s goals gained approval from NAHC’s board of directors in June.

For more information on the National Association for Home Care & Hospice - National Home Care & Hospice Month and Home Care Aide Week (November 10-16, 2013), visit www.nahc.org.

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For more information:
Karen Weido
870-235-3212
kweido@magnoliarmc.org