Craig Rhyne, MD, CMO of Covenant Health in Lubbock, Texas, has extensive experience with the health system, beginning in 1969 when he worked in Covenant Medical Center's kitchen serving dinner trays and washing dishes as a high school student. In 1982, he became the hospital's first resident, and in 1991 he practiced as a general surgeon. He was named the trauma medical director in 1992 and held that position until July 2011, when he became CMO of the health system.
Revisiting areas of quality
"I've seen this hospital all the way from the garbage cans and the dishwashers to the C-suite, which gives me a different perspective on the organization as a whole," Dr. Rhyne says. This perspective is useful when evaluating the entire organization's quality and level of safety. In fact, in a CMS verification survey of the health system that began in January, Dr. Rhyne saw that the cleanliness of areas such as the kitchen plays an equal part in quality as the sterilization of medical supplies. "Some of the kitchen processes were just as important to CMS as some of the clinical processes," Dr. Rhyne says. "It's something a lot of institutions aren't paying much attention to."
The CMS verification survey gave Covenant an opportunity to revisit and improve some aspects of quality. For example, the system improved the cleanliness in food preparation areas and storage spaces. Dr. Rhyne says one "wake-up call" from the CMS visit was identifying the need to move old and unused equipment currently in storage out of the facility. "We realized we needed to go through the institution, identify obsolete or antiquated equipment and things we no longer utilize, and physically get them out of the space so we could have the cleanest possible environment for our patients," he says.
Looking at the entire organization
The survey emphasized the need to look at every part of the organization when assessing quality. Dr. Rhyne's experience in different areas of the health system has taught him this important lesson. He says while it is natural for physicians and staff to view quality from the perspective of their job or department, it is critical for hospital leaders to have a broader, more inclusive view. "Having a background as diverse and complete as I have has really given me a lot of insight into how other people think about their jobs and their responsibilities to quality," Dr. Rhyne says. "You can't neglect the organism as a whole. You have to continue to maintain a focus on every area, and realize that the perspectives that you're going to get from [people in] any area are flavored with their own personal experiences."
Proactively improving quality
Having a big-picture view of quality has also driven Dr. Rhyne and Covenant to emphasize proactive process improvements. "Just avoidance of disaster is not a sign that everything is well," Dr. Rhyne says. "I think what we have to do is look at our processes and begin to understand that we can identify areas for improvement before we have a disaster that makes us take action." One program Covenant implemented to proactively improve quality is an ongoing practice evaluation of physicians and nursing staff. The program helps identify areas where physicians and nurses may need additional training or education. "You don't have to have a critical adverse event or sentinel event to initiate process improvement that will improve patient care," Dr. Rhyne says.
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Revisiting areas of quality"I've seen this hospital all the way from the garbage cans and the dishwashers to the C-suite, which gives me a different perspective on the organization as a whole," Dr. Rhyne says. This perspective is useful when evaluating the entire organization's quality and level of safety. In fact, in a CMS verification survey of the health system that began in January, Dr. Rhyne saw that the cleanliness of areas such as the kitchen plays an equal part in quality as the sterilization of medical supplies. "Some of the kitchen processes were just as important to CMS as some of the clinical processes," Dr. Rhyne says. "It's something a lot of institutions aren't paying much attention to."
The CMS verification survey gave Covenant an opportunity to revisit and improve some aspects of quality. For example, the system improved the cleanliness in food preparation areas and storage spaces. Dr. Rhyne says one "wake-up call" from the CMS visit was identifying the need to move old and unused equipment currently in storage out of the facility. "We realized we needed to go through the institution, identify obsolete or antiquated equipment and things we no longer utilize, and physically get them out of the space so we could have the cleanest possible environment for our patients," he says.
Looking at the entire organization
The survey emphasized the need to look at every part of the organization when assessing quality. Dr. Rhyne's experience in different areas of the health system has taught him this important lesson. He says while it is natural for physicians and staff to view quality from the perspective of their job or department, it is critical for hospital leaders to have a broader, more inclusive view. "Having a background as diverse and complete as I have has really given me a lot of insight into how other people think about their jobs and their responsibilities to quality," Dr. Rhyne says. "You can't neglect the organism as a whole. You have to continue to maintain a focus on every area, and realize that the perspectives that you're going to get from [people in] any area are flavored with their own personal experiences."
Proactively improving quality
Having a big-picture view of quality has also driven Dr. Rhyne and Covenant to emphasize proactive process improvements. "Just avoidance of disaster is not a sign that everything is well," Dr. Rhyne says. "I think what we have to do is look at our processes and begin to understand that we can identify areas for improvement before we have a disaster that makes us take action." One program Covenant implemented to proactively improve quality is an ongoing practice evaluation of physicians and nursing staff. The program helps identify areas where physicians and nurses may need additional training or education. "You don't have to have a critical adverse event or sentinel event to initiate process improvement that will improve patient care," Dr. Rhyne says.
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