QUALITY MANAGEMENT & BEST PRACTICES
To ensure the delivery of quality emergency medical care, Field Providers, their performance and patient outcomes are continuously evaluated and measured.
The SEMS Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program is a systematic process of review and analysis of patient interactions.
Stratford EMS takes it’s quality management program very seriously. Our program is a continuous, multifaceted program aimed at complete system improvement. The process is transparent and reproducible. The process is designed to standardize performance, reduce risk and ensure quality care is delivered.
Quality Improvement begins with proper selection, human resource management and continuous training of staff. Recertification training to maintain knowledge and skill set is essential.
Continuous:
Calls are selected for review based on a random selection of at least 50% of our volume, Call types (STEMI, Cardiac Arrest, Stroke, Childbirth) or by request.
- Emergency Medical Dispatch case review
- Response Time review
- Patient care report case review
- Hospital Outcome data
- Billing data review
Individual staff QI findings are reported to staff directly and privately (both successes and areas for enhancement). Cumulative department data is posted for all staff monthly.
Administration uses the data to identify system processes for enhancement and then adjusts where necessary.
EMERG/E.V.E.N.T. (Patient and Responder Safety):
Stratford EMS and Stratford Public Safety Dispatch are members of the Emergency Medical Error Reduction Group (EMERG). EMERG is a Patient Safety Organization (PSO) which helps organizations identify and understand the causes of error in the emergency medical system and promote adoption of evidence-based practices that improve patient and provider safety. Through information sharing and lessons learned, EMERG enables providers, industry partners and all stakeholders to work together to find, implement and sustain improvements that make patient care and delivery safer, more effective and, ultimately, without preventable error. SEMS also supports the national EVENT near-miss database.
Patient Satisfaction Surveys:
SEMS sends a customer satisfaction survey to every single patient we encounter. We are fortunate to have a high rate of return for these surveys, which allow us to benchmark our performance against other EMS providers who also collect patient feedback.
Surveys are administered and received by Feedback Innovations, of Burlington, MA. This objective third-party process ensures that surveys remain anonymous and protect the patient’s identity. It also guarantees the integrity of the information gathered.
While customer feedback can be useful for many reasons – to improve quality of care, enhance reputation, reduce malpractice claims, boost employee morale, improve operations and build patient/customer loyalty – SEMS uses this feedback to help our employees improve their patient interactions.
Direct quotes from the patient, the most important voice in the system, provide the most genuine feedback to our staff.
Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES) Database:
Since 2020, SEMS has participated in the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES) program run by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Using standard Utstein Style reporting, this program tracks cardiac arrest survival outcomes from EMS systems in CT and across the United States in an effort to improve the care of sudden cardiac arrest patients. SEMS is proud to have been selected to participate in this important project. CT OEMS has provided access to CARE at no cost to communities throughout CT. We look forward to monitoring outcomes within those communities and working with the area First Responders and Bystanders to improve survivability in cardiac arrest.
AHA Mission Lifeline: EMS Recognition:
SEMS is proud to be a participant in the Mission Lifeline EMS program since it’s inception in 2014 and have been recognized at the “Gold Plus Award” level which is the highest level an agency can achieve. Mission: Lifeline EMS recognition is a program designed to showcase Emergency Medical Service organizations across the nation for excellent STEMI care. Prehospital personnel are the first providers of care to patients suffering from cardiac emergencies. The role of EMS in the system-of-care for these patients is crucial and often sets the course for the patient’s outcome. The Mission: Lifeline EMS recognition program is launched in 2014 and continues to celebrate the achievement of the pre-hospital providers and their collaboration with each other and destination hospitals specific to STEMI patient care.
Medical Control Oversight:
Our clinical care and QI program falls under the watchful oversight of the ED Physicians and EMS Coordinators of the Sponsor Hospital Council of Greater Bridgeport (SHCGB – Yale/Bridgeport & Hartford Healthcare/St. Vincent’s Hospitals). Their role is to provide protocol, medical intensive care authorization, education and oversight for our EMS responders.
