(Machias) Down East Community Hospital partnered with Sunrise Care Facility, Moosabeec Ambulance, and Machias Ambulance to create a nursing facility transfer form for safer patient transfers that is now being utilized by Sunrise Care Facility for all patients being transferred to the Down East Community Hospital Emergency Department. Through the development and use of this form, vital patient information is readily available for EMS and emergency department personnel.

 

“The program launched in October and has already made positive change. We are excited about the collaboration with other agencies to bring safer patient care to our community,” stated project leader Laurie Hayward.

 

This project is funded through a $7,000 grant by the Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine which was awarded a two-year demonstration grant by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

 

The specific aims of the project are to implement skills, tools and processes that improve the transfer of care between nursing facilities, emergency medical services, and critical access hospitals with admission of elderly residents and to improve the safety of the transfer of care through inter-facility and staff communication that results in a reduction of adverse events, missed or inaccurate patient information, delayed treatment, infections and readmissions.

 

Highlights of improvement through use of this form:

 

All of these outcomes improve patient safety and quality of care through three transfer levels; the nursing facility, EMS, and the Emergency Department.  The next step is to bring other local nursing facilities on board so they can implement the transfer form. Marshall Healthcare in Machias has already joined the project.