Moody Chisholm tells us how this coastal Florida provider is staking its claim as the best in the region.

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Often times, the last thing an outsider thinks of when picturing Florida’s West Coast is healthcare. But for residents of the area, world-class healthcare is a perk well above warm water and blue skies. That is where Manatee Healthcare System comes in. The organization is currently involved in several projects designed to strengthen its position in the local continuum of care.

Moody Chisholm, group director of Manatee Healthcare System and CEO of Manatee Memorial Hospital

Understanding the population is one of the keys to Manatee’s success. The area is home to many older residents but recently experienced a steady rise in younger families. Chisholm said that number stabilized as the housing market slowed, but it required the system to think in a multi-dimensional fashion.

Able to invest in improvements through the support of its parent company, Universal Health Services, the organization spent $50 million on a new patient tower that opened last year. In addition, the hospital is building a new heart center for slightly more than $10 million. This is on top of plans to build a new wound center with surgical, clinical, and hyperbaric treatment, as well as becoming the only facility on Florida’s West Coast to employ full-time, inhouse, critical care intensivists living in the hospital.

“These intensivists will be in the hospital 24/7, available to critical care patients and any patient whose situation worsens,” said Chisholm, expecting that program to begin within the next three to four months. “The Leapfrog Group’s data shows that mortality in intensive care units can be reduced by 40% with this type of program, which was compelling information to me.”

With the heart center, the system is expanding state-of-the-art services and equipment in an area of the country with a high percentage of older residents. Although older people are more susceptible to heart diseases, younger people with heart problems will also be well served by the center.

The same can be said for the tower. The new tower has slightly more than 165,000 square feet, 75% of its patient rooms are private, and it includes cardiovascular intensive care, general medical/surgical care, and cardiac, orthopedic, and neurological services. Modern amenities include wireless Internet access, children’s play areas, and an express admissions team designed to improve throughput. These services improve care for all Manatee patients,and are in direct response to the changing demands of both seniors and younger people.

The organization also adjusted its marketing plans to reflect the demographic shift. Younger patients, particularly women of childbearing age, want one-on-one education, facility tours, and state-of-the-art clinical services and pediatric units. Chisholm said Manatee recently renovated its pediatric unit, separating and improving treatment and patient rooms. As for seniors, Chisholm said they are likely to show up for educational seminars on various topics, so the goal of the marketing team has been to tailor its message through mediums most likely to reach a targeted audience.

“We do some direct mailings for certain types of patients and services, and we’ll use billboards and newspapers to tout some of our accomplishments in general. One of the main things a healthcare consumer wants to know is that they will be safe,” Chisholm said. “Our hospital has rated among the top 5% in the nation for the past three years in patient safety. We’re also getting more information out through our Web site as more people educate themselves through the Internet.”

Prep for success
Manatee makes many investments into support systems and solutions for administrators and medical staff to run the hospital efficiently. The organization has a long-standing relationship with Opus Healthcare, using the company for its clinical management system. It is also pilot testing OpusMobility. That program gives physicians a PDA that allows them to reference patients’ medical records and immediately receive alerts about information or test results they have been waiting for.

“Universal Health Services has been involved with Opus since they were in their infancy. Opus committed to build their model around the needs and expectations of the various UHS hospitals,” Chisholm said. “Our company agreed to work with them to develop an effective hospital clinical management system and a complete EMR.”

The company uses an Eclypsys system for financial modeling, helping the hospital determine whether new programs are viable or new equipment will pay for itself over time. The system helps determine whether or not physicians are using supplies efficiently and looks at the rise of vendor costs beyond acceptable limits.

With the organization facing many challenges similar to other providers, such as staffing shortages, depletion in outpatient business, and under-compensated care, Chisholm knows more changes lie ahead. He believes greater understanding between healthcare professionals and lawmakers, more partnerships between physicians and outpatient centers, and more resources devoted to education for physicians, nurses, and technologists will help. But the main thing Chisholm worries about is keeping the hospital’s commitment to quality, because if the organization can do that, everything else should take care of itself.

“Our goal is to improve performance in the eyes of customers. That includes patients and their families, and our physicians and employees,” he said. “We have a responsibility to make sure our patients get safe, high-quality care and to foster an environment where our physicians and employees are appreciated and respected.”