Patient focused
Minidoka Memorial Hospital is a small healthcare facility in a rural area of southeast Idaho. “We know the people who walk through our doors needing help,” says Laura T. Clark, Compliance & Accreditation Officer, and member of the administrative team at Minidoka. “That’s why we’re so passionate about what we do. The care they receive here is patient focused and exceptional.”
The drive to continuously improve and streamline processes is behind the vision she and her accreditation team had of bringing their quality management systems to the next level. What they didn’t fully realize at the outset was the potential of their new software to affect much more than the audit processes.
From silos to effective systems
Prior to the implementation of Synergi Life, systems were based on Word documents, Excel sheets, and even handwritten notes. “We were behind the game and didn’t have a good system for connecting the dots,” says Laura Clark.
The accreditation team, including Quality Director Kristi Clark and Chief Nursing Officer Erinn Neilson, began researching software options to bring their systems to the next level. While attending a symposium, they became aware of Synergi Life and realized it was the flexible and easy to use tool to begin their digital transformation.
“We want to be proactive and address issues as they happen,” says Kristi Clark.
Synergi Life brings everything together
Not long afterwards, they were using Synergi Life to gather relevant information for an audit. All findings and corrective actions plans were entered in the software and relevant documents, policies, procedures, and meeting notes were attached. For the first time, they could follow a process from beginning to end, all in one centralized software solution.
“Everything the surveyor requested was readily available in Synergi Life. She was very impressed with the ease of use, efficient presentation of information and central location of related documents,” says Laura Clark.
Instead of spending hours gathering and compiling information, they enter information into the system and Synergi Life creates essential graphs, analyses and reports. The time saved on tedious paperwork is spent working with managers on new projects to improve systems and processes.
The implementation of Synergi Life has also resulted in cost savings through the elimination of other software, including a work order management system that is no longer necessary.
“Synergi Life meets the needs of every department in our hospital,” says Kristi Clark. “Initially, we thought our accreditation team would realize the greatest benefit from the software, but it’s helping all areas – clinical and non-clinical. Departments are continually finding new ways that Synergi Life can help them.
Erinn Neilson explains why Minidoka chose Synergi Life. “The usage is endless, and we have a huge vision of what we want it to do,” she says, noting that currently, the main uses are for quality improvement, internal audits, compliance and accreditation.
Number one feedback: ease of use
“The number one feedback from our users is ease of use,” she says. “Our end users have very different levels of IT experience. After using Synergi Life once, they say ‘It’s so simple!’” They also like utilizing the dashboard as an automatic reminder to complete actions.
Synergi Life ties everything together and provides an overall view with current information available in one system. “When multiple members of our team are working on one project, all information is now in one location and readily available - we’re not wasting time chasing down information or documentation,” says Neilson.
What would they say to other organizations looking for a similar solution?
“Take a serious look at Synergi Life if you need a broad spectrum product with the capability to link different departments and information,” says Laura Clark. “Continuous quality improvement, streamlining processes, improving efficiencies and keeping costs down to meet the expectations of the end users are key areas of focus for all industries – not just healthcare. In our case, our end users happen to be patients. In a rural community, our patients are people we know and love - that’s why our team was so determined to find a solution that was multi-faceted and affordable - and would help us continuously improve the care we provide in our community.”
ABOUT MINIDOKA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
Minidoka Memorial Hospital, established in 1960, is Minidoka County’s only hospital with a nursing home located in Rupert, Idaho. Services offered at Minidoka Memorial Hospital include surgery, inpatient and outpatient treatments, long-term care, home health, ambulance, and occupational health. It is an accredited and innovative critical access hospital licensed for 25 beds, with a one-bed intensive care unit, seven-bed emergency department and a 42-bed extended care facility. The hospital employs over 350 people, making it the second largest employer in the county.
PROFILE
- Customer name: Minidoka Memorial Hospital
- Web address: minidokamemorial.com
- Market: Health care
- Employees/users: Over 350
- Product: Synergi Life - Quality Management module
BRIEF ACCOUNT
Why we chose DNV - Digital Solutions:
- Synergi Life is extremely easy to use for people of all IT experience levels
- Synergi Life ties all the information together for all involved stakeholders
- Comprehensive software with virtually unlimited possibilites for use
- We can build software to fit our needs
This is what we gained:
- All data is stored in one place
- Improved efficiencies resulting in ROI of $15,060 over a 3 months period
- Projected ROI over a 12 month period - $102,900
- Ability to move forward with real results
- Our staff are excited for the future time-saving allowing more time for patient care
