Deer Lodge, Montana – Deer Lodge Medical Center has been awarded
Planetree Bronze Recognition for Meaningful Progress in Patient-Centered Care. Deer Lodge Medical Center is the first health care organization in Montana
and the 18th in the world to be awarded Bronze-level recognition since
Planetree first introduced the recognition level in 2012.
What distinguishes Planetree Recognition among other health care quality
awards is its distinctive focus on patient-centered care, defined as a
model of care delivery in which health care professionals partner with
patients and families to identify and satisfy the full range of patient
needs and preferences. The award is conferred based on a variety of factors,
including performance improvement on traditional quality indicators, review
of policy documents and, most importantly, how patients and staff assess
the organization’s patient-centered culture. Bronze Recognition
was awarded to Deer Lodge Medical Center following a series of focus groups
with patients and their loved ones, as well as staff from a multitude
of disciplines and divisions within the organization. Considered collectively,
these discussions with patients and staff attested to a genuine culture
of patient-centered care.
“The experience of Deer Lodge Medical Center shows what can be accomplished
when a team of deeply committed, supremely innovative and highly-driven
caregivers take the courageous leap to re-define priorities and re-organize
systems to put patients first,” shared Susan Frampton, Planetree’s
President.
As a Planetree affiliate, the achievement of Bronze Recognition by Deer
Lodge Medical Center is a significant milestone in the organization’s
culture change journey, evidencing that effective policies, practices,
tools, and systems are in place to meet a broad range of patient, family,
and professional health care giver needs and preferences.
The program is an extension of Planetree’s established
Patient-Centered Hospital Designation Program, the only program to recognize excellence in patient-centered care across
the continuum of care and around the world. Health care organizations
awarded Patient-Centered Designation undergo a rigorous process to demonstrate
comprehensive implementation and maintenance of patient-centered care,
as captured in more than 50 specific criteria.
The criteria include a shared medical record policy, nonrestrictive visiting
practices, opportunities for patient and family input into health center
operations, healthy and flexible meal options, recognition of the role
of spirituality and the arts in healing, and a physical environment that
facilitates privacy, promotes open communication between patients and
providers, and is accommodating of family members’ involvement in
their loved one’s care. Recognizing that ultimately the patient
experience originates with those providing care, several criteria focus
on nurturing a work environment that is supportive of staff.
In 2012, Planetree introduced two intermediate recognition tiers—Bronze Recognition for Meaningful Progress in Patient-Centered Care and
Silver Recognition for Significant Advancement in Patient-Centered Care, each designed to celebrate organizations that have fulfilled a significant
portion of the designation criteria.
“Planetree awards Bronze Recognition for Meaningful Progress in Patient-Centered
Care to celebrate organizations’ progress along the culture change
journey,” said Frampton. “In this spirit, we look forward
to witnessing how the team at Deer Lodge Medical Center builds on this
achievement to take its commitment to delivering patient-centered care
to even greater heights.”
About Planetree:
Founded in 1978 by a San Francisco patient who endured a traumatic healthcare
experience, Planetree is an international, not-for-profit organization
that partners with health care organizations across the continuum of care
to personalize, humanize, and demystify the healthcare experience by putting
the needs of individuals first. To achieve this aim, Planetree guides
organizations through a structured process that enables and inspires caregivers
to transform the health care experience they provide. With its model of
person-centered care being implemented in a diverse range of hospitals,
continuing care facilities, outpatient clinics, and consumer health libraries
across the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, and Asia, Planetree
is demonstrating that person-centered care is not only an empowering philosophy,
but a viable, vital, and cost-effective model of care.