Qualidigm Extends Communities of Care Focus from Reducing Preventable Hospital Readmissions for Heart Failure Patients to Include ‘All Cause’ Readmissions

Qualidigm, the consulting and research company in Rocky Hill whose mission is advancing improvement in the quality, safety and cost-effectiveness of health care, held its first “Care Transitions Leadership Academy.”  Patricia Adams, Director of McLean Home Care & Hospice and Paul Cloonan, Assistant Director of Nursing for the McLean Health Center including the Post Acute Center participated in the first phase of four-day leadership forum along with 350 other statewide health care providers March 22 and 29. “The McLean clinical leaders are intensifying efforts across its care spectrum to enhance McLean’s ongoing efforts to reduce “all cause” hospital readmissions for the population we serve. McLean has exceptionally low re-hospitalization rates. The McLean clinical team is quickly incorporating new care transition partners, clinical tools, and data mining methods from the Academy to stay at the forefront,” reports Cloonan.

Bess got so excited when the group began to weave. Although she has a hard time using her hands, the sight of the old fashioned metal loom many of us used to make pot holders stirred long lost happy memories. Bess related to Kim Starr, an Art Therapy intern at McLean, that at thirteen she sewed a dress that was so nice; her mother let her wear it to school. That sharing was a very special moment in Kim’s year.

The new McLean Hospice volunteer graduates range from retirees – including two former nurses, and a retired physician - to three students pursuing degrees, two residents who volunteered for Hospice in other areas of the country, to a homemaker with school-age children.  Most want to do direct patient and family support and others will do administration.

Jack Sperger’s smile fills a room and his determination makes him a poster patient for going straight home after joint surgery with a good healthcare provider as your partner. At 69 Jack is still running a sales and marketing consulting firm and maintains an active lifestyle playing golf. But as a lifelong athlete who first sustained inquiries playing Navy ball in the sixties, Jack needed joint surgeries.

Physical Therapist, Michelle Herbert, works with Beatrice Pugsley at the McLean Post-Acute Center.

To all McLean Staff & Hospice Personnel

I did not include any names on purpose because I was afraid I would miss one of the dozens that provided care, comfort, dignity and love to my mother and our family!  That should be your motto: McLean CCDL. I periodically have to pause or this note will get wet. 

I could not have put my mother in kinder hands than all of you.  I have been touched beyond words and what all of you do is a blessing and a necessity that fills a void for those of us in a situation affecting a beloved family member. 

Dolls from many nations were spread out on the table. The ladies were busily guessing what country each represented. Four and a half year old Kayla happily demonstrated how to put together the Russian stacking doll set. It was the weekly gathering of a few McLean residents with volunteer Kris McCue and her granddaughter, Kayla Pierson. Kris and her sister volunteered at McLean when their own grandmother lived at McLean. Kris continued to come and enjoy other residents when her mother lived in the Health Center. So coming weekly to visit is part of her DNA, you could say. And now she is passing this tradition on to a fourth generation. The weekly volunteering is both a lovely time to share activities, games and collections with the residents and a time for a devoted grandmother and granddaughter to have some very special moments together.

Click here to watch the Qualidigm Heart Talk videos for Patients, Families and Caregivers. McLean is proud to be a partner with Qualidigm on the project to reduce hositalizations of those who have heart probelms.

Click here for more details on McLean's Living with Heart Failure Program.

Lite 100.5 WRCH’s Allison Demers speaks with Lisa Clark, VP Administrator of McLean, a non-profit organizations that offers programs and services to people with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

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