Newsletter for the SDAHQ Winter 2009

1. South Dakota Association of Quality Managers -- Page 1
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Issue 22 Winter 2009
SDAQMSDAQMSDAQMSDAQM
South Dakota Association
Of
Quality Managers
The Official Newsletter of the South
Dakota Association of Quality Managers
2008-2009 Officers
Nancy McDonald, President
Sanford Mid-Dakota Medical Center
Phone: (605) 234-7128
Fax: (605) 234-7113
mcdonaln@sanfordhealth.org
Carrie Donovan, President-Elect
Spearfish Regional Hospital
Phone: (605) 644-4432
Fax: (605) 644-4011
cdonovan@rcrh.org
Jill Slieter, Secretary/Treasurer
Sanford Health Quality Institute
Phone (605) 328-4524
Fax: (605) 328-4543
slieterj@sanfordhealth.org
Message from the PresidentMessage from the PresidentMessage from the PresidentMessage from the President
Make sure you mark your calendars for the upcoming SDAQM Spring
Conference in May. We had great speakers and attendance at the
conference last year. A detailed brochure will be sent around for
conference registration, but here’s a sneak peek of the speakers and/or
topics that will be covered over the two days:
Sanford Stevens Center in Sioux Falls
May 7th
, 2009: 8:30am - 5:30pm
• Dr Barry Bershow - EMR Implementations
• Kathy Duncan from IHI - Pressure Ulcers and Rapid Response
Teams
• Cathy Munn - NAHQ president
• SDAQM Business Meeting (working lunch provided for those
members who plan to attend--otherwise on your own)
May 8th
, 2009: 8:30am - 12:00pm (Local Success Stories)
• ROSC update
• Watertown/Yankton TCAB review
• Rapid City Regional Hospital STEMI project
• Bill Zubke - motivational speaker from Watertown
We look forward to seeing you all in a few months out at the Spring
Conference!
Newsletter Submissions
If you have any topics you would like
covered in the newsletter, or would like to
submit an article, please e-mail your
suggestions or article to Ryan Sailor at
rsailor@sdqio.sdps.org. The Newsletter
committee needs your input and would like
to see your articles in your newsletter!

2. South Dakota Association of Quality Managers -- Page 2
Please review the updated list of committee members to make sure it is correct. If you would like to be added to a
committee, contact one of the SDAQM officers.
It is a Time for Crucial Conversations
By Carrie Donovan, SDAQM President-Elect
I have recently been reading a book called Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking when the Stakes are High by Kerry
Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler with a forward by Stephen Covey. It was just by chance that I
began reading this book on how to talk about difficult subjects effectively in a time when many crucial conversations are
taking place. Conversations such as layoffs at hospitals around the country, conversations with patients that cannot afford
to pay for their care even though they have insurance and even conversations at home about how to make the mortgage
payment this month.
If you as a quality or patient safety expert have not been involved in one of these crucial conversations yet, you will be
soon. We all must take a step back and look at our operations and find ways to be more cost effective and efficient. Yet
at the same time we cannot, and most of us will not, sacrifice quality or safety to get there. So it is up to us as the quality
professional to be the leader of these crucial conversations and assist our organizational leaders in seeing the value of
quality, safe care, because better outcomes not only help the patient but the organization as well.
So be on the lookout for the opportunities these crucial conversations can bring to your organization in the form of better
and safer care, today and tomorrow.
Membership Committee
Chair: Julie Girard
Members: Jill Slieter, Heather
Lester, Nancy McDonald
Education/Mentoring Committee
Chair: Tresa Knoff, Mark East
Members: Renae Spohn, Elsie
Ptacek, Don Blada, Wendy Heath,
Nancy McDonald
Planning Committee
Chair: Carrie Donovan
Members: Julie Girard, Jill Slieter,
Elsie Ptacek, Wendy Heath, Tresa
Knoff, Nancy McDonald
By-Laws Committee
Chair: Pamela Moe
Members: Pat Halverson, Nancy
McDonald
Ad-Hoc (Website) Committee
Chair: Pamela Moe
Members: Jacque Cole, Theresa
Guenther
Nomination Committee
Chair: Jill Slieter
Members: Julie Schultz, Nancy
McDonald
Newsletter Committee
Chair: Ryan Sailor
Members: Jacque Cole, Heather
Lester, Nancy McDonald
Updated 11/7/2008
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3. South Dakota Association of Quality Managers -- Page 3
On The National Front
By Jacque Cole RN, MS, CNOR, CPHQ, CMCN, CHC
As everyone has heard by now the Economic Stimulus Bill, Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act,
and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act have been placed into law. Many aspects to each of these new laws will in
some form or fashion be influencing the healthcare industry. From electronic medical records to mental health parity to
privacy to subsidizing COBRA benefits to research, they are all noted in these documents. Thus increasing the need to
benchmark and measure outcomes throughout the governmental programs.
To answer this need, the President has a newly created Cabinet position of Chief Performance Officer (CPO). This new
position and the subsequent development of the associated responsibilities will definitely be interesting to watch in the
months ahead. The published goals of this new cabinet position are to improve results and outcomes for Federal
Government programs while eliminating waste and inefficiency. This unit is to be composed of top-performing and
highly-trained Government professionals and will be headed by a new CPO. The CPO will work with Federal agencies to
set tough performance targets and hold managers responsible for progress.
Now that Performance and the corresponding measurements are becoming the latest ‘Washington, D.C. craze’, will we as
a profession be able to build upon this new ‘spotlighted’ position and advertise the skills readily available within our own
organizations, and our state and national associations? I surely hope so! Only time will tell.
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Our Electronic Medical Record “Go Live”
By Nancy McDonald, SDAQM President
What can I say about our transition to EMR here in little town USA? Except all the months and months of planning and
developing “workflows” and computer training environments and all that other “stuff” is supposed to help you with your
actual implementation. Well bits and pieces of that are correct…however, the only thing that can really prepare you for
your actual “Go Live” is your attitude about the whole thing.
We had many, many extra people here in our facility for our “Go Live” from the “IT” (information technology) team. If
you had a problem…they were there to help. And can they ever resolve problems quickly. When it’s your turn no matter
where you work---I’m sure you will have the help from these wonderful people. Use their knowledge.
Many of our questions we thought were simple and we often found ourselves asking “Are we the only facility that has
thought of this?” The truth of the matter is---that is why you have “workflows” as not all facilities are the same. Some are
CAH’s, some are PPS, some are in Minnesota, some are in Iowa and then there is us in SD.
This whole EMR transition has turned our world upside down as we know it…but the best part about how we are doing
one month after our “Go Live” is that everyone is learning the new “workflows” and the new computer screens and
slowly transitioning to the “newness” of the EMR. In six months to one year from now---we aren’t going to know any
different and we will look back and think “that wasn’t so hard”. Not just one person can take a facility from paper to
EMR---it takes MANY, MANY people to do and that is what is so amazing about the whole transition. Just think how
many more facilities and workers have to go through their “Go Live” to arrive at the nations overall goal of nation-wide
EMR communication. Believe me a positive attitude can go a long way…(and makes it much more enjoyable for people
to be around you too) ☺
Here’s to those of you who have already made the transition and for those of you who still need to make the
transition…keep your head up and best of luck to you. ☺

4. South Dakota Association of Quality Managers -- Page 4
SDAQM Members in the South Dakota Ehealth Collaborative
By Jacque Cole RN, MS, CNOR, CPHQ, CMCN, CHC
The SD Ehealth Collaborative has been officially sanctioned and budgeted by the governor during this legislative session.
Governor Rounds’ Executive Order 2009-01 (January 16, 2009) gives authority to the Secretary of Health to appoint up to
twenty members to serve as new, official eHealth Collaborative. This formally establishes the eHealth Collaborative as a
board.
South Dakota eHealth Collaborative Voting Members
• Holly Arends – Department of Human Services
• Nancy Beaumont – SD Foundation for Medical Care
• Arlyn Broekhuis – Sanford Health
• Jacque Cole – DAKOTACARE
• Rebekah Cradduck – SD Association of Healthcare Organizations
• Mark East – SD State Medical Association
• Gary Goeden – Bureau of Information and Telecommunications
• Laurie Gill – Department of Health
• Scott Graff – Community Healthcare Association of the Dakotas
• Dennis Kaufman – Good Samaritan Society
• Dick Latuchie – Regional Health
• Linda Mass – SD Health Information Management Association
• Randy Moses – Division of Insurance
• Gayle Varty, RN – St. Mary’s Healthcare Center
• Jim Vachal, RpH – Brown Clinic
• Jim Veline – Avera Health
• Sam Wilson – American Association of Retired Persons
Quick Dentist
On vacation, a woman and her husband had to make an emergency visit to a dentist. "I want a tooth pulled," the woman
demanded. "And don’t bother with the Novocain either, because we’re really in a hurry. Just take out the tooth and we’ll
be on our way." The dentist was impressed. "You’re certainly a very brave woman! Which tooth is it?" The woman
pushed her husband forward. "Show him your tooth, dear."
Not Health Food
I guess you can get too health conscious... As a family, we don’t keep "junk food" in the house. Once when my son was
eating a snack at his grandparents’ house, he asked his grandmother what vitamins they had in them. She responded that
she doubted there were any at all. He replied wide-eyed, "You mean these are just for fun?"
Jokes courtesy of www.myhumor.org
““FFuunnnniieess””

5. South Dakota Association of Quality Managers -- Page 5
Quality Related Websites
Institute for Healthcare Improvement: www.ihi.org
National Association for Healthcare Quality: www.nahq.org
Healthcare Professionals Network: http://www.wlm-web.com/hcnet/index2.htm
Healthcare Quality Certification Board: http://www.cphq-hqcb.org
SDAQM Website Information
We are fortunate to have a Website for our professional association. With our busy schedules, we rarely take time to just
peruse this site for information. First, type in SDAHO.org to get to the main website. Then, click on the left hand side
where you see the word, “Affiliated Societies”. You will then arrow down until you find “SDAQM”. Click on SDAQM
and here is a list of what you will find:
• Current officers • Description of SDAQM
• SDAQM objectives • Benefits of membership
• Past & current newsletters • Membership application
• Links of interest • Powerpoint presentations
The Website can become anything we would like it to be. If you have suggestions as to future additions to our website,
please contact the website committee members.
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