UP Health System – Bell Named Lifepoint Health National Quality Leader

UP Health System - Bell (UPHS – Bell) is proud to announce it has been named a Lifepoint Health National Quality Leader. This designation recognizes hospitals within the Lifepoint Health system that have enrolled in the Lifepoint National Quality Program (NQP) and succeeded in transforming their culture of safety and achieving high standards of quality care, performance improvement and patient engagement.

"This is a wonderful accomplishment that is the result of the hard work of every member of our team," said Mitch Leckelt, UPHS – Bell chief executive officer. "Quality care has always been a top priority at UPHS – Bell. When we enrolled in the Lifepoint NQP, we began a journey to evaluate not just how we provide care, but how we shape the experiences that our patients have here so that we can ensure the best results possible. Working alongside the quality team at Lifepoint, we have learned so much and strengthened our ability to make our community healthier." 

UPHS – Bell is a 25-bed critical access facility, offering inpatient, outpatient and post-acute care in our Upper Peninsula community for more than 100 years. To achieve the Lifepoint Health National Quality Leader designation, our team worked to implement a number of best practices and launch new initiatives to engage patients and families, enhance patient safety and improve quality care. Some initiatives include the addition of a patient representative at regular quality meetings for productive, real-time community feedback; the implementation of bedside shift reports to drive patient-centered care; and daily visits from hospital leadership to improve patient experience. 

Some positive outcomes from this effort include a significant reduction in patient HARMS; increased transparency of quality measures throughout the organization; improved communication between patients, families and the interdisciplinary team; and a stronger emphasis on patient participation in the plan of care.

"We're really proud of our staff and all the hard work they've put in to achieve these positive outcomes," said Senior Nursing Officer June Hanson. "This is a significant milestone, but our work doesn't end here — we're looking forward to constantly expanding and refining how we approach quality from every angle."  

When hospitals enroll in the National Quality Program, they begin working with Lifepoint quality experts to evaluate and strengthen their quality programs and processes. Following an initial evaluation, the hospital creates a plan and begins to employ changes that will help it achieve quality improvement benchmarks and establish long-term solutions to sustain its results.

In addition to evaluating common quality care and patient safety metrics, the Lifepoint National Quality Program focuses on foundational elements required to sustain quality care, including committed leadership, systems to ensure continuous performance and process improvement, and a culture dedicated to safety. Lifepoint Health National Quality Leader designation denotes those hospitals that have achieved a broad range of criteria in each of these areas and demonstrate a capacity to continuously measure and improve quality and patient safety.