Quality and Safety
Striving to provide the high-quality care you deserve.
We are always looking for ways to improve the processes, protocols and practices that make our hospitals and clinics the safest and most effective healing environments possible.Awards & Recognition
Monument Health Initiatives
Diabetes Education
Diabetes affects a large number of western South Dakota residents. To help fight diabetes, we have established regional outreach clinics throughout western South Dakota; standardized case management for care and testing; introduced Diabetes Champions to help patients with assessment, care and education and leveraged community and national resources to assist patients get medications.
Result: Levels of HbA1c, a key measure of blood sugar over time, have been improving in the region.
Hand Hygiene
Sanitize Now and Protect (SNAP)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says washing hands is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of diseases and infections.
Our health care workers are required to wash or sanitize their hands before and after caring for each patient. More than 130,000 hand hygiene observations are monitored each month to help our efforts to reach 100 percent hand hygiene compliance.
Patients and visitors should wash their hands before eating, after using the restroom and after touching any surface in the hospital room.
Infection Prevention
Monument Health implemented best practices insertion procedures and maintenance in dressing change procedures, which resulted in fewer Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infections (CLABSI) and Clostridium difficile (C. diff). Antimicrobial Stewardship, environmental cleaning processes and use of ultraviolet lights resulted in an additional decrease in C. diff infections.
Result: National recognition from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for its decreases in CLABSI and Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTI).
Stroke Process
In recent years, Monument Health has shortened the average time between arrival at the Emergency Department and the administration of Alteplase (clot buster) by developing a “pit stop” process, which is a multidisciplinary team response to “stroke alert” patients wherein assessment and care are initiated before the patient is placed in a room.
The recommended time is within one hour.
Result: 55-minute average response time.
Quality Showcase Winners
Monument Health’s Quality Showcase celebrates improvement projects and initiatives led by caregivers and physicians throughout the organization. Projects that contribute to patient safety, quality and evidence-based practice are submitted for recognition on a quarterly basis.