Case Study: Driving Compliance in EVS Environments
Innovative practices that improve patient outcomes
The Problem
In the healthcare environment, all aspects of our operations must be designed to reduce risk and drive patient outcomes. One of the largest healthcare providers in the United States was struggling with the inadequate performance of a noncompliant EVS vendor. The prior vendor’s service program did not meet regulatory requirements for a Surgical Center environment and their terminal clean process did not meet AORN standards. The risks associated with noncompliance included potential hospital acquired infections (HAI’s); a lack of survey readiness; compromised patient safety and health; noncompliant documentation; and a lack of alignment within the infection control program.
The Solution
Marsden Services was hired in 2018 as the new EVS partner and in our initial survey process with clinical staff, we immediately identified a need for improved compliance metrics. Marsden established an alignment strategy with clinical management that outlined benchmarks and specific tasks in order to have a measurable method for reviewing staff competencies and abilities. During the pre and post transition period, Marsden also launched its regimented healthcare-specific core curriculum. This curriculum focuses on the specialized needs of a healthcare environment and includes live training demonstrations, visual presentations, and a paper documentation program to ensure competencies. During onboarding and training, employees were required to participate in a live visual training in the OR Suite and Sterile Corridor environment. Through the alignment strategy and core curriculum, Marsden was able to immediately eliminate gaps in service levels in a regulated healthcare setting.
The Outcomes
Marsden Healthcare Solutions program offers service excellence that meets the stringent requirements of healthcare operational expectations. The ongoing positive outcomes for the client include:
- Compliance documentation that provides metrics for measuring employee competency
- All cleaning methodology performed to AORN Standards
- Appropriate and regulatory requirements on linen processes
- A service platform that aligns with the client’s Infection Control Plan
- Surgical Center inspection process initiated and performed around outcomes
- Alignment with the client’s “patient experience” expectations