The Quality of Care: Hospice of the Western Reserve Sets the Standard

In the realm of hospice and palliative care, few organizations stand as shining examples of expertise and dedication quite like Hospice of the Western Reserve. For years, our agency has been at the forefront of providing compassionate end-of-life care, and one of the key pillars of our success lies in our team of experts who oversee quality and compliance.  At Hospice of the Western Reserve, our Quality Team is a pivotal part in ensuring the delivery of exceptional care. We oversee and evaluate the standards, protocols, and practices on a national and state level, while continuously monitoring and assessing the quality of the services we provide. Through data analysis like external audits, feedback collection, and monitoring trends, our team strives to maintain and enhance the highest standards of care. For example, during the pandemic, we saw that families were growing increasingly concerned with the delays in ambulance pickup times and responded by working with our vendors to see how we could improve the experience for our patients and families. By monitoring feedback, exploring a larger vendor pool, and quickly responding to the concerns of patients and families, we were able to arrange better transportation to ensure that patients got home promptly. This is a small example of how our team makes continuous improvements based on feedback from our patients and families.

Hospice of the Western Reserve also rigorously adheres to stringent standards and protocols and are committed to exploring the root cause of any concerns. Our Quality Team and Education Team use this real-time feedback as a cornerstone for enhancing care and by gathering and analyzing feedback from patients and families, we can pinpoint areas of improvement. Each of our families receives a Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers & Systems (CAHPS) and the surveys focus on matters that patients and families themselves say are important to them. This is sent through Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the results are delivered and analyzed by our agency. This data-driven approach allows for targeted adjustments in protocols, training programs for staff, and further developed patient care strategies. Additionally, Hospice of the Western Reserve prioritizes certifying our professionals to enhance the level of care we provide. 100% of our physicians and 89% of our clinical leadership are hospice and palliative care certified. By making continuing education and staff certification a priority, we demonstrate to our patients and families that they are receiving care from clinical professionals who are knowledgeable and exceptionally skilled in their field.

Through a blend of rigorous quality control, certified expertise, data analysis, and continuous staff education, Hospice of the Western Reserve sustains an exceptional standard of care. Our entire agency is dedicated to ensuring that the patients and families in our care receive dignified, comprehensive, and compassionate support during this challenging time.