2006 Priority Health Quality Award Winner

Brookville Pediatric & Internal Medicine, PC
Successful practices have the ability to adapt or revise existing policies and procedures in favor of new, more effective ones. Brookville Pediatric & Internal Medicine PC, located in Rockford, is one such practice.

A good example is the office's overall approach to PIP. According to Practice Manager Nancy VanDenBerg, the staff has begun monitoring PIP earlier in the year, and it's made a considerable difference.

"We've learned to be more proactive," VanDenBerg says. "We used to start looking in September, which is really too late. Now we look in April and get the patients who need things like immunizations to come in."

Staff is also scrutinizing the MCIR more closely because it is often not complete, says VanDenBerg. Staff now keeps the MCIR up-to-date, and that means the office gets full credit from Priority Health on PIP.

Another example of "lessons learned" is the way the practice's staff meetings are handled. Meetings are split into three different areas: floor nurses, front desk personnel and physicians.

Previously all three groups were present in one meeting, but it was found that the staff was not as open about issues if the physicians were present. Now there is a freer flow of discussion, which leads to quicker resolution of issues. Physicians still attend some meetings to conduct educational sessions.