Baltimore—(September 17, 2013)—The renal dialysis program at MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital was recently named a 5-Diamond Patient Safety Facility by the Mid-Atlantic Renal Coalition. As a measure of patient safety success, this recognition demonstrates MedStar Good Samaritan’s commitment to providing high-quality care, while promoting education and raising awareness of kidney health.

“We are committed to providing the highest standard of care and safety for our patients with chronic kidney disease,” said Luis Gimenez, MD, chief of Nephrology at MedStar Good Samaritan. “This designation validates why we are the center-of-choice for over 46,000 dialysis patients throughout the region each year.”

MedStar Good Samaritan earned 5-Diamond status by successfully completing five program modules, implementing the following key concepts used to enhance patient safety:

• Patient safety principles: Identified the basic concepts of patient safety in a just culture environment and what proactive steps can be used to prevent errors.
• Emergency preparedness: Increased facility staff’s and patients’ awareness and knowledge of emergency planning, response and recovery.
• Hand hygiene: Increased awareness of the importance of hand hygiene for clinic staff and patients.
• Sharps safety: Decreased the number of sticks within the dialysis unit by educating staff on needle stick prevention and protocol for sharps exposure.
• Stenosis: Implemented a K-DOQI-recommended stenosis surveillance program in the dialysis unit that allows for a consistent and continuous evaluation process for arteriovenous fistula (AVF) and arteriovenous graft (AVG) access.

Click here to learn more about the renal dialysis program at MedStar Good Samaritan. To learn more about the 5-Diamond Patient Safety Program, click here.

About MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital

MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital is a 287-bed community teaching facility located at the corner of Loch Raven Boulevard and Belvedere Avenue in northeast Baltimore, with more than 130,000 patient visits annually. With Centers of Excellence in orthopaedics, rheumatology, rehabilitation, burn reconstruction, and renal care, as well as a certified Stroke Center and winner of the Delmarva Foundation Excellence Award for Quality Improvement for four years in a row, MedStar Good Samaritan serves people throughout Maryland, the Mid-Atlantic and internationally in these advanced specialties. MedStar Good Samaritan is part of MedStar Health, a not-for-profit, regional healthcare system with 10 hospitals and more than 20 other health-related services in the Maryland and Washington, D.C., region.

About the 5-Diamond Patient Safety Program

In 2008, the ESRD Network of New England (Network 1) and the Mid-Atlantic Renal Coalition (Network 5), serving as ESRD contractors for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), launched the 5-Diamond Patient Safety Program to help dialysis facilities increase awareness of, promote, and build a culture of patient safety. The program originally consisted of eight patient safety-oriented modules, which were piloted in these two Network areas.

Today, the program is being offered in 67% of all Network areas nationally and consists of 15 modules that include the tools and resources necessary to implement each patient safety concept. For each module successfully completed during a program year, the facility earns one Diamond. Upon successful completion of five modules, the facility is recognized as a 5-Diamond Patient Safety Facility.

About the Mid-Atlantic Renal Coalition (MARC)

The Mid-Atlantic Renal Coalition (MARC) is a nonprofit corporation which serves as the federal contractor for the Network 5 region, which encompasses Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. There are over 300 hemodialysis facilities and 12 renal transplant centers in the area, providing treatment to more than 23,000 dialysis patients and over 9,000 transplant recipients (2010 Annual Report, ESRD Network 5).