<strong>Company:</strong>St. Mary&rsquo;s Medical Center, a 143-bed acute-care hospital, offers inpatient, outpatient and extended-care services.</p><p><strong>Telephone: </strong>816-228-5900</p><p><strong>Address: </strong>210 Northwest R.D. Mize Road, Blue Springs</p><p><strong>Web site: </strong><a href="http://www.carondelethealth.org">www.carondelethealth.org</a></p><p><strong>Employees: </strong>About 700</p><p><strong>Ownership/management:</strong>St. Mary&rsquo;s is part of the Carondelet Health system owned by Ascension Health, a nonprofit Catholic health care system. Fleury Yelvington is the chief executive officer of St. Mary&rsquo;s and St. Joseph Medical Center. Annette Small is the interim director of St. Mary&rsquo;s; Annette Swanson is the nurse manager over orthopedics, general surgery and medicine.</p><p><strong>Challenge: </strong>Simplifying patient contact with orthopedic services<strong>.</strong></p><p><strong>Background</strong><strong>:</strong>St. Mary&rsquo;s offers a full array of services in its orthopedics department. Often, patients deal with a number of different staff members in setting up appointments for therapy, pre- and post-surgery and other issues that come up. </p><p>&ldquo;The situation provided less continuity of care and more confusion for the patient because no one person was over their care,&rdquo; Swanson said.</p><p>&ldquo;For example, to schedule a procedure you could see your physician, an orthopedic lab person &mdash; there&rsquo;s a whole group of people you might see &mdash; and it was up to the patient to communicate with all these people in setting up appointments prior to surgery.&rdquo;</p><p><strong>Action steps: </strong>An interdisciplinary team was formed to look into simplifying the orthopedic experience. The team included key players, including nurses, surgeons, rehabilitation physicians and therapists. Meeting monthly, the group reviewed an effort within the orthopedic department&rsquo;s joint program. In that program, one person coordinates all aspects of patient care.</p><p>&ldquo;It was so helpful and effective that we looked for a way to expand it internally,&rdquo; Swanson said. &ldquo;That program has a wellness approach focused on group dynamics, intense education pre-operative, during the hospital stay and after the patient&rsquo;s stay and having a coordinator overseeing all their activity.&rdquo; </p><p>In spring 2008, the department launched a new effort built around a &ldquo;nurse navigator&rdquo; &mdash; a single registered nurse who is the point of contact for patients having orthopedic procedures. </p><p>&ldquo;The navigator provides continuity of care pre-hospital, during and post operatively for the patient,&rdquo; Swanson said. &ldquo;She makes sure their plan of care is being followed &hellip; coordinating all communication between all the disciplines.&rdquo;</p><p>A dedicated telephone number takes patients directly to the navigator, who makes all the arrangements. The navigator also conducts a pre-op class to help patients understand all aspects of their care. </p><p><strong>Results</strong>: &ldquo;Patients love the fact they can call one person to answer their questions and coordinate their care,&rdquo; Swanson said. &ldquo;The physicians love it &mdash; they feel spoiled that they have one person they can call for an update on a patient. The nurses love it because if they have difficulty communicating with the doctors, the navigator can get right to them.&rdquo;</p><p>Swanson said the length of stay for orthopedic patients has been reduced by 16 percent and pain management levels have declined by 14 percent.</p><p>In September, St. Mary&rsquo;s expanded the nurse navigator concept to the general surgery area.</p><p>&ldquo;We see this as the future for patient care,&rdquo; Swanson said.