Hebrew SeniorLife offers comprehensive senior living and health care services at a number of locations throughout Greater Boston. For more than half a century Hebrew SeniorLife has been empowering seniors to live their best lives by providing vibrant senior living communities and delivering high quality, personalized health care. Sakhonh Kheuamun joined the organization in 2005 and is now the Director of Security and Emergency Management. “Sak” manages security, safety, and emergency preparedness for the organization and all of its patients. Over the last 16 years, Sak has contributed to the substantial growth of HSL through innovation and effective management.
Infection Control in a Post-Pandemic World
The purpose of EOC Rounds is to ensure the safety and well-being of patients, visitors, and staff. Departments ranging from Housekeeping to Culinary and Infection Control all regularly participate in the rounding process and play a pivotal role in maintaining the impeccable standards at Hebrew SeniorLife.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the measures taken to safeguard against the spread of infections have become more important than ever – especially in a facility that serves elderly and immunocompromised patients.
“Infection control is a huge aspect of our rounding process. They do multiple rounds a week to make sure people are wearing their PPE and know what the latest policies are.”
The Limitations of a Manual Process
Prior to implementing Walsh Rounds Tracker, the EOC Rounds team was using pen and paper to take notes during the rounding process, converting those notes to a spreadsheet and using emails to communicate and follow-up on deficiencies.
“It was a long process of following up and making sure people were getting the right tasks done… it was cumbersome and easy to miss something important.”
The organization reached a point where a manual solution could no longer support the quality goals. Sak and his team discovered Walsh Rounds Tracker and they were able to quickly get approval and implement the solution.
The Benefits of Automation
Since 2014, Walsh Rounds Tracker has helped Hebrew SeniorLife organize and track its entire EOC Rounds process, allowing their team to maintain exceptional standards and keep their patients, visitors, and staff safe.
“Without this system, we are at far greater risk of outbreaks and safety issues, including Covid. Doing our weekly rounds helps keep everyone on their toes; it’s crucial to our success.”
Leveraging Actionable Insights
In addition to providing a more streamlined system for managing inspections and follow-up tasks, the Walsh system measures performance and provides new insights to make improvements to their processes.
“When we go over the rounds on a monthly basis at the Safety Committee, we submit the results to a multi-disciplinary committee. When we see a common thread we present the data to them as a training opportunity.”
Walsh Rounds Tracker has helped keep our clients and their families safe during this difficult pandemic. Our drive for continuous improvement would not succeed without it.