Peregrine Health Services and Trauma System News are pleased to announce the winners of the inaugural Peregrine Award for Trauma Innovation — UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies and Franciscan Health Crown Point.
“It is my pleasure to congratulate the winners of the very first Peregrine Award for Trauma Innovation,” said Angie Chisolm, managing partner of Peregrine Health Services. “The goal of the Peregrine Award is to recognize and disseminate fresh ideas that result in better care for injured patients, so we are very excited to spotlight these two teams for their innovative approaches to improving trauma care.”
Trauma leaders from UCHealth and Franciscan Health were honored in May 2023 during a special learning and recognition event.
UCHealth: Standardized PIPS Dictionary and Documentation Platform
UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies is a state-designated Level I trauma center in Loveland, Colorado. The UCHealth team is the 2023 Peregrine Award Winner in the Level I and II Trauma Centers Category.
The trauma program’s winning innovation was submitted by Jessica Cofran, MSN, RN, TCRN, CSTR, CAISS, trauma informatics manager for UCHealth Northern Colorado Region, and Jamie Teasley-Bennett, BSN, RN, TCRN, lead trauma nurse clinician for UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies.
The UCHealth team developed a standardized platform for documenting and reviewing performance improvement and patient safety (PIPS) events. The platform includes a comprehensive PIPS dictionary, standardized guidance on levels of review, referral letter templates, links to key information, and other resources.
According to Cofran, the new platform has streamlined the trauma program’s PIPS processes: “There has been substantial improvement in the trauma members’ understanding of PI action plans and loop closure. Team member satisfaction has improved due to well-defined and streamlined trauma PIPS processes.”
Franciscan Health: An Enhanced, Team-Based SBIRT Process
Franciscan Health Crown Point is an ACS-verified Level III trauma center in Crown Point, Indiana. The Franciscan Health team is the 2023 Peregrine Award Winner in the Level III, IV and V Trauma Centers Category.
Franciscan Health’s winning innovation was submitted by Jennifer Homan, RN, MSN, CPTI, the hospital’s manager of trauma and injury prevention.
The Franciscan Health team created an initiative to overhaul its SBIRT process. The new process incorporates a peer recovery coach and a substance use disorder licensed social worker who round on patients daily. The reworked SBIRT process enables open discussions with patients who screen positive for substance or alcohol use disorder, with improved intervention and referral rates.
“Our Level III trauma program took an old standard and was able to find flaws in the current process,” Homan explained. “With a little innovation, we were able to reinvent the process with just a small investment in human capital.”
Strong response to inaugural award
More than 50 trauma centers from North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia submitted nominations for the 2023 Peregrine Award for Trauma Innovation.
A panel of six independent judges assessed the entries in two separate rounds of evaluation. Final nominations were judged based on their creativity, quality, efficiency, cost-effectiveness and scalability.
“The aim of the Peregrine Award is to spotlight the kind of innovations that lead to real improvements in trauma care and program management,” said Mark Feinberg, managing partner of Peregrine Health Services. “That is why we are pleased to recognize and honor this year’s winners for their vision, dedication and creativity.”
Learn from the winners
Trauma leaders from UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies and Franciscan Health Crown Point were honored in May 2023 during a special online learning event:
Profiles in Trauma Innovation: Improving PIPS and SBIRT
During this one-hour webinar, Cofran, Teasley and Homan explained the challenges their teams faced and described their innovative solutions in detail.
To learn more and view the event on demand, register here.
