Year in Review 2015

Highlights from stories concerning the strategic priorities of Johns Hopkins Medicine

01/08/2016

Published in Dome - January/February 2016

BIOMEDICAL DISCOVERY: The FDA granted breakthrough therapy status to pembrolizumab to treat patients with colon cancer who have certain alterations in so-called mismatch repair genes. The decision was prompted by research led by oncologists Dung Le and Luis Diaz at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center’s Swim Across America Laboratory.

Year in review: People.

PEOPLE: MERIT (Medical Education Resources Initiative for Teens) provides learning experiences and opportunities to young people in Baltimore City public high schools. It’s one of many community-focused mentoring programs.

Year in review: Education.

EDUCATION: A new professorship devoted to primary care will lead efforts to strengthen interest in the field across medicine, nursing and public health. Drawing on the legacy of William Osler (The Johns Hopkins Hospital’s first head of medicine), John Flynn, Maura McGuire and Steve Kravet are among those leading the change.

Year in review: Integration.

INTEGRATION: After the April 27 unrest in Baltimore, Harriet Lane Clinic clinicians used Epic, the electronic medical record system, to reach patients whose pharmacies were destroyed by looting.

Year in review: Performance.

PERFORMANCE: A collaboration between spinal surgeons and Johns Hopkins’ purchasing department will save $3.3 million annually for Johns Hopkins Medicine. It’s one of many supply chain initiatives that has reduced costs substantially.

Year in review: patient and family centered care.

PATIENT- AND FAMILY-CENTERED CARE: Seventy-two case workers located throughout Maryland help manage the illnesses of roughly 5,000 people enrolled in the insurance plans managed by Johns Hopkins HealthCare.

MERIT (Medical Education Resources Initiative for Teens) provides learning experiences and opportunities to young people in Baltimore City public high schools. It’s one of many community-focused mentoring programs.

Quality Improvement

The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Howard County General Hospital and All Children’s Hospital are honored as leaders in care by the Joint Commission’s 2014 Top Performer on Key Quality Measures program. The Top Performer designation is reserved for accredited hospitals that consistently perform at a very high level, following best practices for treating people who require surgery or suffer heart attacks, heart failure, pneumonia or other serious conditions. This is the third consecutive year that The Johns Hopkins Hospital has been recognized as a Top Performer.
Johns Hopkins Home Care Group and Potomac Home Health Care achieve HomeCare Elite status for the third consecutive year. This honor is reserved for Medicare-certified agencies that rank in the top 25th percentile for quality and performance metrics.

Highlights from Around the Health System

All Children’s Hospital breaks ground on its new research and education building.
Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center opens the North Pavilion and Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center.
Howard County General, Suburban and Sibley Memorial hospitals receive awards from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
Sibley Memorial Hospital opens its new emergency department.
Johns Hopkins Community Physicians is recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance for delivering the highest level of patient-centered care at various sites.
Johns Hopkins HealthCare launches its new Medicare Advantage plan, Johns Hopkins Advantage MD.
At Johns Hopkins Home Care Group, the Johns Hopkins Outpatient Pharmacy opens a new facility at Green Spring Station and a new specialty pharmacy with Johns Hopkins Specialty Infusion Services in Baltimore.
Johns Hopkins Medicine International: Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare develops and launches a robotic urology surgery program and initiates training programs for physicians, nurses and technicians.

Other Notable Accomplishments

All Children’s Hospital

Ranked as leading pediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery program in Florida by U.S. News & World Report.
Establishes two new institutes: the Institute for Brain Protection led by George Jallo and the Maternal, Fetal and Neonatal Institute led by Prabhu Parimi.
Receives first $100,000 national grant from Hearst Foundations to train medical residents.
A $717,000 innovation grant from the National Cancer Institute involves investigators in St. Peterburg and Baltimore.
Pediatric biorepository receives national accreditation from the College of American Pathologists.

Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center

The Johns Hopkins Bayview Diversity Council receives a 2015 Association of Employee Resource Groups and Diversity Councils’ ERG & Council Honors Award, having been ranked one of the top 25 diversity councils in the country for the fifth consecutive year. The national award recognizes groups that lead organizational diversity processes and demonstrate results in their workforce, workplace and marketplace.
The hospital launches Called to Care, a program that offers support and resources to family caregivers.

Howard County General Hospital

Receives a $200,000 Regional Partnerships for Health System Transformation planning grant from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission.
The Maryland Patient Safety Center, March of Dimes, and Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene honor Howard County General for its work in reducing early elective births.
Howard County General is recognized as a Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of the country’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization.

Johns Hopkins Community Physicians

Recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, achieving the highest level (Level 3) for delivering patient-centered care in the Patient-Centered Medical Home program. Canton Crossing, Hagerstown, Montgomery, Water’s Edge and Wyman Park (internal medicine) locations have achieved high scores using the 2014 program’s standards. Scores were 93.75 and higher.
Heart care sites in Bethesda, Rockville and Silver Spring achieve Level 3 from the National Committee for Quality Assurance for patient-centered specialty care. They are the first in Maryland to receive this recognition.
Recognized by Training magazine as one of its 2016 Training Top 125 corporate training and development programs. The initiatives acknowledged include Johns Hopkins Community Physicians’ provider Thrive After Go-Live program to assist with developing efficient workflows in the Epic electronic medical record system.
Also commended is its timely implementation of Ebola virus disease preparedness training using instructional role-playing designed to assist all staff members in protecting themselves, each other and patients by preventing infection.

Johns Hopkins HealthCare

Its three health plans receive National Committee for Quality Assurance accreditation. Johns Hopkins US Family Health Plan receives a National Committee for Quality Assurance rating of Excellent as a commercial HMO (health maintenance organization), its highest ranking. Johns Hopkins Employer Health Programs receives a rating of Accredited as a commercial POS (point-of-service organization). Priority Partners receives a rating of Commendable as a Medicaid HMO.
Its new Medicare Advantage plan, Johns Hopkins Advantage MD, launches. Advantage MD offers two preferred provider organization (PPO) plans and Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage for Medicare-eligible residents in 11 counties throughout Maryland.

Johns Hopkins Home Care Group

Johns Hopkins Specialty Infusion Services launches a new program for placement of infusion lines in outpatient settings, skilled nursing facilities and at home.
Johns Hopkins’ respiratory and home medical equipment services opens a new retail location in southern Maryland.

Johns Hopkins International

Pamela Paulk becomes president.
Johns Hopkins Medicine’s award-winning women’s health program, A Woman’s Journey, conducts a special briefing on women’s health in Bermuda. It is the first event of its kind held outside of the United States.
Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare and the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality conclude a yearlong fellowship program. With mentorship from Johns Hopkins Medicine and the Armstrong Institute, more than 20 Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare physicians, nurses and quality improvement professionals execute patient safety initiatives.

Sibley Memorial Hospital

Ranked in the top 10 percent of hospitals nationwide for hip replacement and knee replacement by U.S. News & World Report.
Sibley Imaging earns designation as a Lung Cancer Screening Center by the American College of Radiology.
Becker’s Hospital Review names Sibley one of the 50 Greenest Hospitals in America for 2015.

Suburban Hospital

Receives a Women’s Choice Award for stroke care. According to the Women’s Choice Award organization, this award is the only recognition that integrates clinical excellence and patient experience.
Named among the nation’s high-performing hospitals in heart bypass surgery by U.S. News & World Report.

Masks Strongly Recommended but Not Required in Maryland, Starting Immediately

News & Publications

Year in Review 2015