As part of the Compliance and Privacy week festivities a Compliance and Privacy Quiz was distributed electronically on May 15 to all employees with e-mail addresses.

All respondents will be put into a drawing to win one of four $50 Gas Cards. Winners will be selected on May 25.

Out of 17,000 e-mail invitations, we have received almost 5,000 replies. Our goal is to eclipse 8,500.

Hartford Hospital has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Ap-proval™ for its Spine Surgery Pro-gram by demonstrating compliance with The Joint Commission’s nation-al standards for health care quality and safety in disease-specific care.

The certification award recogniz-es Hartford Hospital’s dedication to continuous compliance with The Joint Commission’s state-of-the-art standards.

The Hartford Hospital Spine Cen-ter underwent a rigorous on-site survey in March. A team of expert surveyors evaluated our Spine Cen-ter for compliance with standards of care specific to the needs of pa-tients and families, including infec-tion prevention and control, leader-ship and medication management.

“With Joint Commission certifica-tion, we are making a significant investment in quality on a day-to-day basis from the top down,” said Jeffrey Flaks, Hartford Hospi-tal president and CEO. “Joint Com-mission accreditation provides us a

framework to take our organization to the next level and helps create a culture of excellence. Achieving Joint Commission certification in Spine Surgery, for our organization, is a major step toward maintaining excellence and continually improv-ing the care we provide.”

The Joint Commission’s Disease-Specific Care Certification Program, launched in 2002, is designed to evaluate clinical programs across the continuum of care.

Certification requirements address three core areas: compliance with consensus-based national standards;

effective use of evidence-based clin-ical practice guidelines to manage and optimize care; and an organized approach to performance measure-ment and improvement activities.

“In achieving Joint Commission cer-tification, Hartford Hospital has demonstrated its commitment to the highest level of care for its pa-tients with spine care needs,” says Jean Range, executive director of Disease-Specific Care Certification at The Joint Commission.

“Certification is a voluntary process and I commend the Hartford Hospi-tal Spine Center for successfully un-dertaking this challenge to elevate its standard of care and instill con-fidence in the community it serves,” Range said.

Founded in 1951, The Joint Commis-sion seeks to continuously improve health care for the public by evalu-ating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the high-est quality and value.

RxTraA publication for the staff of Hartford Hospital May 21, 2012 Vol. 68 No. 18

Joint Commission Awards Gold Seal of Approval to Spine Surgery Program

Take the Compliance and Privacy Quiz By May 25

Hartford Hospital Mourns the Loss of Debra Hein, Midwifery Program Unit Leader

www.VasculitisFoundation.org

Debra Hein, unit leader in the CNM midwifery program, passed away on May 9 at the age of 59 after a coura-geous battle with pancreatic cancer.

Debra earned a master’s in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania, and practiced as a certified nurse midwife in Philadelphia for many years before coming to Hartford.

Debra was devoted to midwifery, ob-stetrics and gynecology. Over the course of her career, she delivered more than 1,000 babies.

Her colleagues, friends and family knew her as a gifted teacher, compas-sionate healer, courageous leader, and loving mother and friend. She was a relentless advocate for the health and wellbeing of women and children.

One of her coworkers wrote in the guest book: “Debbie, you will be missed by us all here at WAHS. YOU have done

great things for our patients and for that I THANK YOU! Rest in peace my friend, my co-worker.”

In keeping with her lifelong dedica-tion to medicine and healing, Debra donated her body for research to the Department of Anatomy at UConn.

View Debra’s obituary: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/hartfordcou-rant/obituary.aspx?pid=157629620.

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Compliance Questions or

Concerns?If you need to obtain information about compliance issues or raise concerns regarding internal and regulatory practices or policies,

please contact your supervisor or call the ComplianceLine, a

confidential and toll-free service, at

1-855-HHC-OCAPor online at

HHC.OCAPComplianceLine.com

May is Vasculitis Awareness Month

HH/HHC Overview Presentations

AvailableA brief Power Point presentation de-scribing Hartford Hospital and one describing Hartford HealthCare are available on the Intranet in the Plan-ning and Marketing section under Useful Publications and Presenta-tions: http://intranet.harthosp.org/hh/dept/6.

The HH presentation includes a few Hartford HealthCare slides to ex-plain how the hospital fits into HHC. The HHC presentation is designed so that all or some of the slides can be used, depending on the presenter’s audience and purpose.

For questions about the presenta-tions, call Planning and Marketing at 860-545-4696.

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Thanks to All Who Support the Employees Giving Campaign!

New Epilepsy Center Team Steps Up for Fundraising WalkTen members of Hartford Hospital’s new Epilepsy Center team participated in the 8th Annual Sharon’s Ride.Run.Walk for Epilepsy in West Haven on May 6.

Hartford Hospital, which is current-ly considered a Level II provider, is

developing a six-bed Level IV Epilepsy Center on Center 11. The unit is sched-uled for opening with two beds on C11 at the end of August. The additional four beds will open as the epilepsy program develops. We expect to achieve Level IV designation by September 2013.

Neurologist Dr. Erica Schuyler, who has been at HH since 2009, has been instru-mental in developing the Epilepsy Cen-ter. She has been joined by new medical director of Epilepsy and Functional Neu-rosurgery, Dr. Brendan Killory.

Donations to the Employees Giving Cam-paign support the wonderful programs and services at Hartford Hospital. Gifts enable us to be the leader in our commu-nity; in medicine, patient safety, research and technology.

There is still time to pledge, and with your support we can reach of our goal of $220,000.

And don’t miss your chance to win great prizes. The Employees Campaign raffle will be held throughout the month of May. The earlier you pledge, the great-er the opportunity to win because your name will be included in ALL the draw-ings from your date of entry.

Winners select the basket of their choice which includes gifts from restaurants, theatres, theme parks, hotels and more.

Pledge forms and an up-to-date listing of raffle gifts can be found on the in-tranet under Employees Giving Cam-paign, or at https://giving.harthosp.org/employeescampaign.

Your support makes a difference!

A special THANK YOU to our new donors and those who increased their gifts:

Sandra Bassett Carolyn Bauer

Sandi Beggs Jodi Childs

Patricia Davis Sherry Dwyer

Annie Emanuelli Kenneth Erikson

Patricia Formeister Janet Hegeman

Susan Klein Jason Laabs

Pelagia Lynch Jan Mello

Farris Milling Mabedia Moreno

Mary Norton Mary Parola

Elizabeth Pelletier Lorna Phelps

Kim Pires Michael Rubino

Virginia Smith Laurie Sweeney

Deborah Tetreault Cathy Torcia

Melissa Tranberg

The Hartford Hospital Epilepsy Center Team (left to right): Glen Freyer, Cynthia Swick, Erica Schuyler, Adam Schuyler, Diane Labedzki, Ted Labedzki, Nancy DiRenzo, Reid DiRenzo. In the front row, Evan and Ari Schuyler do their part to support the team.

Come To Schwartz Rounds WednesdaySchwartz Center Rounds will be held Wednesday, May 23, from 11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. in Gilman Auditorium. The topic is: “Shhhhh: The ABC’s of Privacy, is “Chatting” a HIPAA Violation and more.” This is a forum where staff get together to share the joys and challenges in pa-tient care. All staff/volunteers/physicians are encouraged to attend. For informa-tion, call Kathy Burns at 860-545-5712 or Dr. Evan Fox at 860-545-2629.

Mary Kay Rep in Dining Room C on ThursdayA Mary Kay representative, Jennifer, will be in Cafeteria Dining Room C on Thurs-day, May 24 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It’s a great way to support The Hartford Hospital Auxiliary.

Diabetes Support Group Meets Next WednesdayThe next diabetes support session for staff will be Wednesday, May 30 from 12:15-12: 45 p.m. in the ERC Room 123. The free monthly sessions are offered by Diabetes LifeCare. The topic will be “Self Blood Glucose Monitoring-Understand-ing your blood glucose patterns.”

Cancer Center Boutique Fundraiser May 31There will be a fundraiser for the Can-cer Center on Thursday, May 31 from 7 a.m.-4 p.m. in the Cancer Center recep-tion area outside the Boutique. It will fea-ture beautiful silver jewelry from Silpada Jewelry, and a new vendor, Classy Acces-sories, will have shirts, sundresses and handbags for sale.

Brain Dance Awards: Stamping Out the StigmaThe IOL is sponsoring an academic and art competition designed to decrease the stigma of mental illness. The BrainDance Awards encourage high school students to gain knowledge about psychiatric dis-eases and develop a more tolerant and realistic perspective toward people with severe psychiatric problems. An awards ceremony will be Thursday, May 31 at 9 a.m. in the Commons Building on the IOL campus. Awards up to $1,000 will be giv-en to the best submissions judged by a panel of experts. The celebration will in-clude a short presentation from the win-ners and displays from participants. For information, contact Nancy Hubbard at 860-545-7098 or nehubba@harthosp.org.

Donate Your Old Books and MagazinesNeed to get rid of old books and maga-zines? Please donate them to support the Employees Giving Campaign Book Sale. You can drop them off in Fund Develop-ment in the ERC or in boxes set up in the cafeteria. You may also drop them off in the Special Dining Room the morn-ing of May 31. The Book Sale will be held Thursday, May 31 and Friday, June 1 in the Special Dining Room. All books will be under $5 and proceeds will support programs at Hartford Hospital.

Blood Drive Here On June 4There will be an American Red Cross Blood Drive on Monday, June 4 from 7 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on the plaza between CCMC and the Conklin Build-ing. Registration is helpful, but walk-ins are welcome. To make an appointment, call 1-800-RED-CROSS or Erin at 860-545-2079.

Cardiovascular Nursing Symposium, June 6The 11th Annual Henry Low Heart Center Cardiovascular Nursing Symposium will be held Wednesday, June 6, 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. in the ERC. This day-long event will update nurses and other health care pro-viders on the latest cardiovascular tech-nology and research. Breakfast and lunch included in registration fee of $30/person ($5 extra for walk-ins). For more informa-tion or to register, go to www.harthosp.org/event/204.

Mobile Mammography Ribbon Cutting June 15Please join us for a ribbon cutting ceremony to cel-ebrate the ar-rival of the new Take the Time digital mobile mammography coach, Friday, June 15, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the plaza between the Conklin Building and CCMC. For more information, contact the Partner-ship for BreastCare at 860-545-1018.

Classified - Labor Day Resort Week in the PoconosTimeshare unit available Labor Day week (Fri. 8/31 to Fri. 9/7) at Lake Harmony, PA in the Poconos. Unit is one BR, sleeps 4, with kitchenette. Full amenities with su-per-sized pool. Three hours from CT. $850 for week. Contact Lkirkeby@snet.net.

Happening at Hartford Hospital

Questions or comments about RxTra? Contact editor Annie Emanuelli at aemanuelli@harthosp.org or 860-545-2199