2019 Vigi Awards winners

Recognized for:
Effective cross-departmental use of a VigiLanz tool at one hospital in the health system. The solution can now be used throughout the system.

Result:

• Uses VigiLanz’s microbiology reports to capture culture collection date, discharge date, sensitivity results, and physician information
• Automated reports are emailed to relevant clinicians
• Physicians can access real-time reports and make antibiotic adjustments as needed

Overall benefit:

• Improved efficiency, which has enabled the system to make rapid patient safety improvements.
• Decreased costs due to identifying more opportunities to de-escalate antibiotics
• Improved performance in meeting length of stay targets

Recognized for:
Building a rule to better identify blood contamination cultures in the ED

Result:

• Enabled the team to view blood draw contamination information in real time
• Enabled better identification of patients who had contaminated specimens rather than true infections

Overall benefit:

• Reduced the number of return visits and readmissions
• Reduced unnecessary antibiotic use
• Eliminated unnecessary costs

Recognized for:
Using the ICRA tool at a very high volume as they manage major construction projects

Result:

• More efficient and thorough logging of all ICRA permits
• Improved tracking of ICRAs in real time
• Elimination of paper and printing costs

Overall benefit:

• Cost savings and improved work flows, communication, and a safer construction experience for staff, patients, families, and construction workers
• Clearer and smarter decision-making related to contractor partnerships

Recognized for:
Developing rules to support CLISA (Central Line Insertion Site Assessment) scoring, part of a program to reduce CLABSI rates

Result:

Established action items and expectations for the bedside nurse and treating physician for each of the CLISA score levels (higher score levels correlated with higher CLABSI risk)

Overall benefit:

• Helped the team identify high-risk central lines for targeted intervention
• Now maintain CLABSI standardized infection ratios (SIRs) consistently at 0.5 or below

Recognized for:
Using VigiLanz tools to better identify multiple infection types and identify patients requiring isolation

Result:

• More easily and quickly identify if a patient requires an isolation
• More easily and quickly identify and prioritize surgical site infections, CLABSI infections, and other reportable infections to the health department and NHSN

Overall benefit:

• Improved efficiency and reduced costs
• Improved quality, including reducing CLABSI infections and C. Diff infections by over half

Recognized for:
Improving use of VigiLanz with rule refinement, and promoting its use across 19 additional hospitals in the Adventist Health System

Result:

• More targeted and appropriate alerts issued to clinicians and leadership
• Significant reduction in antibiotic use, and now meeting national standards for antibiotic utilization
• Significant reductions in C. diff infections

Overall benefit:

• Improved efficiency and reduced annual antibiotic expenses by $500,000
• Proactive interventions and better clinical outcomes

Recognized for:
Developing out-of-the-box uses for VigiLanz, including:

• Using VigiLanz data mining to identify areas of improvement and create care bundles to standardize patient care
• Creating VigiLanz rules to aid with time-sensitive recruitment across the health system for a clinical trial

Result:

• Improved system-wide interventions for treating staph aureus bacteremia, and enterococcal and candida bloodstream infections
• Real-time alerts allow the research team to communicate to treatment teams, resulting in Tamiflu administration to hospitalized patients with Flu A on a more timely basis

Overall benefit:

• Reduction in readmissions from staph aureus bacteremia from 11 percent to 4 percent
• Achieved recruitment goals and led recruitment nationwide clinical trial
• Consistency of care and reduced costs

Recognized for:
Using VigiLanz to complement a telehealth antimicrobial stewardship program

Result:

• 40 percent reduction in facility-specific broad spectrum antibiotic use
• Earlier identification of serious bacterial bloodstream infections

Overall benefit:

• Improved care/access for rural patients at 17 small community hospitals
• Reduced costs, more rapid interventions, and improved clinical outcomes

Recognized for:
Integrating rapid diagnostics and antimicrobial stewardship to improve patient outcomes

Result:

• Dashboard built, enabling 24/7 on-call visibility to patient cases even without EMR access
• Significantly reduced time in intensive care, length of stay, and mortality for patients with gram-negative bloodstream infections
• 43 percent reduction in hospital costs per patient

Overall benefit:

• Earlier initiation of targeted antimicrobial therapy
• Standardized care expanded system-wide to include all community hospitals
• Reduced costs and better clinical outcomes

Recognized for:
Effective cross-departmental use of VigiLanz to predict C. diff infection risk

Result:

• Significant decrease in hospital-onset CDI rates and antimicrobial days of therapy
• Better targeting of at-risk patients

Overall benefit:

• Improved efficiency and reduced costs
• Proactive interventions and better clinical outcomes