Highlighting efforts in patient safety and quality, Phoenix Children’s Hospital received a Five Star Patient Care “Vigi Award” from VigiLanz, a provider of SaaS clinical surveillance solutions. The award recognizes a new quality improvement solution Phoenix Children’s implemented with VigiLanz technology. Phoenix Children’s Infection Control team is now able to monitor patients’ blood draw contamination information in real time.

“This award speaks to the diligence of our Infection Control staff and entire clinical team,” said Michael Ritchey, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Phoenix Children’s. “Our goal is to provide our patients the highest quality care. As part of this, we must make sure they are getting timely, accurate test results and staff receive the information they need to ensure each patient’s safety.”

Implementing a real-time alert system with VigiLanz software, Phoenix Children’s can now quickly identify and decipher which patients in its Emergency Department have true infections rather than contaminated specimens. The monitoring allows clinical staff to take quicker, decisive action in patients’ care if there is a suspected infection.

“Several things stood out about the submission from Phoenix Children’s Infection Prevention team,” said Christine Livingston, Customer Success Director at VigiLanz. “The team used our platform to assist with a multi-sided initiative. They also used data collected to develop actionable insights for Emergency Department staff – it directly benefits patients, their care and quality outcomes.”

The Vigi Award celebrates Phoenix Children’s multi-disciplinary approach. The Infection Prevention team’s process for alerting medical staff of blood draw contamination reduces the number of patient return visits and readmissions. Clinical staff in the Emergency Department also continue to develop ways to prevent contaminated blood draws from happening, which brings down Phoenix Children’s blood contamination cultures lower than the national average. As part of receiving this recognition, Vigilanz awards a $1,000 donation benefitting the Phoenix Children’s Emily Center Health Library.