Lee

Memorial Health System Earns Distinguished ISO 9001:2008 Certification

(Fort Myers, Fla. Apr. 25, 2014) --- Joint Commission is still the gold standard of hospital
accreditation organizations, but one hospital has successfully transitioned to DNV and
gained an ISO certification along the way.

After becoming accredited through DNV, Lee Memorial Health System became the first
hospital in Southwest Florida and among six in Florida and 60 in the United States to
receive the ISO: 9001-2008 Certification. This certification has allowed the health system
to better provide standardized, high quality, reliable care that positively affects patient
outcomes, explains Chuck Krivenko, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Clinical and Quality
Services for Lee Memorial Health System.

DNV allowed the Health System to implement a Quality Management System that
encompasses all stages of healthcare processes from support staff to patient care. Quality
is now the responsibility of everyone in the health system, instead of just the quality
department, according to Krivenko. Each department is audited yearly in order to find any
variation within the system and to create a standard for all departments to uphold. Chris
Crawford, Vice President of Quality for Lee Memorial Health System explains, DNV pushes
us to take everything one step further. Instead of just checking that our thermometers are
calibrated, we go a step beyond to ensure that the calibrator is working properly.

ISO Standardization isnt cookie-cutter or one-size-fits-all, but instead allows each hospital
and department to create an individualized plan that is focused on continual improvement.
ISO helps us move past just fixing broken things and encourages us to focus on putting the
right processes in place to be a highly reliable organization, says Crawford. The objective
is simple, but effective: Document what you do, and do what you document.

Before pursuing the ISO Certification, Lee Memorial first created a multi-disciplinary task
force to review the hospitals previous accreditation standards and to reach out to other
hospitals that used the DNV system of accreditation. While some employees were at first
skeptical about making the switch to DNV, the company quickly gained popularity within
Lee Memorial and was noted for its simplicity, transparency, and individualization that
previous accreditors often lacked.

Completing the switch to DNV and obtaining the ISO Certification wasnt easy, but hospital
administrators learned a few lessons along the way that could prove helpful for other
hospitals looking to make this change.
Before deciding to obtain DNV accreditation, follow DNV accreditors on survey at
another hospital in order to see firsthand the differences in the process from the
Joint Commission.
Be sure to get buy-in from staff leaders. Having all employees on board is crucial in
carrying out the new processes.

Consider obtaining dual accreditation for a short time in order to ease the transition.
While Joint Commission audits every 3 years, DNV audits yearly, making dual
accreditation a feasible option to pursue.
Understand that it takes time to debulk from other accreditation systems and for the
new DNV processes to mature.

Crawford and Krivenko noted that employees at Lee Memorial feel a more personal
connection with DNV personnel and that employees throughout the system have been
more readily cooperative in their compliance to the standardization than they have in the
past. As with any change, the switch to DNV has required time and flexibility, but patience
in this arena has allowed for maturation of the process, which has brought increased
improvement within the health system.

About Lee Memorial Health System
Open since 1916, Lee Memorial Health System is the fourth largest public health system in the United States and
the largest community-owned health system in Southwest Florida. With more than 10,000 employees, the system is
made up of four acute care hospitals and two specialty hospitals, as well as outpatient centers, walk-in medical
centers and primary care and specialty physician offices. An award-winning health care system, it provides regional
programs, such as our Trauma Center and Golisano Childrens Hospital, which serve our community members from
Tampa to Miami. Visit www.leememorial.org for more information.

















Lee Memorial Health System - Press contact information:
Mary Briggs, APR, CPRC, System Director
mary.briggs@leememorial.org
(O) 239-454-8765 (C) 239-789-5786
Pat Dolce, Public Affairs Specialist

pat.dolce@leememorial.org
(O) 239-454-8766 (C) 239-989-2758
Kat Welch, Media Relations Specialist
kathleen.welch@leememorial.org
(O) 239-454-8721 (C) 239-443-7250

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