Office of Clinical Effectiveness

The Office of Clinical Effectiveness (OCE) exists to assist University of Missouri Health Care in enhancing our collective ability to continuously improve the quality and value of the care we provide and the overall health of the population we serve.

MU Health Care is committed to providing the right care in the right place at the right time at the right cost. To do this, we need information, evidence-based clinical decisions, continuous evaluation of our effectiveness and strong physician leadership.

The Office of Clinical Effectiveness consists of the following:

Infection prevention and control
Quality improvement
Patient safety
Antimicrobial stewardship

Infection Prevention and Control

The primary function of the MU Health Care's Infection Prevention and Control Program is to minimize the risk of infection to patients, staff and visitors. The Infection Prevention and Control Department is responsible for monitoring and evaluating health care-acquired infections and reporting these findings with control recommendations to the health system's infection control committees.

Prevention of health care-acquired infections is facilitated by:

Careful evaluation of new products, devices and procedures before their implementation
Ongoing educational programs for all staff
Periodic inspection of facilities and equipment that may contribute to infectious hazards
Prompt evaluation of unusual clusters of disease
Study of procedures or devices to evaluate their effect on infection rates

Contact us

Eileen Phillips, RN, MSN, CIC, FAPIC
Manager of Infection Prevention and Control
One Hospital Drive
Columbia, MO 65212
Phone: 573-882-6880

Quality improvement

We are one of the voices that constantly remind our organization that our work must lead to care that is safe, timely, effective, equitable, efficient and patient-centered. Every initiative undertaken by our office must pass the litmus test, "If successful, will this optimize the care we provide to our patients?" We seek and capitalize on opportunities to build bridges between groups within our health care system, knowing that cultural transformation cannot occur without these bridges. We engage in teaching not only about quality and safety, but also about teamwork and how to accomplish work within systems.

Crew Training initiative

Crew Training is a four-hour course taught by a veteran pilot. His organization, Team Learning Solutions, trains health professionals throughout the Unites States.

Capitalizing on the multiple similarities that exist between the health care and aviation industries, this program trains team members in high-risk areas to develop site-specific tools for focused communication under specific circumstances.

Crew Training is an interactive course covering topics including insights into the causes of human error, the limits of human performance and ways to prevent errors, including:

Assertive, professional communication
Communication tools such as team briefings, cross-checks and checklists
Effective teamwork and team leadership
Managing adverse situations
Methods for building situational awareness and recognizing safety red flags

To learn more about Crew Training, call 573-884-6176.

Contact us

One Hospital Drive
Columbia, MO 65212
Phone: 573-882-6987 or 573-884-6176

Patient safety

MU Health Care’s Patient Safety Team works collaboratively with each department and the medical staff to provide leadership for various patient safety and quality improvement initiatives. The Patient Safety Team provides an infrastructure that oversees, coordinates and supports patient safety efforts across the University of Missouri Health System. Our team’s mission is to advance the patient safety culture across the organization with an ultimate goal of ensuring that each and every patient receives safe, quality care.

forYOU team

The forYOU Team, sponsored by the University of Missouri Health System under the direction of MU Health Care’s Office of Clinical Effectiveness, supports distressed employees.

This initiative provides a form of “emotional first aid” to provide crisis support and stress management interventions for particularly stressful situations such as:

An adverse patient outcome
Failure of rescue efforts following prolonged intervention
Other events that are unusually emotionally challenging and stressful in our health care environment
The death of a child
Traumatic clinical events

Team members are embedded in high-risk clinical areas and groups, such as operating rooms, intensive care units, pediatrics, emergency departments and rapid response teams. They help support MU Health Care faculty, staff and volunteers in one-on-one encounters, group briefings, or leadership mentoring sessions.

Our team members include:

Health care clinicians
Physicians
Nurses
Respiratory therapists and managers

The forYOU team members use an evidence-based, three-tiered model to facilitate the second victim’s transition through the six stages of emotional recovery. The forYOU team has provided dozens of national and international learning opportunities, sharing its process for caring for distressed caregivers.

The ultimate goal of the forYOU Team is to help employees return to pre-event baseline performance following a traumatic event.

Contact us

Jane Terhune
Manager of Patient Safety
One Hospital Drive
Columbia, MO 65212
Phone: 573-884-2124

ANTIMICROBIAL STEWARDSHIP

The MU Health Antimicrobial Stewardship Program monitors antimicrobial prescribing and develops interventions to improve antimicrobial utilization across the MU Health System. The goals of the program are to facilitate appropriate antimicrobial utilization and improve clinical outcomes while reducing antimicrobial complications. The program promotes collaboration with stakeholders, use of evidence-based best practices and robust data tracking to promote appropriate antimicrobial use. This includes the selection of optimal antimicrobial drug regimen, dose, duration of therapy and route of administration.

Activities of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program include: