Page 14 - Christiana Care Focus

Acute Medicine |
Apex Award
Michael G. Benninghoff, D.O., section chief
of Critical Care Medicine and medical director of Respiratory Care.
| C O N T I N U E D
DWoing data for decades
pulmonary disease (commonly known as COPD) to develop patient education that matches patient goals.
“We’re using this data to empower patients to manage their conditions and reduce readmissions to the hospital,” Emberger said.
The department also uses data to ensure optimal staffing, building the equation based on the demand for respiratory care and the average time it will take to perform each task.
By tapping into data from provider orders, said Emberger, the department can estimate demand more accurately than it could by relying on a simpler volume-based metric.
“Combining that data with national standards for how long each procedure takes helps us flex staffing when and where needed to provide resources most wisely,” he said. “We continuously seek ways to be exceptional today and even better tomorrow.” 
ell before it became the standard, the Respiratory Care Department at Christiana Care has been plugged into data to provide high-quality,
evidence-based care.
“Our Respiratory Care team was among the first to create dashboards to track their performance and continue to drive performance quality,” said Vinay Maheshwari, M.D., MHCDS, FCCP, vice chair of the Department of Medicine and physician operations leader in the Acute Medicine service line.
Today the team incorporates electronic medical records for care planning and monitoring.
The team also collects data about patients with ongoing breathing conditions, such as chronic obstructive
12 CHRISTIANA CARE HEALTH SYSTEM
“ Our respiratory therapists are leaders in the field. They set a standard of excellence for themselves and for caregivers nationally.” Michael Benninghoff, D.O.