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Patient on a ventilator working with physical therapy Dr. Bagley and Dr. Litwak review a patient-specific plan of care. endotracheal intubation. As we continue to develop higher levels of care at Vibra, we will be able to intubate and provide mechanical ventilation, as well as treat some forms of hemodynamic collapse, without returning many of these patients to the referring hospital. This benefits the patient as well referring institutions, as the transition from one hospital to another puts patients at risk". Vibra's v ision for t he f ut u re of its centers of clinical excellence in Massachusetts includes strengthening integration between and standardiza- tion of protocols and clinical pathways throughout its hospitals in the state, as well as adding more clinicians with LTAC experience and skills to its team. "We continue to bring in hospitalists who are adept at handling the unique set of problems that the LTAC patient population poses," Dr. Litwak says. "We are also engaging more specialists and developing additional protocols aimed at delivering quality-driven outcomes." When clinicians and institutions refer to Vibra, they can be confident their patients will receive medical care and rehabilitation from an interdisciplinary group of providers that is focused on one goal: helping individuals overcome the greatest challenges of their lives. For inf or m at ion a b out th e V i bra family of hospitals in Massachusetts, vi sit vibrahealthcare.com and click on "Locations." ■ who need mechanical ventilation and dialysis. Only a facility like ours can match the rehabilitation resources to the medical and critical care that these complex patients need to improve." Measurable Successes One of Vibra's specialties is weaning patients from ventilators. On average, 75 percent of Vibra Central's patients are able to abandon use of a ventilator by the end of their care, Dr. Bagley says. Currently, Vibra is developing addi- tional clinical pathways to enhance and track a variety of quality and safety metrics. "We have adopted antibiotic stew- ardship principles and continue to strengthen our sepsis and deep vein thrombosis prevention protocols," Dr. Litwak says. "We conduct mul- tidisciplinary rounding, and this has had a dramatic impact on reducing falls with significant injury. Rounding with other specialists has also con- tributed to a dramatic increase in patient satisfaction." As Vibra creates LTAC centers of clinical excellence, the organization is developing the ability to provide a higher level of care consistent with that offered by intensive care units. " We a re building centers where patients with advanced lung disease can receive state-of-the-art treatment and technolog y as well as physica l rehabilitation which allows them to return home," Dr. Bagley says. "This capability would reduce the frequency with which we need to return patients to referring institutions," he adds. "At present, if an individual with advanced respirator y disease comes to Vibra without a tracheostomy tube and develops worsening respirator y distress, many times we have to return the patient to the referring hospital for COV ER FE AT UR E PHOTOGRAPHER: RYAN RICHARDSON PHOTOGRAPHER: RYAN RICHARDSON 8 | Greater Boston MD NEWS ■ M D N E W S . CO M