Mercy Medical Center North Iowa | Life & Health | Summer 2018

Recognized for quality care Because of the dedication of Mercy Medical Center–North Iowa’s physicians, providers and staff in addition to quality initiatives supported by the organization, Mercy–North Iowa has received both state and national recognitions. We invite you to learn more about them. Mercy Medical Center–North Iowa is making progress in the areas of safe opioid storage and disposal, pain assessment, and physician education. Safe storage and disposal Mercy–North Iowa is focused on safe storage and disposal of excess medications. One activity involves decreasing the number of opioid pills patients have left over after their pain treatment ends. Mercy also improved the clarity of its patient education on storage and disposal. Reports developed from the electronic medical record provide a deeper understanding of prescribing practices, which allow goals to be set around the amount of opioids prescribed. Pain assessment In the area of pain assessment, Mercy–North Iowa recognized that the methods it had been using had the potential to overmedicate patients. Significant literature review resulted in a revised pain management policy so that it’s no longer based solely on a numeric pain score. Instead, Mercy now bases pain assessment on a conversation between clinician and patient regarding the effect pain has on functionality and sleep, as well as effectiveness of therapy. Mercy also developed a pain assessment and intervention report with daily monitoring, review, analysis and trending of its pain management practices and documentation. Mercy–North Iowa tackles opioid abuse 6 LIFE AND HEALTH