Joan Gelrud

"We felt an obligation to share the information," hospital Vice President Joan Gelrud explains in an April 2007 Health Facilities Management (HFM) article by Jan Greene.
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"It's not OK in our estimation to share the information that there's been a potential breach in your identity but not give people anything to do about it," Gelrud says.
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"We learned that while our focus is providing the best patient care possible, there's a balance between having data at your fingertips and the security of that patient information," Gelrud says.

Joan Gelrud, Vice President, Performance Measurement

Joan Gelrud, RN, MSN, CPHQ, FACHE ,Vice President

Joan joined SMH in December of 1983 and became part of the Administrative team in 2006.Among others, the responsibilities of Vice President assure compliance with all hospital regulatory agencies and accrediting bodies."In that role, I work with all hospital departments to ensure we are continuously implementing best practices that are evidence-based," she said.Other responsibilities include oversight for creative community outreach programming, continuing education and development of the work force and the smooth operation of clinical and support departments to ensure seamless patient care at St. Mary's Hospital.

Joan recently presented a paper at the Delmarva Foundation's Courage to Improve Conference on the proper timing of antibiotic administration to pneumonia patients.And in October, she spoke at the Maryland Hospital Association's Quality Indicator Project National International Conference about preventing surgical infection.Both of these topics are indicators in which St. Mary's Hospital is proud to have successfully ranked in the 90th percentile among other hospitals.In addition, Joan has written an article about reducing ER turn around times that will be published in the winter issue of the Journal for Healthcare Quality.

Joan is also our patient safety officer.Working very closely with staff and physicians, she promotes safe and effective processes at St. Mary's Hospital.Other areas of responsibility include performance measurement, clinical data management and clinical resource management, which includes case management, social work and utilization review."Through Clinical Resource Management the team optimizes the use of clinical and financial resources by ensuring timely and effective care for patients," she added.Joan also oversees the Stroke Center, Organizational Learning and Research, Medical Records, Health Connections, Infection Control, Imaging/Cardiology and Neurology Services, Pharmacy, Rehabilitation Medicine and Pulmonary Services departments of the hospital.

Joan received her Bachelor's of Science degree in Nursing from the University of Maryland and her Master's of Science in Nursing from the Catholic University of America in cardiovascular nursing with a role tract in education.She is certified as a Professional of Health Care Quality (CPHQ), a member of Sigma Theta Tau (the international nursing honor society), a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, a member of the Maryland Hospital Association's Continuous Quality Improvement Council.She recently joined as a member of the Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC) Pay for Performance Task Force.

Community Involvement Includes:

"We felt an obligation to share the information," explains hospital Vice President Joan Gelrud. St. Mary's also invested in a credit reporting agency that would monitor affected patients' credit records upon request. "It's not OK in our estimation to share the information that there's been a potential breach in your identity but not give people anything to do about it," she says.
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"We learned that while our focus is providing the best patient care possible, there's a balance between having data at your fingertips and the security of that patient information," Gelrud says.

Therefore, the hospital warned the community beyond any legal responsibility to do so. “We felt an obligation to share the information,†hospital Vice President Joan Gelrud explains in an April 2007 Health Facilities Management (HFM) article by Jan Greene.

"The process gives professionals a national standard by which to measure the quality of services they provide, comments Joan Gelrud, St. Mary's Hospital Vice President for Performance Measurement."And, of course, it assures the consumer that he or she will likely receive high-quality service."

Person in charge: Joan Gelrud President Hours of operation: Mon-Fri, 9-5 or whenever caller has a need. Fees: Membership Fees 55 families Eligibility requirements: Anyone Can Join . Serves entire community. Area served: Lexington Park, Calvert County, some parts of Waldorf Intake procedure: Contact Synagogue

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About the program: President: Joan Gelrud