   
Patient Safety Week Seminars
 In celebration of the National Patient Safety Awareness Week (March 12-18), the DHS Patient Safety Executive Team invites the workforce to enjoy five patient safety activities that will be pushed out daily in the form of audio and print content!
Topics include:
- Intersection between Patient Safety and Workforce Wellness
- Caring for Each Other with Empathy and Compassion
- Making a Culture of Safety
And more!!!
Everyone can refresh their knowledge of Patient Safety with a daily review the five Seminars, on our DHS Patient Safety SharePoint site this week.
The seminars are listed below:
Additionally, we want to hear from you – what patient safety topics do you want to learn about, how best do you learn, what ideas do you have to elevate patient safety education within DHS?
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Be sure to scan or click on the QR Code, to the left, to open the questionnaire and submit your suggestions for improving patient safety education at DHS.
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Finally, what is your RECIPE for patient safety success? Each hospital will be seeking creative recipes for how your unit keeps patients safe! The most creative areas will have the chance to win a delicious treat! Have fun!
ACN Connect Launches on March 28
 On March 28, the DHS Ambulatory Care Network will launch the ACN Connect, a special all-staff meeting event reserved only for ACN Health Centers and Juvenile Court Health Services.
The meeting enables all of us, nearly 3,500 staff members working at 23 locations across 4,000 square miles of LA County, to catch up on key accomplishments, projects, and changes impacting the ACN.
ACN Connect will occur via MS Teams at 3:30 PM. The quarterly event will also occur on the third Tuesdays in June, September, and December.
So, be on the lookout for additional emails in the coming days about the event! And please join us and be ready to share any ideas, comments, concerns, and questions that you have.
We’re excited to reconnect with everyone across our health center locations!
Language Access Services: A Patient Safety Perspective on Qualified Interpreter Services
 The use of qualified interpretation services is very important in the healthcare setting. A qualified interpreter has demonstrated proficiency in a second language and adheres to accepted interpreter ethics. As noted in the blog of one of our language access program partners (LanguageLine Solutions), trained healthcare “interpreters improve understanding and compliance at each step the patient takes through their healthcare journey reducing the risk of misunderstandings and misdiagnoses.” 1 It is widely known throughout the industry that “communication between patients and health care providers, and the barriers many LEP (Limited English Proficient) patients face in this regard, has an important impact on quality, cost, and patient safety.”2
Fortunately, DHS continues to make it easier than ever to access language services. Look at all the ways you can get connected to a qualified interpreter at DHS:
- Face-to-Face Interpretation Services
- Video Medical Interpretation (VMI) / Video Remote Interpretation (VRI) Services, including American Sign Language Interpreting Services (ASL) (24 hours/7 days a week)
- Telephonic / Audio Interpretation Services (24 hours/7 days a week)
- Virtual Health Care: ORCHID-integrated Video Visits with SIP-programmed interpreter access
- LanguageLine Insight (Interpreter) App
- for personal Smartphones
- on VDI via VMWare Horizon Client
Did you know that our contracted health plans can also assist our mutual members with language services? They can! Both LA Care and Health Net offer Face-to-Face (with prior notice) and telephonic interpretation services for outpatient visits. To get more information on how to access these services for patients or any of the abovementioned services, please go to our SharePoint page How to Access Interpreting Services.
As you encounter your patients in their healthcare journey, make sure that you keep patient safety at the forefront.
Each DHS facility and program must offer qualified interpretation during all hours of business. There are a number of language services available to incorporate into a patient’s DHS experience. Do not hesitate to include a qualified interpreter, through any of these modalities, as part of your healthcare team. This will certainly facilitate the best communication between patient and provider and ensure meaningful access, for your patients, to safe and comprehensive DHS services.
Sources:
1 LanguageLine Blog (blog.languageline.com), “5 Reasons Health Care Providers Need Medical Interpreters”, 2016.
2 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Improving Patient Safety Systems for Patients with Limited English Proficiency: A Guide for Hospitals, Chapter 1: Background on Patient Safety and LEP Populations, September 2020. (https://www.ahrq/gov/health-literacy/professional-training/lepgide/index.html)
Minute for Medicine – Systems Approach
 Healthcare systems need a structured approach like manufacturing to improve outcomes, safety and quality of care. By taking a systems approach, professionals can better understand the impact of each moving part and desired outcomes. This reduces variance in healthcare and lets healthcare professionals be human.
New SurveyMonkey Services
 Attention all SurveyMonkey Users:
If you use a DHS email address to access a SurveyMonkey (Momentive) account, you will receive an email from SurveyMonkey letting you know that DHS has entered into an enterprise agreement with SurveyMonkey. Moving forward, all DHS users will be required to use SurveyMonkey via this enterprise account.
SurveyMonkey will ask you to reach out to an email, they will provide, if you are interested in continuing having access to SurveyMonkey. Please look for that email in the upcoming weeks.
When you receive that email from Survey Monkey, please make sure to submit your request to join the DHS enterprise account as soon as possible.
Updated Deadline: Mandatory Payroll Audit due
March 31
 MANDATORY FY 22-23 PAYROLL PAYOFF AUDIT
UPDATED DEADLINE IS 3/31/2023
Takes less than 1 minute to complete. Click here now.
To comply with County Fiscal Manual, Section 3.1.12, Warrant Distribution Controls, a Payroll Payoff audit must be conducted to ensure that all employees receiving pay or benefits are bona fide. To accomplish this, employees of the Department of Health Services are required to complete the electronic Payroll Payment Reconciliation Payoff Form. Please click on the link to access the form. The form has only seven simple questions and it will take few seconds to complete (see the screenshot below).
REMINDER: Please ensure you are entering your employee number correctly and include any leading zeroes, it must be six digits.
Required Action:
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All DHS employees receiving pay or benefits from LA County are required to complete the electronic form and must type their name under Electronic Signature for their submissions to be valid. The form must be completed and submitted no later than 3/31/2023.
Here is the link to the 2023 Payroll Payment Reconciliation Payoff Audit form: https://forms.office.com/g/SWnFR86NN1
This requires your timely and accurate response. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Should you have questions, or need additional assistance in submission or approval, please email your department’s coordinator listed below:
  
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