World Series Symphonic Battle
A sweet interplay between orchestra members from Boston and St. Louis. Fun! (Source: Running a hospital)
Source: Running a hospital - October 25, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Halamka's correct about IS implementation
One of the best decisions I made before taking on the CEO job at BIDMC was to meet with John Halamka to make sure he would be staying on as chief information officer. Once he said yes, I knew it would be safe to sign on, confident that our clinical and administrative information systems would be best of class.As you read this blog post by John, you can get a sense of his wisdom and common sense. The closer:Policies are good. Policymakers are well meaning. Timelines are set in such a way that none of these activities - Health Insurance Exchange, ICD-10, Meaningful Use Stage 2, or HIPAA Omnibus Rule have...
Source: Running a hospital - October 24, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
How to win at chicken
Do you recall the old game of chicken? Two cars (driven by slightly crazy people) drive towards each other at high speed. The person who swerves first--to avoid the pending collision--is "chicken" and loses.If we look at this as a problem in decision analysis, we find the following matrix of possible results.The question often posed about this game is how you can guarantee that you will win, but also guarantee that you don't end up "winning" by crashing into the other person, who has also "won."The solution is quite simple. As you approach the other car, you pull the steering wheel off its column and--mak...
Source: Running a hospital - October 24, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Conversation Ready on WIHI
Madge Kaplan writes:The next WIHI broadcast — Who’s Conversation Ready? How Health Care Can Respect End-of-Life Wishes — will take place on Thursday, October 24, from 2 to 3 PM ET, and I hope you'll tune in.Our guests will include:Kelly McCutcheon Adams, LICSW, Director, Institute for Healthcare Improvement Lauge Sokol-Hessner, MD, Attending Physician, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) Kate Lally, MD, Medical Director of Palliative Care, Kent Hospital and Medical Director, VNA of Care New England Donna Smith, MD, Virginia Mason Hospital For over a year, building on others’ g...
Source: Running a hospital - October 23, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Not leaping ahead
This article, though, contains a new rebuttal approach:Jeff Dye, president of the New Mexico Hospital Association, fired back at the data, saying many of the state's hospitals have stopped participating in the Leapfrog survey because they “see it as extortion to obtain a higher score.”Perhaps someone can explain what that actually means. Heaven forbid that a hospital's score would improve. (Source: Running a hospital)
Source: Running a hospital - October 23, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
A chip off the old block
When your father is Richard Corder, a fellow who spends a lot of his time helping hospitals become more patient-centric, you develop insights somewhat different from other 11-year-old girls.Richard (hungry and sitting at the kitchen table, just about to bite into a tuna sandwich his wife has thoughtfully prepared):Ah, this is just what the doctor ordered.Carrie (sitting across from him):Shouldn't that be, this is what the patient really wants? (Source: Running a hospital)
Source: Running a hospital - October 23, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Kicking Concussions
Personal adversity can sometime produce a commitment to change. Caroline Cohen is a high school student in our town who suffered several concussions in sports activities, the most recently in 2011 during a Memorial Day soccer tournament. Following that last injury, she was forced to miss school and, eventually, to give up all contact sports.To help spread the word about concussion awareness, she recently organized a one-day, 3v3 "Kicking Concussions" tournament for U10, U12, and U14 girls in our town. The proceeds from the tournament were designated to benefit the Boston University Center for the Study of...
Source: Running a hospital - October 23, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Solving two types of IT problems
Sometimes you hear an idea that is perfect. Here's one from a loyal reader:My wife suggests switching NSA and HHS personnel -- two birds with one stone. (Source: Running a hospital)
Source: Running a hospital - October 23, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
How marketing works on the web
You have to hand it to the world's spam engines. This comment came in within hours of my posts about the problems with the health insurance exchange site! (I've taken out the links.)CMS web design allows businesses to organize and maintain their website content fast and effortlessly. Besides, one can have an unlimited number of pages and a full site-search engine.Website Design Company Bangalore | Bangalore Web Development Company (Source: Running a hospital)
Source: Running a hospital - October 22, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
The health insurance exchange on 35 floppy disks
We can rely on The Onion to make us laugh out loud, even as we cringe a bit because of the underlying truth. Here's an excerpt of their version of how the Administration is solving the health insurance exchange problem:WASHINGTON—Responding to widespread criticism regarding its health care website, the federal government today unveiled its new, improved Obamacare program, which allows Americans to purchase health insurance after installing a software bundle contained on 35 floppy disks. “I have heard the complaints about the existing website, and I can assure you that with this revised system, finding the ri...
Source: Running a hospital - October 22, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
First rule of governing: Stay on message
There is so much good in the Affordable Care Act, and I am confident it will have lasting value for the country. There is an undeniable and important need for people to have health insurance and not be subject to arbitrary decisions by insurers about pre-existing conditions, coverage limits, and the like. And those, after all, are the main features of the law. But sometimes I wonder if the President has speechwriters who understand about the sound bites the media are likely to pick up-- words that distract people from those attributes of the law. Here's the portion of his remarks that I heard over a...
Source: Running a hospital - October 21, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Costs of Care Essay Contest is Back
Neel Shah has been running the Costs of Care essay contest for several years, and it is time to send out the reminder for the fourth annual event. Here's the website. There will be $4000 in prizes for the best stories from patients, doctors, and nurses illustrating the importance of cost-awareness in healthcare. The deadline for entries is December 1, 2013.Neel notes:Entries should be 500-700 words and should be typed and double-spaced. Students are strongly encouraged to submit. Entries will be judged based on the quality of the writing and the relevance of the anecdote to the topic of cost-awareness in me...
Source: Running a hospital - October 21, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Real improvements in concussion treatment
The CDC reports that approximately 200,000 sports-related concussed athletes per year end up in US emergency rooms. The total number of sports-related concussions is five times that figure. Whether the patients end up in EDs or not, our diagnosis and treatment of these traumatic brain injures is substandard compared to what might be possible. I recently heard an excellent story about cooperation between the Cleveland Clinic and the Allegheny Health Network to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of concussed athletes and others. The work being done has great potential to reduce the danger of concusse...
Source: Running a hospital - October 20, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Sunday Dialogue: Responses and Rejoinder
Artwork by Marion Fayolle at the New York TimesThe New York Times has reposted my initial letter to the editor in their Sunday Dialogue feature, plus responses to it, plus a rejoinder from me (at the end). Check it out here or in your actual Sunday morning paper.My last word:As a general matter, if you can characterize an error or near miss by saying, “It could have happened to anybody,” that is a pretty good indication that it reflects a systemic, rather than a personal, problem. (Source: Running a hospital)
Source: Running a hospital - October 20, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
The Waiting Room comes to PBS
Excerpts of a note from Pete Nicks: We proudly announce that The Waiting Room finally hits TV screens nationwide on PBS' Independent Lens this Monday the 21st of October at 10pm! (check your local listings). It has been quite a journey since Bill Hirsch and Scott Verges, two local attorneys who wanted to make a film about the uninsured, hatched this idea in 2007. And like any good story there were ups and downs. After struggling to figure out how to tell the story, raise the money, get through production and then a daunting 14-month edit, we were rejected by 22 festivals! But starting with our frien...
Source: Running a hospital - October 19, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
