Misplaced priorities?
In an emergency, time matters, right?The following recorded message is currently being provided when you call a local primary care clinic. It clearly was just dropped in before the regular message. There is no way to bypass it. Did someone forget about the medical emergency advice that usually comes up front, or was there a conscious decision to push it back?I understand the challenges that clinics face in providing clear, concise, and current patient information. I wonder how other places have solved this particular problem.Thank you for calling [name]. At the present we are offering the flu vaccine for ...
Source: Running a hospital - October 18, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Two hard weeks here
All communities have their tragedies, and this month brought two to our town. First, a student from Newton North High School took her life about two weeks ago; and on Wednesday, a sophomore at Newton South High School was found dead. My friend Lori Berman Gans reflected on these events to her friends in an eloquent post on Facebook. I think she has it right:It's been a hard, sad week in Newton. For parents of teens, it's something more as well. High school is a big transition for the kids, but it's a harsh entry to a new reality for us as well: seeing our children suddenly exposed to the the dangers,...
Source: Running a hospital - October 18, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
A different kind of poll
Like thousands of others, I have an account on LinkedIn, but I have generally found it to be an uninteresting place to hang out (in an electronic sense.) That changed this morning when I saw a poll sponsored by the Cleveland Clinic.Yes, this is a clever advertising ploy, but it also produced some interesting results and commentary. Here's the summary page--(yes, accompanied by more links to the Clinic's propaganda)--but look at the numbers from when I viewed it. (Current update here.)Top-ranked answers were "treatment outcomes" and "patient experience." Our audience of poll-takers clearly understands the ...
Source: Running a hospital - October 17, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Secret shopper program needed here
My friend Jacob reports on Facebook about a call with CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield (in Maryland): Me: I don't have that information, can you please call me back in 10 minutes and I will find out? BCBS: This is a call center, we do not have the ability to call you back. Me: Then why did you ask me for my phone number at the beginning of the call? BCBS: That is in case we get disconnected, we can call you back.A friend inquires: And what was your reply? Me: I said the connection was bad and asked if they could call back...and they did! (Source: Running a hospital)
Source: Running a hospital - October 17, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Where malpractice is most likely
This study screened malpractice claims from two Massachusetts insurers and found that those from outpatient primary care settings were more likely to be settled or found in favor of the plaintiff compared with those from other practice settings. Similar to previous research, claims related to missed and delayed diagnoses were most frequent, and the most common disease involved was cancer, followed by cardiovascular disease. The accompanying editorial argues that primary care settings will become increasingly important for malpractice claims with the advent of patient-centered medical homes and accountable care organi...
Source: Running a hospital - October 16, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Tacking against the wind, but making progress
In the old days, there was a reason politicians avoided health care issues. The simple reason was that it was too complicated. Also, change was viewed as a zero-zum game, something noted by Machiavelli:It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the o...
Source: Running a hospital - October 16, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Invitation to a Dialogue
Please join me over at the New York Times for "Invitiation to a Dialogue." They have published a letter to the editor from me entitled "When Doctors Slip Up."They say:We invite readers to respond briefly by Thursday for the Sunday Dialogue. We plan to publish responses and a rejoinder in the Sunday Review. E-mail: letters@nytimes.comHere's your chance to disagree with me in front of the whole world! (Source: Running a hospital)
Source: Running a hospital - October 15, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
What are they waiting for?
In the late 1990's, during one of the booms in the biotech and pharmaceutical fields, a number of faculty members at Harvard Medical School felt they were missing out on the potential financial gains from being affiliated with companies in these sectors. Such interactions were actually envisioned and indeed encouraged by the Congress in 1980, in the hope of speeding up the adoption of new diagnostics tools, medical devices, and drugs. The expansion of activity, though, led faculty members to ask Dean Joseph Martin to loosen up the schools' conflict of interest rules to permit more and broader relationships. (I ...
Source: Running a hospital - October 15, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
What is a true professional?
Dr. Budd Shenkin takes on this topic on his blog. The summary point:A true professional is someone who figures a problem is off his plate only when a problem is solved systemically. [Otherwise] they might being a professional in the narrow sense, but it’s not enough. Take a look at the whole article. (Source: Running a hospital)
Source: Running a hospital - October 10, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
The only appropriate illustration for these headlines
Partners HealthCare unveils regional strategy for North Shore, including acquisition of HallmarkPartners HealthCare signs deal to acquire Hallmark hospitals (Source: Running a hospital)
Source: Running a hospital - October 10, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Millenson reminds us that we are behind
If the effectiveness of a prophet is measured by the degree to which s/he makes people uncomfortable with the status quo, we have to give Michael Millenson top honors. In 1997, he wrote Demanding Medical Excellence and gave widespread attention to the safety and quality problems in hospitals. He wrote:From ulcers to urinary tract infections, tonsils to organ transplants, back pain to breast cancer, asthma to arteriosclerosis, the evidence is irrefutable. Tens of thousands of patients have died or been injured year after year because readily available information was not used – and is not being used tod...
Source: Running a hospital - October 9, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Duopoly:Monopoly or Ferret:Rat?
As I read Julie Donnelly's Boston Business Journal report about Howard Grant's testimony at the recent health care cost trends hearings, I was reminded of a humorous piece written by Art Buchwald many years ago.It was about competition between the two airlines who ran shuttle services between New York and Washington, DC. It went something like this:Art calls US Airways to complain: "I see you just raised your fares to New York.""Yes, we did that to compete against Pan Am. They just raised their fares.""Wait, I thought the idea of competition was to lower prices.""Why would we do that? If we lowered our fares, and th...
Source: Running a hospital - October 9, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
The human side of the medical arms race
A woman on vacation takes a walk on the beach, recovering from a recent hysterectomy. All of a sudden, her colon falls out of her vagina down to her knees – but think on the bright side, the procedure helped meet the Clinical Sales Rep’s quarterly quota! (MAUDE Adverse event report.)This is a particularly damning report from Citron Research about Intuitive Surgical. They note:In over 12 years of publishing probative stock research, Citron is most proud of the work we published on Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) starting last December. Not because the stock suffered a decline of over 30% amid...
Source: Running a hospital - October 8, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Lean good news from the Midwest
I received this announcement recently. This sounds like an interesting and useful venture.The ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value and the Ohio State University Fisher College of Business are excited to announce the creation of the Center for Lean Healthcare Research. This new center will be housed at Fisher and will build the body of research on the emerging trend of process improvement in healthcare.A press release elaborated:As health care organizations continue to seek ways to improve patient care quality and reduce costs, the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value and The Ohio State University Fisher Col...
Source: Running a hospital - October 8, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Crowdingsourcing at work
Kudos to the state transportation department and the MBTA, the Boston-area transit system, for using the power of the web to obtain a new design for the system's map at no cost. Universal Hub's Adam Gaffin reports here:The state announced today it will start replacing T maps with a new version designed by Michael Kvrivishvili, an interactive and graphic designer from Moscow. Kvrivishvili's entry was one of the finalists in a competition run by the T to find the best map it could without paying for it. State officials say that his entry not only won the popular vote but has a number of features that will make ...
Source: Running a hospital - October 7, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
