Hospitals

Adapting a one-size-fits-all approach to LIS for a growing NYC medical lab requires a few adjustments.

Off-the-shelf software suites may fulfill the expectations of many but every application of the technology is different, with no two organizations utilizing it in exactly the same manner. For those that require more than what’s included in the box, the key to satisfaction often lies with a willingness to compromise and, sometimes, a leap of faith.

A Phoenix-based medical center implements an automated patient acuity staffing and scheduling solution.

Getting the right nurses in the right place at the right time goes a long way toward optimizing the efficiency and effectiveness of hospital care. That is why chronic over- and under-staffing is a vexing problem. Is it reasonable for one unit to have a surplus of nurses who possess the skills and credentials to work in another unit that is struggling along with too few? If two nurses on the same shift each have three patients, should one be assigned their unit’s three patients with the most intense care needs while the other cares for three average patients?

A multi-hospital system transforms its culture and processes to optimize patient flow.

Moses Cone Health System is the primary healthcare provider in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, with four hospitals, physician practices, behavioral health centers and other treatment centers to provide the complete continuum of care. The system’s flagship hospital is the 520-bed Moses Cone Memorial Hospital, the largest medical center in the four-county region.

A children’s healthcare system utilizes educational video modules to bolster the informed consent process.

Is one of the nation’s largest health systems dedicated to the health of children, Nemours employs some 4,400 professionals, including more than 430 specialty and subspecialty physicians and surgeons. We cared for 238,000 individual patients including an estimated 25,000 at affiliated locations for a total of more than 567,000 outpatient visits, 10,000 hospital admissions and 50,000 surgical procedures in 2007. Nemours owns and operates the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children (AIDHC) as well as the Nemours Children’s Clinic, a single group practice with multiple locations in Wilmington, Del. and the Delaware Valley, as well as Jacksonville, Orlando and Pensacola, Fla.

Protecting patients from wrong-site surgery and medication errors is priority number one for this Lone Star State cancer center.

The more serious the disease, the more complex the treatment, and the more complex the treatment, the more opportunities for mistakes or misunderstandings. This maxim is particularly pertinent to specialties like oncology where services range from preventive, to diagnostic, to therapeutic, to palliative. Treatment modalities may include surgery, chemotherapy or radiation. Therapy could be delivered from multiple locations including ambulatory centers, hospitals and satellite clinics.

Ensuring an unbroken supply of pharmaceuticals can save lives during times of disaster.

Health information executives have a moral imperative to lead our nation in ensuring individuals have access to essential prescription drugs in the aftermath of catastrophes. The potential disaster-related death toll from predicted breaches in the pharmaceutical supply chain is staggering. Tens of millions of lives could be lost as vulnerable populations are cut off from their life-sustaining medications. The remedies are data- and technology-centric, hence the call to action.

An examination of procedures intended to ensure consent is truly informed.

A perfect storm is brewing around the concept of “informed consent” and its impact may have wide-ranging business implications for healthcare facilities that do not heed the warning signs.

 It has been noted that all too often, informed consent is seen simply as a burdensome administrative practice that involves obtaining a signature on a form for the legal protection of physicians and institutions. Although the document itself might contain detailed information about the procedure and related issues (e.g., possible risks or side effects), providers may not take the time to ensure the patient fully understands all aspects of the care they are about to receive. The consent document, frequently written in medical or legal jargon, is normally signed shortly before the patient undergoes the procedure for which they have been scheduled, oftentimes when he or she may be under stress and have little time to decipher or consider all issues presented in the document.

Focusing on the needs of nurses can help hospital IT departments make the best technology decisions and improve care giving at the bedside.

Connecting with patients always has been a key objective of our leaders at All Children’s Hospital (ACH). Since ACH was founded in 1926, it has grown into a leading pediatric referral center that is dedicated to advancing treatment, education, research and advocacy in child health. Our 216-bed teaching hospital is affiliated with the University of South Florida College of Medicine, where more than 140 pediatric specialists provide state-of-the-art medical and surgical care for children. These specialists work closely with nurses, therapists, pharmacists and other caring professionals who understand the medical, social and emotional needs of each stage of childhood and adolescence.