Hospital Partnership
Can We Save Maryland’s Healthcare System From Being a Victim of Its Own Success?
June 22nd, 2012by: Dr. Angelo Falcone
As the Baltimore Sun recently wrote in an editorial, Maryland’s 35-year-old status as the only state in the country with a commission empowered to set hospital reimbursement rates across the board is in danger of becoming a victim of its own success. The federal waiver gives Maryland the power to set rates, in exchange for which Maryland is required […]
read articlePosted in Future of Healthcare, Hospital Partnership
Culture Change in the Bristol Emergency Department
April 24th, 2012by: Dr. Noah Keller
After five months of helping to manage the emergency department at Bristol Hospital, it is tempting to talk about the various changes in the department – our metrics, efficiencies, ongoing efforts to improve throughput, or our relations with nursing, ancillary services, and other departments within the hospital. But I fall back on the one factor […]
read articlePosted in Hospital Partnership, Life in the ER
When an Emergency Room Gets New Management, Relationships Come First
January 20th, 2012by: Dr. Noah Keller
It’s no big surprise that there is anxiety when a new management group takes over an Emergency Department. The question is, what can our group do to effectively confront that anxiety? At midnight on December 31st, 2011, our group took over management of the emergency room at Bristol Hospital. The previous group had managed the ER there […]
read articlePosted in Hospital Partnership, Leadership, Life in the ER
RAC Audits – Big Brother is Watching You (and Our Hospital Partners too)
July 6th, 2011by: Dr. Aaron Snyder
In November 2009, the National Medical Fee For Service Error Rate, was estimated by the US government to be $24,000,000,000 dollars. Yes, twenty four BILLION dollars. Well guess what, Uncle Sam wants this back. On January 1, 2011, hospitals nationwide received audits from RAC auditors, or Recovery Audit Contractors. In essence, these are private contractors […]
read articlePosted in Hospital Partnership, Observation Care
Reducing Medical Errors Through Improved Communication
May 24th, 2011by: Dr. Jeremy Tucker
The most important take away point from this WSJ article “Hospitals Overhaul ER’s to Reduce Mistakes” is communication. The article states that most errors in judgment involve missing pieces of critical data or information that one team member may be aware of and assume that others know. In an ideal world, the best model for […]
read articlePosted in Hospital Partnership, Quality Efficiency Utilization