Quality Efficiency Utilization
Hospital Capacity Management: Handling Complex Care Patients
July 31st, 2013by: Dr. Robbin Dick
Among the range of groups whose care sucks up a disproportionate amount of healthcare resources, “Complex Care Patients” present a special challenge for hospital leaders seeking to improve their hospital’s capacity management. These patients require special processes and a deliberate strategy to ensure that their hospital stay isn’t prolonged further than necessary. Failure to address […]
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Hospital Capacity Management and the Enlightened Hospital Leader
June 11th, 2013by: Dr. Robbin Dick
Nearly every hospital leader in America will tell you their hospital is all about patient-centered care. Of course, we know this isn’t true in many cases, especially when it comes to hospital capacity management. Though many institutions will deny to its last dying breath that they have any priorities that supercede patient care, nearly all […]
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HIMSS 2013 – Health IT at the Forefront
March 21st, 2013by: Dr. Jason Giffi
Inspiration, information and innovation all embody one of the biggest health informatics conferences in the world: HIMSS 2013. Having just returned from my first trip to the annual Healthcare Information and Management System Services (HIMSS) conference, I want to share my experience and absolute excitement for the future of healthcare information technology. Approximately 37,032 people […]
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“In Good Hands” – Bristol Hospital ED in the News!
March 17th, 2013by: USACS
The Bristol Press today published a great front-page story about the remarkable turnaround our team has managed in patient satisfaction scores at Bristol Hospital, our newest hospital partner. Last month, Press Ganey scores were at 95%, making Bristol Hospital one of the top Connecticut Hospitals for patient satisfaction. We have a mindset and culture to […]
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60 Minutes Segment Gets at Crux of Healthcare Failings
January 16th, 2013by: Dr. Angelo Falcone
In some ways, last month’s explosive 60 Minutes segment, “Hospitals: the cost of admission,” gets at a central crux of the healthcare problem in America. The segment accuses Health Management Associates (HMA), a hospital system with 70 locations mostly in the southeast, of pressuring its emergency physicians to admit patients regardless of medical need in […]
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Fungal Meningitis: The New Iatrogenic
November 1st, 2012by: Dr. Julian Orenstein
As natural disasters go, Hurricane Sandy was about as bad as it gets. But even as we come to expect that hurricanes will continue to arrive with greater frequency and ferocity, it is worth a pause to consider another disaster – this one wholly new, wholly unexpected, and wholly man-made. I am speaking of the […]
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Information Technology in Healthcare is a Mixed Blessing… So Far
October 18th, 2012by: Dr. Jesse Irwin
Last month, I found myself cursing at the television while watching the network evening news with my wife. There was a story running about the “atypical presentations” of women and heart disease. Everything from fatigue, to nausea, to dizziness…… “may be signs of a heart attack”. “Oh boy,” I said to my wife, “this is […]
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Strategies to Address ED Boarding Must Include Strong Partnership Between Hospital and EM Group
October 5th, 2012by: Dr. Josh Muyderman
Two recent articles on ED boarding and patient flow highlight growing awareness of the importance of this issue and its impact on what emergency physicians do every day. But while both articles suggest some ways of dealing with ED boarding, neither addresses directly the key ingredient to ensuring those strategies succeed: correct framing enabled by […]
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Thoughts on Choosing Wisely and Overuse
August 2nd, 2012by: Dr. Vipul Kella
About five months ago nine physician specialty groups got together and decided to examine specific tests and procedures that are commonly used but not necessary in their respective fields. They named their organization “Choosing Wisely”, and compiled a list of over 45 specific recommendations on practices that should be curtailed. Examples included “lumbar series in […]
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Healthcare Quality Improvement Is About Looking Back and Ahead
July 5th, 2012by: Dr. Mike Perraut
There’s an old joke told by PhDs: A doctor and a researcher are walking along a river when a drowning person floats by. The doctor jumps in and heroically saves him. A few minutes later the same thing happens again. And again. After the third rescue, the doctor looks up to see the researcher running […]
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