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July 2008 : Vol. 2, No. 3
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NOTES FROM THE CMOPhysician Satisfaction SurveySo, how satisfied are you? Don’t answer that, at least not yet. We’ll send out the survey again in September and you can tell us then. For right now we'll use most of this issue of DOC-Line to tell you what we’re doing to address the concerns you already expressed. We hope you have experienced improvement relating to two survey questions - “supporting your practice” and “quality of communication”. The Business Development staff has worked to get issues resolved or responded to rapidly. The email process seems to be working pretty well and we’ve created a site on the hospital intranet and on DOC-link that has all the Bylaws, Rules and Regulations and rosters. We are gradually adding a variety of other policies and guidelines such as the lung nodule guideline, that you can access easily. You should also be finding more spots in the parking lot now. Two articles elsewhere in this issue of DOC-Line address “promoting private practices” and “Information technology”: Doclink/Officelink and our office based Electronic Medical Record project. In the “read more” section of this article, I’ll outline some details regarding:a. Reporting test results And don’t forget to tell us how we can make this newsletter more valuable to you. Thanks.  RAUL A. ARGUELLO, MD, Appointed Chairman, Department of PediatricsFrank J. Kelly, President and CEO of Danbury Hospital, announced the appointment of pediatric endocrinologist Raul A. Arguello, MD, as the new Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Danbury Hospital. Dr. Arguello succeeds Jack S.C. Fong, MD, who, following his retirement will serve as an attending physician in the Danbury Hospital Department of Pediatrics, and as medical director of Wellness On Wheels.  Dr. Rob Mascia ElectedRob Mascia, MD, has been elected President of the Fairfield County Medical Association. Dr. Mascia is Medical Director of Brookfield Family Medicine and Section Chief of Family Practice at Danbury Hospital. Dr. Mascia completed his medical education at Wright State University School of Medicine and served his internship and residency in Family Practice at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. He earned his Masters in Medical Management from Carnegie Mellon University and is an active member of the American College of Physician Executives. Dr Neil Culligan Awarded CertificationNeil Culligan, MD, President of the Danbury Hospital Medical Staff, and Medical Director of the Hospital's Stroke Center recently became certified in Vascular Neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Those certified in the subspecialty of Vascular Neurology are assessed in basic science, aspects of vascular neurology, prevention, risk factors, epidemiology, clinical features of cerebrovascular diseases, evaluation of the patient with cerebrovasular diseases, causes of stroke, treatment of patients with stroke, recovery, regenerative approaches, and rehabilitation. The new subspecialty and certification reflect the growth of cerebrovascular disease as an independent area of medical expertise and the related development of professional organizations such as the Stroke Council of the American Heart Association and the Stroke Section of the American Academy of Neurology. Dr. Volpintesta Serves as AMA DelegateEdward Volpintesta, MD, served as a delegate to the American Medical Association's recent annual meeting in Chicago. Doctor Volpintesta represented the Connecticut State Medical Society and served on the Organized Medical Staff Section, one of eleven sections that addressed a wide range of issues affecting physicians. Dr. Volpintesta helped develop recommendations about so-called “never events,” which are reimbursement policies that would deny payment for errors that MediCare and other payers deem were avoidable. He was also active in panels on medical liability and hospitalist- primary care communications. “If doctors want to have any impact on the important legislation that affects us, we need to impact Washington,” Dr. Volpintesta said. “An individual doctor has little clout, but in Washington legislators do listen to the AMA. Participating in the AMA convention made for an intense week, but I believe that working together we can be stronger.” For more information on the meeting and its recommendations, contact Dr. Volpintesta at Edward.Volpintesta@danhosp.org Gerard D. Robilotti Conference Center DedicatedOn April 10th Gerry Robilotti and over 100 of his friends, family and colleagues attended the dedication of the new 2,200 square foot facility located just off the main Hospital lobby. The Center honors Gerry's more than 35 years of service to Danbury Hospital and appropriately adds much needed capacity for education and training.  Congress Overrides Presidential Veto on Medicare BillThe long-simmering debate over Medicare reform and physician reimbursement cuts came to a head in Washington last week when H.R. 6331-The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act was passed by Congress, vetoed by the President which was then swiftly overridden by clear majorities in both the House and Senate. This passing of this bill maintains payment rates for 2008 (for 18 months) and increases physician payments by 1.1% in 2009 per Med PAC. Risk Management Forum: Getting the Patient InvolvedIn the first case below, you fail to see something. In the second, the patient fails to do something. Unfortunately, you are potentially liable in each. How do you avoid this exposure? One simple, but important tip: involve the patient.  Hospital to Fund Innovative Health Information Exchange (HIE)Toward creating a digital medical communityDanbury Hospital is undertaking a major step toward becoming a fully integrated digital medical community. The availability of patient data is of utmost importance to provide the highest quality of care, improve outcomes, and prevent unnecessary medical errors. Health information technology encompasses several parallel technologies to transmit and manage that data - the electronic medical record, the electronic health record, the personal health record, and finally and most importantly new clinical data exchanges called health information exchanges (HIE). Promoting PhysiciansThe recent physician satisfaction survey illustrated a need for improvement in the area of promoting physicians. Here, in four parts, is a response to those concerns:
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