CMO NOTES

Matthew Miller, MD

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My only comments this month deal with Medical Staff satisfaction. We’re not going to burden you with another survey this year. We just want to work on things that you continue to tell us need serious attention.

• Emergency Department: Many of you have expressed concerns about general communication challenges with the ED, including the ED visit summary. Pat Broderick is working hard on that and we’ll have updates for you early in the year.
• Radiology: You are concerned about how decisions are made regarding the use of contrast and you want a way to be in the loop. You also want recommendations for further evaluation to be explained and worded in reports that instruct you but don’t force unnecessary testing.
  Thor Krebs is working on these challenges and will give you updates this winter.
• Information Technology: What’s the plan with Healthlink? What about the basic support at the hospital and your offices? Your concerns need to and will be addressed. Please see the update below in this issue of DOC-Line. Much more to come.

Your input is essential for addressing these and other issues. We can’t fix them in a vacuum. We’ll be asking for your ideas and comments. And then we may ask you again how we’re doing.
Matt

Report From President of the Medical Staff

Neil Culligan, MD

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To start the year I want to present the composition of our medical staff leadership. I will continue to serve, in my third year, as medical staff president. Here are the other members:

Vice President - Bill Begg
Secretary/Treasurer - Brian Pollack

Medical staff representatives to the medical executive committee:

Jo-Ann Maroto-Soltis (Hospitalist)
Kirt Frederickson (Interventional Radiology)
Karen Tarbell (Medicine)
Bruce Cohen (Peds)
Dan Goldstein (OB-GYN)
Ross Henshaw (Surgery)

 

Dr. Shohreh Shahabi

New Chair of Obstet­rics and Gynecology

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Danbury Hospital has selected Dr. Shohreh Shahabi as Chair of the Department of Obstet­rics and Gynecology.  Dr. Shahabi, an internationally recognized physician scientist, comes to Danbury from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Women’s Health, at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in New York.  A practicing Gynecologic Oncologist, Dr. Shahabi earned her M.S. and M.D. at Universite Libre De Bruxelles in Belgium. She continued her medical training at the University of Paris prior to her residency at Yale University and fellowship training at Einstein.

 

Hospital Conducts First "Spirit of Women - Day of Dance"

Contributed by Patricia A. Tietjen, MD

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Danbury Hospital will conduct the first "Spirit of Women - Day of Dance" program focused on promoting cardiovascular health and generally, women’s wellness.  The "Day of Dance" event, a business-driver for both physicians and Danbury Hospital, is scheduled for Saturday, February 27, 2010 from 12 noon to 4 pm. at the Danbury Fair Mall (Center Court) where various health screenings will begin at noon. (Snow date: Sunday, February 28, 2010, same time and place). "Ask the Doctor" opportunities will be prominent and the event will come with a strong and integrated media and public relations effort.

Planetree is Coming

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Planetree, named after the tree under which Hippocrates taught his students, involves providers partnering with patients and families to identify and satisfy the full range of patient needs and preferences. Engaging patients in their own care improves clinical outcomes studies show.  Additionally, patients increasingly make decisions regarding where to seek care based on the manner through which the care is delivered and patient loyalty is driven by their experience of their care.

 

Medical Liability

Terminating the Patient/Physician Relationship: Discharging the Patient Without Abandoning

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Under the heading “things they never taught you in medical school” falls the category of terminating the patient-physician relationship.  Although patients can “fire” physicians for any reason and without advance notice, the reverse is not true.  That is, not if you want to protect yourself from a claim of abandonment.  Even so, physicians can discharge patients without fear of reprisal provided certain steps are taken.

Abandonment is defined as the unilateral severance by the physician of the professional relationship between physician and patient without reasonable notice and at a time when there is still the need for continuing medical treatment.  The physician may be held liable for injuries the patient suffers as a result of the termination.  A patient who alleges abandonment may bring a malpractice lawsuit against the physician based either on negligence or breach of contract.  The patient may also file a complaint with the state against the physician’s medical license, seeking disciplinary action.

 

Arrhythmia Clinic, Outpatient Pacemaker and ICD Device Services move

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The Praxair Regional Heart & Vascular Center Arrhythmia Clinic Outpatient Pacemaker and ICD Device Services of Danbury Hospital have moved to the third floor of the Danbury Hospital Medical Arts Center.  Transportation by shuttle bus service from Danbury Hospital to the Medical Arts Center is available anytime during the day by contacting the information desk at 739.7501 or Security at 739.7999.  Arrhythmia Clinic Main Phone:  203.739.7510

 

Health Literacy and Patient Safety

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Doctor:”You have hypertension.”
Patient: “That can’t be.  I’m very calm.”

Most patients know that hypertension and high blood pressure are one and the same or do they? The AMA video on Health Literacy and Patient Safety (available in the hospital library) interviews a patient who for years thought his doctor was treating him for being hyper.  He had no clue that he had high blood pressure because his physician never used that term.  Poor health literacy can lead to repeated hospitalization, longer hospital stays, non compliance and other adverse outcomes.

 

Online Medical Record (OMR) system is live

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On October 1st 2009, the Health Information Services (HIS) department made the transition from storing paper records to storing a digitized image of each patient medical record.

Advantages to the new OMR  include:

• Online availability of the entire discharged patient medical record for clinical use
• Simultaneous access to the medical record by various users
• Completely online process for physician completion of final signatures

 

"The History of Danbury Hospital" Just Published

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 "The History of Danbury Hospital – 1885 to 2010" a book by former Danbury Hospital VP Pete Peterson, is just off the press.  The book portrays the history of the Hospital through archival records, clippings, meeting minutes, and photos  It tracks the hospital from its beginning in two small cottages, through the turbulent 1950s and up to today's academic teaching status.  Much of the narrative is based on interviews with retired and current physicians, administrators, and employees.  Hard bound and soft cover versions will be available in the Hospital gift shops soon.

 

Health Information Technology

An Update on HealthLINK

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All of us deal with the challenges and rewards of health information technology (HIT) and to understand HIT it helps to recognize its terminology: EMR, EMR , PHR, and HIE.

Soarian Update

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Over the last 6 months we launched two new Soarian applications to help us become a fully integrated health system with integration among all our applications.  Our vision for the future includes a fully mature suite of Soarian applications that will include inpatient clinical documentation, CPOE, scheduling, emergency room documentation and ordering, and other applications still in planning stages.  Integrating our inpatient documentation into our Health Information Exchange-HealthLINK will allow us to have a full picture of our patients' data including medications, allergies, laboratory and radiology results, advance directives, and more.