CMO Notes

Matthew Miller, MD
Chief Medical Officer, WCHN

“Wherever you go, there you are.”

That aphorism, often attributed to Confucius, was made famous in the wonderful movie, Buckaroo Banzai. It’s a call to be aware of your reality. The reality for you is that demands on your profession are escalating at a dizzying pace, encroaching on all aspects of your life, and we, in network leadership, want to help you deal with those demands. And we would like to make those demands more manageable, even if we can’t control all the variables.

In multiple meetings you have clearly stated a level of dissatisfaction with how we partner with you, how we demonstrate respect, how we communicate with you, and how IT supports your needs.

We have been working on these issues all year, I hope with some progress. This edition of DOC-Line, presents:

• Summaries from Pat Tietjen and Lew Berman on the good work being done by the Medical Staff Advisory Councils at both campuses.
• Joe Carofano, our VP of Marketing and Communications, writes about our efforts to clarify and improve the brand and marketing of our network, in partnership with our Medical Staff.
• Eric Jimenez and Kathy DeMatteo tell us about the upcoming challenges in IT and EMRs but also about some very tangible ways to support your IT needs for connectivity and communication.
• Rowena Bergmans provides an important update on our Network’s transition from volume based fee-for-service payments to value based accountable care and what our collective work to engage in population health means to you.
• Finally, we really do want to be sure that you are clear on what needs to happen and will happen with ICD 10 starting October 1, , as long as you don’t shoot the messenger.

We will make DOC-Line a better vehicle for telling you what you want and need to know, and we are committed to be more organized in getting key information to you at the department level.

We will be sending a follow up survey to you later this month to help determine if these areas of dissatisfaction are on the mend---knowing full well that the journey is not over. I hope you will be able to point out some improvements.

As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me, your other medical leadership, or any member of your Medical Staff Advisory Council if you have questions, suggestions or concerns.

Thanks
Matt

A SPECIAL NOTE – MEDICAL MARIJUANA

We have been receiving inquiries regarding whether medicinal marijuana will be allowable to bring in the Hospital if a patient has been using it pursuant to a certification issued by the State.  At this time, we are not able to permit this due to State and Federal regulations.

As you probably know, Connecticut licensed physicians are permitted by law to certify with the State that particular patients under their care meet prescribed conditions for use of medical marijuana. Once approved by the State, that “certified” patient may purchase medical marijuana on their own, with the certifying physician being responsible for ongoing monitoring. If you have questions about this process, please see the State of Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection website. (http://www.ct.gov/dcp/cwp/view.asp?a=4287&q=509622&dcpNav=|55378|&dcpNav_GID=2109).

Meanwhile, if you do care for patients who use medical marijuana, you should inform them that if they are hospitalized, they will not be able to bring or use medical marijuana while in the hospital for the reasons noted below.  Of course, we will work with patients to determine appropriate alternatives while they are in our hospital.

• The law in the State of Connecticut does allow for use of medical marijuana under certain circumstances without arrest or prosecution.
• However, the law does not allow ingesting or smoking it in a public place, and a hospital is considered a public place - accordingly, we cannot allow medical marijuana in the Hospital.
• Marijuana remains illegal for all uses at the Federal level and its use in our Hospital could put our Federal certification at risk.
• We do not allow medical marijuana or any other illegal drug or substance to be kept in a patient’s room; these should not be brought in to the hospital.

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