Source: WellSpan Newsletter
Before Ann Hagerty left Apple Hill Internal Medicine after her appointment with Dr. Brian Pollak, she received a preliminary copy of his notes pertaining to her visit.
The sheet included the physician’s assessment, orders needed and future plan of care. “Having a copy of the notes is very valuable to me,” said Hagerty.
“It lets me know what transpired. If I didn’t pick up on something during the appointment, I’ll be able to re-read the notes.
“The notes are clear and understandable,” she added. “I took a copy of the notes of my most recent visit with me when I traveled to Russia.
I knew they would come in handy if I had any medical emergency.” “By sharing our notes with patients, they are better informed, have a chance to make any corrections or amendments to the notes and are more of a partner in their care,” said Pollak.
Pollak said Apple Hill Internal Medicine physicians have shared their notes with patients for about three years. Physicians at Aspers Health Center also share their notes.
“Our patients appreciate receiving the notes,” he said. “I believe it helps strengthen the relationship between physicians and patients.
It’s also an excellent communication tool, which is valuable to patients as well as other physicians.” While the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, gave all patients the legal right to read and even amend their own medical records in 1996, few practices share notes with their patients.
“Our hope is that more practices will share notes with their patients,” said Dr. Hal Baker, vice president and chief information officer for WellSpan. Baker also practices at Apple Hill Internal Medicine.
Physicians have long cited a number of concerns about sharing notes. The concerns include: patients misinterpreting medical information and diagnoses, creating unnecessary stress and patients’ unfamiliarity with medical terms and abbreviations.
“The same concerns come up time and time again,” said Baker. “But, there’s little evidence to support those concerns.”
Baker hopes that an on-going study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will alleviate physicians’ concerns and demonstrate the value of sharing notes.
Open Notes, the largest study of open access, was initiated this past summer. The study involves more than 100 primary care physicians and approximately 25,000 patients from three large health care centers across the United States.
In the study, patients who have just seen their doctors will receive an email message directing them to a secure website where they can view signed physician notes.
Researchers will analyze the expectations and experiences of patients and physicians. They also will examine the number of additional phone calls, emails and visits that may arise as a result of more patients viewing their doctors’ notes.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
Client News: Lancaster General Health CEO Thomas E. Beeman Called to Active Duty
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| Thomas E. Beeman |
(LANCASTER, PA) Lancaster General Health (LG Health) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Thomas E. Beeman, a Captain in the U. S. Navy Reserves, is being called by the Navy to spend up to one year on active duty in Bethesda, MD, beginning Friday, Oct. 15.
On Oct. 21, the LG Health Board of Trustees will grant Beeman a sabbatical and appoint him the position of Strategic Advisor to the Board. In that capacity, he will remain on the LG Health Board of Trustees and continue to report to the Trustees and its Chairman, Alexander Henderson III.
Since Beeman became CEO in 2005, the LG Health Board of Trustees had prepared for the possibility of his being called to active duty. During his absence, the Board has appointed Executive Vice President Jan Bergen as CEO of the LG Health system, and Executive Vice President Marian McGowan as system Chief Operating Officer and President of Lancaster General Hospital (LGH). Their appointments will be officially voted on Oct. 21.
Bergen and McGowan, who have decades of executive leadership in healthcare and previously served as hospital CEOs, will also serve as members of the Boards of Trustees of LG Health and Lancaster General Hospital.
“We consider the U.S. Navy’s decision an honor for both Tom and LG Health,” said Alexander Henderson. “It speaks highly of his leadership, ethics and experience in addressing complex healthcare issues. In addition, we feel fortunate to have a talented, experienced executive team, and a highly engaged Board of Trustees, which will ensure seamless leadership in his absence.”
Beeman will serve as Deputy Director of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE), an advanced facility dedicated to research, diagnosis and treatment of military personnel and veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI) and psychological health issues.
NICoE is a 72,000 square foot, two-story facility located on the Navy campus at Bethesda, MD., adjacent to the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. NICoE is designed to provide the most advanced services for advanced diagnostics, initial treatment plan and family education, introduction to therapeutic modalities, referral and reintegration support for military personnel and veterans with TBI, post traumatic stress, and/or complex psychological health issues.
Further, NICoE will conduct research, test new protocols and provide comprehensive training and education to patients, providers and families while maintaining ongoing telehealth follow-up care across the country and throughout the world.
To continue reading, click here.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Client News: St. Joseph's Hospital's 2010 Georgette's Holiday Fashion Show
Join St. Joseph's Hospitals Foundation and Georgette's & The Shoe Salon for the 22nd Annual Georgette's Holiday Fashion Show, presented by Georgette Diaz and Tasha Diaz. Watch Tampa Bay's top celebrities model the latest fashion trends and then wrap up your holiday shopping!This exciting event is the perfect start to the holiday season, featuring a Broadway-style fashion show with special guest models, entertainment, 50/50 raffle drawings and live and silent auctions.
Individual tickets are $75. Table sponsorships start at $1,000. All proceeds will benefit the St. Joseph's Women's Hospital Shimberg Breast Center.
It's not too late to reserve your seat today! For more information, please call the St. Joseph's Hospitals Foundation at (813) 872-0979.
WHEN: Thursday, December 9, 2010; 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
WHERE: Hyatt Regency, Downtown Tampa
CHAIRS: Sally Sierra and Lisa Pearson
Monday, October 4, 2010
Client News: Advantages of Hospital Mergers: Q&A With Marty Bonick of Jewish Hospital in Louisville
Source: Becker's Hospital Review
Marty Bonick has been president and CEO of Jewish Hospital in Louisville for two and one half years and maintains a blog, called Hospital Life. The 517-bed hospital is part of Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare, which is in merger talks with 404-bed University of Louisville Hospital.
Question: Your system has been exploring a partnership with University of Louisville Hospital. How is that coming along?
Marty Bonick: My board is still negotiating and final details have not been worked out yet. It's looking more like a merger. We already have a close working relationship with University of Louisville Hospital. For example, we have been jointly operating the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute in Louisville. We have several complementary service lines. For example, we have transplant and heart and they have cancer, obstetrics, a NICU and trauma. We have some of those services, too.
This would not be the first merger for us. We merged with St. Mary's [331-bed Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital] in 2005. But the market would stay competitive. There are four large health systems in the area, and we are second in market share. In the past six to eight years, we've had a strategy of developing outpatient centers with their own surgery centers, imaging, labs and women's health centers. We now operate four outpatient centers and they have started to have market penetration. We don’t have plans for any more right now. Kentucky is a CON state, so it's quite a process to set up a new one.
Q: Hospital consolidation seems to be the wave of the future. Would you agree?
MB: All indications show consolidations are going to be important to healthcare. They offer an opportunity for hospitals to broaden access and improve quality. A relationship with University of Louisville Hospital would help us grow our service lines and we could also reduce administration costs and centralize services like medical records and billing.
Q: Another trend is for hospitals to buy up physicians' practices. Are you doing that as well?
MB: Employment of physicians is a relatively new concept here. It has been occurring just in the past five or six years. Some doctors will always want to be independent. We what to try to achieve a consensus among all the doctors on staff.
Q: Are you interested in forming an accountable care organization?
MB: Like everybody, I'm waiting for the details but we've been doing a lot of planning. Healthcare reform will dramatically alter the environment. Hospitals and physicians need to work together in a stronger way than before to improve access.
An ACO could be formed by employing physicians or through clinical integration. The FTC has already condoned clinical integration. In this model, physicians use clinical IT to share information about outcomes and cost. We are in the midst of organizing independent physicians right now, like Advocate Physician Partners has done in Illinois. It's too early to say how many physicians would join, but we want a large group of them to demonstrate value to insurers. The numbers of could be in the hundreds and maybe in the thousands, especially if you include University of Louisville Hospital. There are four to five examples of clinical integration already running around the country, and we have been studying them.
Q: Humana is based in Louisville. Are you planning any ACO-like pilots with Humana?
MB: We are in initial discussions with Humana. It's just exploratory at this point. Insurers are still trying to figure out their role.
Q: Do you have electronic medical records?
MB: We don't have EMR yet. We are working on that. We do have an IT system, but not a full-blown EMR. It will take a few years.
Find out more about Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare.
 |
| Pictured: Marty Bonick |
Marty Bonick has been president and CEO of Jewish Hospital in Louisville for two and one half years and maintains a blog, called Hospital Life. The 517-bed hospital is part of Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare, which is in merger talks with 404-bed University of Louisville Hospital.
Question: Your system has been exploring a partnership with University of Louisville Hospital. How is that coming along?
Marty Bonick: My board is still negotiating and final details have not been worked out yet. It's looking more like a merger. We already have a close working relationship with University of Louisville Hospital. For example, we have been jointly operating the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute in Louisville. We have several complementary service lines. For example, we have transplant and heart and they have cancer, obstetrics, a NICU and trauma. We have some of those services, too.
This would not be the first merger for us. We merged with St. Mary's [331-bed Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital] in 2005. But the market would stay competitive. There are four large health systems in the area, and we are second in market share. In the past six to eight years, we've had a strategy of developing outpatient centers with their own surgery centers, imaging, labs and women's health centers. We now operate four outpatient centers and they have started to have market penetration. We don’t have plans for any more right now. Kentucky is a CON state, so it's quite a process to set up a new one.
Q: Hospital consolidation seems to be the wave of the future. Would you agree?
MB: All indications show consolidations are going to be important to healthcare. They offer an opportunity for hospitals to broaden access and improve quality. A relationship with University of Louisville Hospital would help us grow our service lines and we could also reduce administration costs and centralize services like medical records and billing.
Q: Another trend is for hospitals to buy up physicians' practices. Are you doing that as well?
MB: Employment of physicians is a relatively new concept here. It has been occurring just in the past five or six years. Some doctors will always want to be independent. We what to try to achieve a consensus among all the doctors on staff.
Q: Are you interested in forming an accountable care organization?
MB: Like everybody, I'm waiting for the details but we've been doing a lot of planning. Healthcare reform will dramatically alter the environment. Hospitals and physicians need to work together in a stronger way than before to improve access.
An ACO could be formed by employing physicians or through clinical integration. The FTC has already condoned clinical integration. In this model, physicians use clinical IT to share information about outcomes and cost. We are in the midst of organizing independent physicians right now, like Advocate Physician Partners has done in Illinois. It's too early to say how many physicians would join, but we want a large group of them to demonstrate value to insurers. The numbers of could be in the hundreds and maybe in the thousands, especially if you include University of Louisville Hospital. There are four to five examples of clinical integration already running around the country, and we have been studying them.
Q: Humana is based in Louisville. Are you planning any ACO-like pilots with Humana?
MB: We are in initial discussions with Humana. It's just exploratory at this point. Insurers are still trying to figure out their role.
Q: Do you have electronic medical records?
MB: We don't have EMR yet. We are working on that. We do have an IT system, but not a full-blown EMR. It will take a few years.
Find out more about Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare.
Client News: Mon General A Night in Old Hollywood
Where: The Morgantown Event Center at Waterfront Place Hotel
Entertainment: The Glenn Miller Orchestra & Latin Band "Azucar"
Attire: Black Tie
RSVP by October 29, 2010
Click here, to download invitation.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Client News: Jewish Hospital Opens Kentucky’s Most Comprehensive Center for Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiothoracic Transplantation
Source: Jewish Hospital & St. Mary's Healthcare Press Release
Transplant and VAD coordinators will walk the patients through every step of a transplant or VAD. Research managers will manage multiple clinical trials, ensuring that patients have access to the latest medical advancements, such as Levacor, HeartWare II, and C-Pulse VADs that are currently underway at Jewish Hospital. In addition, physicians are on site holding clinics for interested patients.
To continue reading this article, click here.
Louisville, Ky.—Jewish Hospital today announced the opening of The Center for Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiothoracic Transplantation, Kentucky’s most comprehensive center dedicated to the treatment of advanced heart failure and other cardiac-related services. The new center is located on the 10th floor of the Rudd Heart & Lung Center on the hospital’s main campus. It will be a single convenient location for:
• Initial evaluation for advanced heart failure
• Heart transplant clinic
• Ventricular Assist Devices or VADs (including bridge-to-transplant and destination therapy)
• Lung transplant clinic
• Access to clinical trials
Cardiovascular diseases, such as heart failure, are the leading cause of death in Kentucky, accounting for a third of all deaths in the state. This Center for Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiothoracic Transplantation is the first center in the region dedicated to a full continuum of care for patients suffering from advanced heart failure in a single location.
Jewish Hospital does more heart procedures than any other facility in the state and has long been a pioneer in heart care and cardiothoracic transplantation. The first adult heart transplant in Kentucky was performed at the hospital in 1984 and first heart/lung transplant in 1988.
“Jewish Hospital has achieved many firsts in heart and lung care throughout our history,” said Marty Bonick, president/CEO of Jewish Hospital Medical Campus. “We’re pleased to further that tradition with the opening of The Center for Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiothoracic Transplantation, which will enable us to further our mission of providing the highest quality care and a strong emphasis on research and education.”
“The Center is a great opportunity for Louisville and Kentucky residents, allowing patients access to advanced comprehensive care,” said Mark Slaughter, M.D., director of Heart Transplant and Mechanical Assist Device program at Jewish Hospital. “We offer the most complete range of diagnostic and intervention heart care services available anywhere in the state. Our team will care for patients throughout their treatment protocol from evaluating treatment options to rehabilitation.”Transplant and VAD coordinators will walk the patients through every step of a transplant or VAD. Research managers will manage multiple clinical trials, ensuring that patients have access to the latest medical advancements, such as Levacor, HeartWare II, and C-Pulse VADs that are currently underway at Jewish Hospital. In addition, physicians are on site holding clinics for interested patients.
To continue reading this article, click here.
Cleint News: Oakwood Physicians get HOUR Detroit Magazine’s Top Doc Mention
Thirty-six Oakwood physicians were nominated by their peers and are featured in the much-anticipated October issue of HOUR Detroit magazine as Top Docs in southeastern Michigan.
Top Docs issue will be on newsstands Oct. 1. This is a great way for you to read about the great care provided by these top Oakwood physicians, some of whom have been honored in the magazine’s Top Docs issue in previous years.
To read more of this press release, click here.
HiMSS 2011 Annual Conference & Exhibition
2011 Annual Conference & Exhibition
February 20-24, 2011
Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL
We will be in BOOTH 1407, if you are attending please stop by or call Stephanie Speth at 314-878-6050, ext. 143 to set up a time to see a private demo.
For more information, go to: http://www.himssconference.org/
UPCOMING EVENTS
We would like to visit with you if you are attending any of the events below! If you prefer to reserve some time in advance, please contact Stephanie Speth at
314-878-6050, ext. 143.
2010 Fall Educational Conference presented by Michigan Alliance of Healthcare Access Professionals & the Michigan Patient Accounting Association - Region I
October 6-8, 2010
Comfort Inn Hotel & Conference Ctr., Mt. Pleasant, MI
Click Here to View Conference PDF
ANESTHESIOLOGY 2010
October 16-20, 2010
San Diego Convention Center - San Diego, CA
For more information, go to: http://anesthesiology2010.com
Northeast Regional NAHAM Conference
October 18-19, 2010
Holiday Inn, Stamford, CT
314-878-6050, ext. 143.
2010 Fall Educational Conference presented by Michigan Alliance of Healthcare Access Professionals & the Michigan Patient Accounting Association - Region I
October 6-8, 2010
Comfort Inn Hotel & Conference Ctr., Mt. Pleasant, MI
Click Here to View Conference PDF
ANESTHESIOLOGY 2010
October 16-20, 2010
San Diego Convention Center - San Diego, CA
For more information, go to: http://anesthesiology2010.com
Northeast Regional NAHAM Conference
October 18-19, 2010
Holiday Inn, Stamford, CT
Client Visit - Inova Fairfax Hospital
During a recent trip to Inova Fairfax Hospital (Falls Church, VA), Cynthia Borders and Peggy Pittenger visited the Inpatient Rehab Scheduling Department to review the unique requirements surrounding the use of Unibased products in an inpatient rehabilitation setting. The staff at Inova have done an outstanding job in being creative and successful in their approach to using RMS to meet their needs. Each day the rehabilitation department at the Fairfax campus schedules and treats over 300 inpatients. The large number of patients, combined with patient care (sometimes patients can only see one therapist based on their diagnoses) and the complexities of running a rehabilitation unit speaks to the creativity and dedication of those who maintain these daily schedules. To support Inova's scheduling needs, they use RMS Provider Schedules along with 9 custom Crystal Reports, and have had great success. If you have questions about how RMS can be used to support your hospital's inpatient rehabilitation center, please call:Cynthia Borders ext 120.
