A fantastical experience at Legoland
One of the highlights of IHI's annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care is the opportunity for attendees to take a full-day excursion to one of the major theme parks in the vicinity. I had the pleasure of helping to lead one yesterday to Legoland. We all know about Legos, those versatile, creativity-building blocks, and this park is a physical embodiment of the toys. It is targeted at children from ages 2 to 12, including this little lady who was enjoying a gentle sprinkle in the new World of Chima section.Our 44 participants were greeted in the moning by the smiling faces of my colleagues Azeem Ma...
Source: Running a hospital - December 10, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Will OpenBiome be #1 in the #2 business?
I recently learned of a fascinating non-profit start-up based at MIT called OpenBiome. The lead organizers are Mark Smith, a bio-science Ph.D. candidate and James Burgess, an MBA candidate. The topic? Fecal microbiota transplant (FMT), which is now recognized as an effective cure for C. difficile patients. In fact, its about 90% effective in patients that have failed three or more rounds of antibiotics.Despite the potential, FMT has been slow to take off, largely because not many people want blenders of poo floating around their facility. Clinicians that do perform FMT spend hours doing consults with donors, ...
Source: Running a hospital - December 10, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Mom, this is how Twitter works.
Here's a site that gives an excellent and easily understood description of some of the aspects of Twitter that might not be known to all.For example, did you know? (Source: Running a hospital)
Source: Running a hospital - December 9, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Do portals lead to a better view?
I very much enjoy the "contrarian, brainy and literature-based resource by Jaan Sidorov" over at The Disease Management Care Blog. A recent post provides an example of how he makes us think. The lede:In the November 19 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, Caroline Lubick Goldzweig and colleagues examined the published science on the purported advantages of electronic health record (EHR) portals.Recall that portals are web-based entryways that on-line health consumers can reportedly use to access their records, request medications, correspond with their doctors, manage their health conditions, reduce health ...
Source: Running a hospital - December 9, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
The SEIU is back: This time with ballot initiatives
As you watch the Service Employees International Union in action, you are inevitably left with the feeling that this is a union that has such substantial trouble relating to workers that it has to resort to powerful political tactics to accomplish its enrollment goals. I documented one such tactic--the corporate campaign--in my book How a Blog Held Off The Most Powerful Union in America. The object is to publicly denigrate a hospital to put pressure on it to sign a "neutrality agreement," a promise not to argue against or even discuss unionization while workers are considering which way to vote on the issue. (S...
Source: Running a hospital - December 7, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Sensible thoughts on concussions
Given our inability to accurately measure the neurological damage from concussions, this seems like a prudent step. From ScienceDaily:Any athlete with concussion symptoms should not be allowed to return to play on the same day, according to the latest consensus statement on sports-related concussion. The updated guidelines are summarized in Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.The fourth consensus report from the Concussion in Sport Group (CISG 4) represents the latest recommendations from an expert panel, sponsored by five international sports governing bodies. "The statement ...
Source: Running a hospital - December 7, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Heavenly start-up?
My friend Dhaya Lakshminarayanan's mother offers this comment about Nelson Mandela:"He had a long life. He was 95 and did many good things. Now in heaven maybe he and Gandhi and King will do start-up company for freedom." (Source: Running a hospital)
Source: Running a hospital - December 6, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Dear health care reporters: Look this way
I bet Robert Langreth (and his colleague Shannon Pettypiece) over at Bloomberg News never thought they would become experts in robotic surgery, but the travails of Intituitive Surgical. Inc. keep providing fodder for these business reporters. How ironic. What a sad statement about the lack of depth and coverage by many health care reporters that this business media outlet becomes dominant on this topic.The latest? Here's their article about an “urgent medical device recall” from the company in which they relate that friction in the arms of some devices may cause the units to stall. Why does this matte...
Source: Running a hospital - December 6, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Is a different kind of collective bargaining possible?
The New York Professional Nurses Union has an interesting history. Among other things, it accomplished something unusual, decertifying the SEIU, which had previously represented its members. From its website:The Registered Nurses at Lenox Hill Hospital were first organized into a union in 1980 by Local 1199, the Health Care Workers Union. By 1984 a number of the staff nurses were disillusioned with the representation provided by Local 1199. They considered affiliating with other unions, but ultimately decided that the best union for Lenox Hill staff nurses would be one devoted exclusively to representing t...
Source: Running a hospital - December 5, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Pro Publica tells the prisoners' health care story
Some part of the 18% of GNP spent by the United States on health care is the medical care given to prisoners in state and federal correctional facilities. A recent article by Christie Thompson at Pro Publica provides a summary of the problem:And as the elderly population in prison grows, so do their medical bills. Housing an inmate in a prison medical center costs taxpayers nearly $60,000 a year — more than twice the cost of housing an inmate in general population. I'm not sure if the medical cost accounting includes this, but there is also the additional cost of requiring prisoner patients in hospitals to be acco...
Source: Running a hospital - December 4, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
MVP is a most valuable principle
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the tendency of many start-up companies who try to sell their wares to hospitals to ignore the needs of the various constituencies and therefore fail to make sales. I concluded:It is possible to sell great new ideas to hospitals, but they need to satisfy the interests of several constituencies in those organizations. They must improve the work flow of the staff on the floor and units, making day-to-day life easier and not harder. They must improve the safety and quality of care, but in a manner that does not expose the hospital to greater liability: Indeed they should help re...
Source: Running a hospital - December 3, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Joining Lean practitioners in Israel
Many thanks to Boaz Tamir, head of Israel Lean Enterprise (part of the Lean Global Network), for an invitation to present at a session for a number of businesses that are involved in adopting the Lean process improvement philosophy in their organizations. Examples included Intel, the Strauss Group (food and beverage supplier), Bank Hapoalim, and yes (satellite broadcasting.) The attendees were intrigued with the lessons from my book Goal Play! about how to create learning organizations.I was honored to share the stage with Micha Popper, from Haifa University, who studies and teaches about leadership. ...
Source: Running a hospital - December 2, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
MIT SDM deals with the prisoner's dilemma
This looks really fascinating for those of us interested in how incentives do or do not work:Systems Thinking and the Inevitability of the Dreamliner DelaysMIT SDM Systems Thinking Webinar SeriesYao Zhao, Ph.D.Associate Professor, Rutgers UniversityDate: December 2, 2013Time: Noon – 1 p.m. EDTFree and open to allRegister About the Presentation Although the Boeing 787 Dreamliner was the fastest-selling plane in the history of commercial aviation, its development was a nightmare. The first flight was delayed by 26 months, and the first delivery was 40 months overdue with a cost overrun of at least $10 bil...
Source: Running a hospital - December 1, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
How to deal with performance anxiety
Here's a really interesting insight from a musician about one way to deal with performance anxiety. Or Ben-Natan is a vocalist who sings bass in classical and other music concerts in Israel. At a recent rehearsal with a chamber group in Zichron Ya'akov, his wife made sure that their little granddaughter was sitting near her in the front row to watch the performance.When we asked Or if this was a distraction, he said that it actually helped him. "When I am performing, I feel the tension between the anxiety of the performance and the desire to relax and enjoy the music. I know that my granddaughter would immediat...
Source: Running a hospital - November 30, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Shaking the hubris of the profession
My friend Danny Sands writes a remarkable story about a recent medical problem he faced. It's called "On The Ultimate Loss of Control, Living with Uncertainty, Reflecting on the Future, and Being a Patient." It is beautifully written and worth a look.I have been struck by a number of similar types of stories recently in which doctors have become patients or have been with close families members in that situation. I think it is a wonderful thing that physicians now feel comfortable relating such experiences. The common theme is one of shock and a new understanding of what it is like to be a "customer" in t...
Source: Running a hospital - November 29, 2013 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
