ADVANCE for Executive Insight 1 ADVANCE for Executive Insight

More documents

Recommendations

Info

telemedicine nurses can monitor the various ICUs remotely. Since implementing this program, Mercy’s mortality rate, hospital length of stay and ICU length of stay have dropped by 20-30%. In addition to a tele-ICU, Mercy also has a telestroke program in which we use mobile telemedicine carts in each of our emergency departments (ED). If a stroke patient comes to the ED, we can move the cart to the patient’s bedside and a specialist can begin assessing and treating the patient right away. This not only gets expert care to the patient faster—a critical element in limiting the potential damage caused by a stroke—it also reduces the disruption to the patient because he or she does not need to be moved. Helping More Than Just Patients In addition to enhancing patient care, telemedicine can bolster clinician recruitment and retention efforts. For example, it can be challenging to recruit a highly credentialed specialist to work in a small hospital, and even if you can get an individual to come, you may only be able to afford one such person. With no back-up, the specialist would need to be on-call year-round without any breaks. This punishing schedule impacts quality of life and leads to high physician turnover. Through telemedicine, Mercy is able to have back-up support for all specialists, enabling the organization to offer specialized care at any time and at any facility. We can also ensure our physicians maintain balance in their lives, increasing both satisfaction and retention. Telemedicine also fosters continuity of care. For example, within the last year in one of our Lead Like A Rock Star: Rock Solid Leadership, Communication, and Collaboration August 28-30, 2013 • Myrtle Beach, SC The South Carolina Medical Group Management Association (SCMGMA) will host its annual conference "Lead Like A Rock Star: Rock Solid Leadership, Communication and Collaboration", at the Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort and Convention Center, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The event will feature presentations of interest to medical practice managers, hospital VPs and directors, and physicians. Topics include futuristic medicine, the Affordable Care Act, Medicare E and M Coding, process improvement, patient satisfaction, as well as a healthcare panel discussion. Those interested in attending or exhibiting may visit our website at www.scmgma.com or contact Cindy Ott, Executive Director, at 803-387-7864 for more information. Being open to change is the key to getting the most out of this technology. If you can imagine it, it’s probably possible, which is what makes using telemedicine so exciting and rewarding. On the Web For related content, enter “Telemedicine” in the keyword search box at www.advanceweb.com/ executiveinsight facilities, we had a pediatric neurologist resign and there was no backup in place to cover his patients. Without telemedicine, we would’ve been forced to shut down the service until we found a replacement. Instead, we refitted one of our stroke telemedicine carts to support pediatric neurology and had the service back up and running in a week. Overcoming Roadblocks One of the biggest challenges Mercy had when launching the telemedicine program was physician resistance. Some physicians initially struggled to accept this technology as an appropriate way to assess patients and ensure safe care. We found the key to overcoming hesitation was to identify physician champions and enlist their assistance in getting others on board. We also learned that a physician needs to experience telemedicine firsthand to fully appreciate it. The equipment has a high-definition, color camera that can zoom in to an area, allowing a physician to conduct a thorough assessment, examine wounds, read an IV bag and so on. By interacting with the equipment, physicians can better visualize how the technology enhances patient care. Getting Started There is no established blueprint for launching a telemedicine program. The approach we took was to first research current trends in the field, and since the technology is evolving rapidly, it’s important to keep attuned to what’s happening in the market. We also developed a strategic plan that outlined short-term and long-term goals. After that, we dove into the work, pilot testing different applications to see what was most beneficial for our organization. Even though Mercy Health has had a telemedicine program since 2006, we feel we’ve just scratched the surface of the technology’s potential. We are constantly finding ways to incorporate telemedicine into patient care. We have 72 projects under way that are integrating the technology into various areas, including school-based clinics, work site clinics, palliative care programs and remote home monitoring programs. Being open to change is the key to getting the most out of this technology. If you can imagine it, it’s probably possible, which is what makes using telemedicine so exciting and rewarding. 42 ADVANCE for Executive Insight
1,440 n EW Yo RK m I n U t E s : Establishing a high-volume, 24/7 lab to support a trauma center. And a pediatric ICU. Abbott Diagnostics worked around the clock to make it happen for one institution. See what, together, we can do for yours. Trauma centers and pediatric ICUs move fast at all hours. For one New York–area hospital, having a laboratory that can quickly and accurately turn a test around at any time of day—or night—is absolutely vital. Lives depend on it. That’s why it was important to not just install multiple systems, but to have a team of engineers, medical technologists and IT consultants on call to ensure the assays were up, running and responsive to our customer’s rigorous demands. At Abbott Diagnostics, we go beyond tests and instruments. We’ll partner with you to develop a solution that fits the needs of your laboratory. VIsIt AbbottdIAgnostICs.Com. Put science on your side. is a trademark of Abbott Laboratories in various jurisdictions. © 2011 Abbott Laboratories MS_11_13304/v3 Put science on your side. ADVANCE for Executive Insight 43
Page 1 and 2: ADVANCE for Executive Insight 1
Page 3 and 4: Embracing life through innovation H
Page 5 and 6: WHAT WILL YOU FIND IF YOU PUT US UN
Page 7 and 8: VPAP COPD NONINVASIVE VENTILATION
Page 9 and 10: Editorial Advisory Board advertiser
Page 11 and 12: Healthcare IT If we were to move aw
Page 13 and 14: Healthcare is evolving faster now t
Page 15 and 16: Secondly, on the discharge side, a
Page 17 and 18: Reduce IT cost and complexity with
Page 19 and 20: cOo perspective Organizational Effi
Page 21 and 22: charged within the last 24 hours. T
Page 23 and 24: WIN A KINDLE FIRE! COMPLETE OUR ONL
Page 25 and 26: n Designing appropriate incentives
Page 27 and 28: virtua health: by the numbers 4 hos
Page 29 and 30: 87 % of average consumers will reme
Page 31 and 32: VAP Cost Implications of VAP An equ
Page 33 and 34: mobile medicine jeff leeser Success
Page 35 and 36: inventory management Operational Co
Page 37 and 38: Laboratory Information Systems The
Page 39 and 40: evenue cycle Building a Bulletproof
Page 41: telemedicine Mercy Health has found

ADVANCE for Executive Insight 1 ADVANCE for Executive Insight

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?