A nurse innovator is a nurse who specializes in bringing forth positive change in health care quality and equity by addressing the unmet needs of a target population through new products, processes, and services. Innovators have existed throughout the history of nursing which dates to the 19th century. Yet, the formalization of a ‘nurse innovator’ role has only begun to emerge within health care organizations across the U.S. over the …
Research shows that early intervention in mental health conditions is critical for achieving better outcomes. Left unaddressed, conditions tend to progress. The depression will worsen. The anxiety will escalate. The disorder can intensify to the point where a child or teen can’t function, won’t get out of bed, may start self-medicating – and the list goes on.
Even though it could change the trajectory of an adolescents’ mental health condition, providers …
The current COVID pandemic has brought into stark contrast the woeful state of medical data collection and data sharing in the United States. It has been a central goal of Health and Human Services (HHS) to at first encourage and later mandate sharing clinical data across multiple electronic health records. Unfortunately, progress has been slow and actual clinically useful widespread adoption of shared medical data remains an aspiration. Here, we …
Nothing like a tragic global pandemic to make everyone rethink their careers. This past year and a half have brought a lot of changes to the workplace. Many of us don’t want to go back to the way things were. According to a Pew Research Center survey from late 2020, of the 71 percent of employees working from home because of the pandemic, more than half, given …
Recently, one of my coaching clients came to our Zoom session looking exhausted. I wasn’t surprised. She’s a physician, a leader at her hospital, and the past two years have been a lot for her. COVID takes its toll in many ways, and it has changed her forever. But this day her biggest challenge was something a little bit different. She was tired of cameras.
“I’m seeing so many patients through …
Fun fact: The first recorded use of electric stimulation to ease pain was in … get ready … CE 46! That’s right, nearly 2,000 years ago, ancient Roman writer Scribonius Largus described the use of torpedo fish, aquatic animals capable of electrical discharge, to heal. This system is still as common in health care settings as a conventional TENS Unit (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation). Similarly, many health care IT innovations …
Is your health care organization reeling from a bad EHR implementation?
There have been rumblings from hospital leadership and congressional committees about the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospitals’ implementation of the Cerner Corporation electronic health record (EHR) replacing the VistA EHR. The $10 million EHR overhaul has been controversial since the staggered rollout started in Spokane, Washington. One report noted that months after the go-live, fewer users knew how to operate the …
Earlier this year, a federal rule that requires clinical information such as doctors’ notes and lab and imaging results to be made immediately available to patients took effect. A little more than three months out from implementation, there are mixed reviews as to how well the so-called “Open Notes” rule is actually improving patient care.
Patient advocates and even many physicians have supported the concept of electronic health information …
Let’s face it, what’s getting most physicians down is not their patients. No, ask any group of physicians what the hardest part of the job is, and you’ll like get a pretty consistent response: It’s the EMR! With studies showing that we spend, on average, two hours on “paperwork” for every hour in the room with a patient, there’s no question that it is a massive time suck for most. …
It takes a special person to care for people during their most vulnerable states, to keep intimate details about people while remaining compassionate even toward the seemingly vilest of persons. The white color of a physicians’ coat can be a metaphor for the purity expected of physicians. A physician’s signature or words carry weight. With such power comes the responsibility to be trustworthy.
Documentation is an important part of patient care. …
Nurses are an essential component of the American health care system and are continually in high demand nationwide. For years, nurses have elected to leave the field or have sought alternative professions instead of working in a traditional nursing role full-time. The pandemic brought into focus the need for work-life balance across professions. Whether strained from high-stress levels, financial upset, demanding hours or an overwhelming workload, nursing …
Last summer, Anna Ramsey suffered a flare-up of juvenile dermatomyositis, a rare autoimmune condition, posing a terrifying prospect for the Los Angeles resident: She might have to undergo chemotherapy, further compromising her immune system during a pandemic.
After an agonizing three-day wait, the results of a blood test came back in her online patient portal — but she didn’t understand them. As hours passed, Ramsey bit …
In a moment of caffeine-depleted delirium, I volunteered to head the creation of a “notes committee” for my 80-member hospitalist group.
I placed myself on a 72-hour hold and quickly established a group consensus: “Bloated notes are a huge problem and a time suck. I’m glad you [rather than me] are working on this. My notes are fine, though. It’s other people’s notes that are bad. Other people’s bad notes are …
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I did a peer review once of an office note about an elderly man with a low-grade fever. The past medical history was all there, several prior laboratory and imaging tests were imported, and there was a long narrative section that blended active medical problems and ongoing specialist relationships. There was also a lengthy review of systems under its own heading.
In an over ten-page long printout, the final diagnosis was …
I have written, or more accurately ranted, about electronic medical records (EMR) systems throughout this blog. While the systems have clearly improved since their mandatory introduction into the medical universe, they have still not delivered on many of their promises.
Of course, EMR has brought tremendous advantages to the medical profession, and we are all grateful for the technology. But this progress has exacted a cost. Many of them are clumsy …
An excerpt from When We Do Harm: A Doctor Confronts Medical Error.
One of the selling points for the electronic medical record (EMR) was that it would be a boon for patient safety. Just having all the medical records in one place is a monumental improvement over …
In a perfect world, an electronic medical record would aggregate a patient’s medical information from all health care providers into a single, comprehensive record that could be easily accessed by any provider with the patient’s permission. This information could reduce the risk of medical errors, duplicate testing, and inappropriate treatment and the associated cost of these mistakes. It could also be lifesaving in the event of a medical emergency that …
What if I told you just a few years ago that Amazon — a budding e-commerce startup — would come to disrupt the multi-billion dollar retail industry.
I seriously doubt that anyone could have given it a serious thought. At least not in the magnitude that will force a slew of big-box retailers to shut their doors for good.
I am sure the same response would have been elicited about Uber and …
I recently spoke with a colleague who transitioned out of the military in the last year. He was previously excited about his new job opportunity, but now a year later, he tells me, “I hate civilian medicine.”
I was surprised because he had been excited about the opportunity to teach in a residency program again. He said, “I love teaching, and I love the residents. …
How can we possibly get to standardization in medicine? And is that a good thing?
Standardized checklists save lives; rigid procedures for sterilization of equipment saves lives; universal compliance with recommended beneficial treatments saves lives. And while it’s sometimes a wonderful thing to let a surgeon solve a problem creatively or to allow a patient visit to go overtime in order …
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