Are you ready to conduct surgery on celebrities?
Are you ready to conduct surgery on celebrities?
Don't wait until they are at the door to prepare
What do the following famous people have in common? Jill Biden, Pope Benedict XVI, Ozzy Osbourne, and The Dixie Chicks.
The answer: All have undergone outpatient surgery, sometimes unexpectedly when running into health issues while traveling.
All outpatient surgery providers must be prepared to handle a famous person having a procedure at their facilities, sometimes on short notice. Some hospitals choose to treat celebrities with injuries in the outpatient surgery area so they are away from unwanted media who might be trying to enter the emergency department or main hospital.
There are steps you can take now to ensure you are ready for treating a celebrity:
• Notify your media officer.
The George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC, has performed outpatient surgery on several VIPs, including former first lady Laura Bush and former vice president Dick Cheney. "We will always notify our public information officer that there is such a person coming into the facility," says Kimberly Russo, MS, chief operating officer. "If they're getting inquiries, they know whether to get a release signed," she says. "As with any patient, we need authorization."
Heather B. Oldham, communications manager at George Washington, says, "Without a signed consent, we do not even confirm that this person is a patient."
• Ensure that staff members liable to be "star-struck" aren't caring for VIPs.
Consider carefully who is assigned to care for a celebrity, Russo advises. "We know if there is any individual might be star-struck, or might not be able to handle that individual, they're not assigned to that case," she says. "You have to depend on your managers, the middle management, to make those proper judgment calls."
• Provide private entry and exit.
Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City designates a room for VIPs who come in for outpatient surgery, says Suzanne Cushnie, RN, clinical nurse manager, day of surgery, pretesting, and phase 2 area. The hospital has performed outpatient surgery on people including Gov. David A Paterson. Highly recognizable VIPs are brought directly into a designated room, where all care is provided. This setup allows them to bypass the admitting area. Additionally, one elevator can be designated for the VIP while the other elevator is closed down temporarily when the VIP is entering or exiting the facility, Cushnie says.
In Beverly Hills, CA, the Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery center, which caters to celebrities, built a hidden back entrance that allows patients to enter and exit the facility away from the paparazzi. Additionally, the center spaces out consultations and patients so celebrities have privacy, says Megan Levant, surgery center administrator and privacy officer.
• Consider whether to use an alias for VIPs.
Russo recommends using an alias "to eliminate the ability to track patients in our care that are of interest." However, it should be the patient's choice, she says. "We always recommend it as a way of protecting them from persons or the media being able to contact them through the switchboard," she says.
However, aliases can have a downside, says Mark Mayo, corporate director of ASC Operations for Magna Health Systems in Chicago and executive director of the Surgery Center Association of Illinois. For example, records need to follow the patient should additional care or a transfer be required, and aliases could be used illegally for multiple prescription drugs under multiple names, with no backup checks in place, he says.
Others point out that the medical record is a legal document. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) governs a patient's privacy, points out Stuart Katz, FACHE, CASC, executive director of Tuscon (AZ) Orthopaedic Surgery Center. "Why go to all the cloak-and-dagger routine?" he says.
• Use additional security measures as needed.
At George Washington, levels of security depend on the VIP, but they sometimes include performing bag checks and identification checks for people entering patient care areas, Russo says.
Facilities typically notify their security staff that a VIP is having a procedure, sources say. Cushnie says, "Once they know they're coming, and we tell them, 'This is when they'll arrive,' they meet them at the entrance and escort them in, and stay with them along with their private security," she says.
• Ensure staff maintain the patient's privacy.
Typically, facilities have staff sign a confidentiality statement when they're hired. [See agreement and a statement on confidential information.] Additionally, at Tucson Orthopaedic Surgery Center, "at least once a year, we go over all of the rules with the staff at a meeting for that purpose," says Katz. "The penalty for a breach is immediate termination."
When a celebrity musician is coming in for a procedure, Cushnie reminds her staff that they aren't allowed to crowd the patient or ask for any information. "I remind them: You're a professional, and this is a professional environment," she says. Cushnie also reminds them of federal privacy regulations.
Keep in mind that your per diem staff also need training on patient privacy and need to sign a confidentiality agreement, Levant adds.
• Ensure privacy of medical record.
Ensure the patient records can be accessed only be designated staff and that those staff can access only that part of the record needed for a particular job, Mayo says. "Registration should not have access to clinical chart for example, and dietary does not need to know the patient's home address or Social Security number," he says.
These concerns can be best addressed through limited access, Mayo says. "HIPAA requires this anyway, but many system administrators are weak in monitoring the security levels or in looking for potential inappropriate access tracking until after an incident occurs," he says.
At George Washington, special security features have been installed to eliminate inappropriate access, and the chief information officer has a policy on monitoring internal access to medical records, Russo says.
Oldham says, "Our primary concern for all patients is to deliver excellent medical care, while protecting their privacy. Most times celebrity patients visit the hospital, the media and public never know they were here."
What do the following famous people have in common? Jill Biden, Pope Benedict XVI, Ozzy Osbourne, and The Dixie Chicks.Subscribe Now for Access
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