Hospital Management
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How Surgery Centers Can Weather the Next Supply Chain Disruption
The supply manager should know their supply chain’s risks and vulnerabilities, including the locations of manufacturers and suppliers. With local partners, surgery centers could achieve purchasing power and develop a more resilient supply chain.
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The State of the Supply Chain
Medical products that continue to be in high demand but low in supply include shoe covers, isolation gowns, and bouffant caps, among others. Surgery centers should create a pandemic plan that addresses their entire supply chain.
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While Preparing for COVID-19 Spikes, Influenza Season, Prioritize Supply Chain Management
When the COVID-19 crisis first struck the United States, healthcare facilities faced unprecedented disruptions, including the suspension of elective surgeries, partly because of personal protective equipment shortages nationwide. The healthcare industry is better prepared today to handle the crisis, but individual facilities still face obstacles.
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Engage Staff When Training or Implementing New Programs
Quality improvement professionals often must train staff in new processes or initiatives, but the effectiveness of those sessions can depend on the approach. A simple meeting with a PowerPoint presentation may not be the best way to get good results. The best results will come when the participants feel involved with the effort and want to help reach the desired goal.
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Kaizen Method Can Improve Case Management
Efficiency and cost savings are worthy goals. Satisfaction also is relevant, whether applied to patients, frontline staff, managers, or chief executive officers. If your hospital workday is inefficient, satisfaction suffers at all levels. That is where the Kaizen method can help.
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Medical Records in the COVID-19 Era: Renewing the Case for Interoperability
The problems of electronic medical records (EMRs) have been all too real during this pandemic. Patients with life-threatening COVID-19 symptoms have gone to hospitals without family or friends. They may not recall critical details of their medical history, including medications. At the crux of this crisis is the patient’s EMR, which holds important details that help providers make treatment decisions. Too often in hospitals, healthcare providers cannot access all these records, which is frustrating for everyone.
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Look for Undocumented Social Determinants of Health in Patient Charts
One conundrum for hospital case managers involves identifying patients’ social determinants of health needs when the hospital record does not list all these data. The visible data could be missing critical factors related to why patients are returning to emergency departments or are not taking their medications.
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COVID-19 Can Cause Neurological Symptoms and Strokes in Patients
One major health problem related to COVID-19 involves neurological symptoms and signs of brain injury. Patients with COVID-19 can experience acute periods of confusion, post-traumatic amnesia, and delirium. Physicians and researchers do not know what will happen to patients with COVID-19 over the long term and whether they will fully regain their prior cognitive status.
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Case Managers Can Guide Patients with COVID-19 to Rehab Services
After days, weeks, or even months of hospitalization with COVID-19, patients often need considerable help with their post-discharge recovery. This is especially true for people who need pulmonary, brain injury, or cardiac rehabilitation. Hospital case managers can help patients recover by educating them about various rehabilitation services.
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Lessons Learned — or Not — from Hydroxychloroquine Mishap
The research community’s decades of work to build public trust in IRB oversight and the clinical trial process has reached one of its greatest challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Misinformation spread through social media and some media outlets, as well as contradictory instructions and information from political and public health officials, have helped create distrust. Through the spring of 2020, misinformation about hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 therapeutic proliferated after President Trump spoke about it as a cure.