Healthcare Woes? Hospital Inefficiencies and Possible Solutions

Posted by Allison on Fri, Feb 27, 2015 @ 11:08 AM

Workflow and organization management are important concepts to healthcare as a whole, but specifically these concepts are key to hospital management. Not only can flaws in workflow hinder the activities of hospitals, but also it can cost a great deal of money to correct flaws. 

A recent survey by the Ponemon Institute of 400 plus healthcare providers discovered that poor communication on its own has an estimated economic impact of $1.75 million per U.S. hospital. Also, the survey found that this inadequate communication alone has an estimated annual economic impact of more than $11 billion industry-wide.  

It is clear that many of these costly issues are complex in nature, but some quick fixes can be implemented to decrease inefficiencies. 

  • In addressing lack of effective communication methods: the use of secure text messaging could increase productivity and minimize economic loss by about 50 %
  • Looking at duplicate documentation requirements: eliminating inefficiency here can allow for more patient time and higher quality patient care and management can fix this by surveying the system to find duplicates and then can address EHR issues with the vendor; next the duplicates can be reconciled with the EHR provider
  • Dealing with patient flow: address processes and review occupancy and manage ORs and facilities by providing a process for scheduling date and time of patient discharge at least one day in advance
  • Ensure appropriate hospital admission: provide practitioners with resources, for example options such as social workers, nursing homes, behavioral health centers, skilled nursing centers and rehab services to eliminate inappropriate hospital stays
  • Avoid incomplete medication reconciliation: try to obtain adequate information from patient, but also use EHR effectively to ensure accuracy 

 

Tags: healthcare, healthIT, patient satisfaction, employee engagement, Scribe, EMR

EMR as a Tool for Teaching

Posted by Allison on Wed, Feb 18, 2015 @ 03:18 PM

As electronic medical records take their place in modern medicine, new questions arise as to the use of EMR, medical education and technology, and the use of electronic documentation as a tool for teaching. 

Now, first year medical students are tech-savvy and able to be on top of the times when it comes to health IT. EMR is starting to be included as part of medical curriculum.  This new addition to many medical education programs adds value. EMR is relevant to medical education because electronic documentation is becoming a necessity, especially with new meaningful use requirements and the shift to ICD-10. 

EMR education can be beneficial to not only medical students, but also to nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and physicians. The electronic medical record can be useful in guiding through the process of assessing the patient. The EMR helps give insight into the background of the patient and can help lead to the key facts and information to reach a potential diagnosis. EHR use can help in listing red flags, risk factors, and warnings about potentials risks for the patient in reaching a diagnosis. For example, EMRs can warn about patient drug allergies or interactions and assist in addressing patient treatment programs. This can help providers to limit their liability. For medical students and healthcare professionals learning the new technology and where technology intersects with patient care, EMR teaching can be truly beneficial. 

Information gathered via LinkedIn post:Using the Electronic Medical Record as a Teaching Tool

Tags: EMRs, Improve Efficiency, healthIT, patient satisfaction, EMR, EHR

Flu Prevention and Practice Management

Posted by Allison on Mon, Feb 09, 2015 @ 12:43 AM

As you may have noticed in the news, flu season is taking its toll on communities across the country. 

With issues like Ebola facing physicians recently, and with flu season here for the time being, it is key to ensure that practices guard themselves from gaining more illnessness and spreading flu germs. 

We all know that germs are difficult to contain, this is is not something new. 

flu virus

But, with new technology comes new advances. Because germs are hard to control, practices are now trying out telemedicine to help contain the spread of illnesses like the flu. Telemedicine can help control the spread of the flu because patients can been seen virtually and not face-to-face. By seeing patients via telemedicine, fewer germs are coming into practices. 

But, telemedicine is only being used in a limited number of practices. There are other ways to help block the spread of flu germs.

Here are some tips to prevent the spread of germs:

  1. Incorporate hand-sanitizer gel in busy areas of practices and enforce hand washing and good hygiene 
  2. Offer face masks in practices; offer masks to both patients and workers
  3. Ensure countertops and surfaces are constantly sanitized
  4. Separate sick patients from well patients to the best ability

Tags: healthcare, wellness, healthIT, patient satisfaction, employee engagement

The Importance of ICD-10 in Big Data's Future

Posted by Allison Dewan on Thu, Nov 20, 2014 @ 11:40 AM

ICD-10 and Big Data

Some doctors might find ICD-10 to include too many codes, but these codes and the new advances of ICD-10 are necessary for big data success in the medical field.

According to resident physician William Rusnak as quoted in a FierceHealth IT article, "doctors will never detect the one-in-a-million disease when it matters". 

Change isn't always easy, but it is here to stay. ICD-10 will be beneficial to doctors and in the big picture the shift to ICD-10 can allow for more efficient and precise coding.

The resident physician quoted in the article, Rusnak, went on to explain the big data benefits of ICD-10, emphasizing that with advanced computing power that can accurately record human behavior, ICD-10 can aid in crucial healthcare situations and lead to further efficiency. 

Rusnak states that there needs to be a code for even the rarest condition that a patient may have, and that a code should represent specific details of any procedures performed as well.

Following Rusnak's advice that codes need to represent all conditions and procedures and even the variations of both, doctors can then collect big data in a precise manner. 

This, in turn, will lead to proper and more accurate decisionmaking when reporting on health. 

ICD-10 will help with big data because the coding will lead to clear-cut reporting on health events and outcomes. 

Tags: wellness, ICD10, healthIT, patient satisfaction, EHR

What are ACOs?

Posted by Allison Dewan on Thu, Oct 23, 2014 @ 10:02 AM

ACOs have been mentioned recently, so it is important to understand just exactly what ACOs are...and CMS lays it out for us.

ACO stands for Accountable Care Organization. According to the CMS website, here is the definition of ACOs: Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers, who come together voluntarily to give coordinated high quality care to their Medicare patients.

Coordinated care is meant to make sure that patients, particularly the chronically ill, get the right care at the right time, while avoiding duplication of services and preventing medical errors.

When an ACO both delivers high-quality care and spends health care dollars more efficiently, it will share in the savings it achieves for the Medicare program.

For more info, see the CMS link where this information was gathered: ACOs link 

Tags: healthcare, patient satisfaction

Revenue Cycles and Hospital Management

Posted by Allison Dewan on Mon, Sep 15, 2014 @ 02:12 PM

Revenue Cycles and Hospital Management

Often times one might not associate revenue cycles with hospitals, because hospitals are many times understaffed and lacking resources, thus making revenue cycle management difficult.

But this is constantly changing and hospitals are becoming, and have become, more efficient.

Yes, hospitals are places where patients receive treatment - pretty clear definition. But, when it comes to managing hospitals, one thing always arises and is a key component to most, if not all, decisions made when operating hospitals.

With the new federal mandates, comes more and more EHR implementations, and coming from this is meaningful use and ICD-10 and their associated changes. Some see these changes as burdensome, but with the help of medical scribes, these new changes can actually lead to more streamlining and efficiency, and to better doctor patient interaction.


Despite some hospitals viewing EHRs and electronic charting in general as a hassle, some hospitals are actually profiting more from these changes. Revenue cycle management and financial metrics are important to hospital administrators, and though new changes may lead to new organization and management of health care, as seen in analysis, using EHRs and medical scribes can lead to growing profits. EHRs can clearly be productivity-boosting and especially so when viewing EHR through the lens of patient coordination.

For more info on this click here to see an article by EHR Intelligence.

Tags: healthcare, EMRs, healthIT, patient satisfaction, emergency

Focus on Patient Satisfaction and Improvement

Posted by Allison Dewan on Wed, Sep 10, 2014 @ 04:32 PM

Patient Satisfaction & Thoughts on Improvement

Hospitals can always improve when it comes to patient satisfaction.

Administrators and consultants are always looking for ways to become an even better provider to their patients. With ever changing technology and new requirements for documentation, it can make it even more difficult to achieve high patient satisfaction. As a writer for MedCity News put it, “ I’ve felt that there’s not been enough next-generation tech being applied to the low margin, high volume business of hospital supply management.” Supply chain automation is important to gain higher patient satisfaction, and even though it is often viewed as being the responsibility of the administration, it is directly tied to patient and nursing satisfaction.

  • Supply chain expert Harold Richards explains that thinking about patient satisfaction and supply chain can be compared to ant hill management:“You may have had an ant farm as a child and marveled at the cooperative efforts and precisions of the ants as they went about their daily activities...so it is with the hospital supply chain, full of hard working individuals who run into daily challenges just as ants do. Both rely on excellent systems of communication to get things accomplished. However, ants do not have to deal with bureaucracy, integrating of mismatched systems, missing supplies, and other time-wasting system failures (at least not as far as we can tell).”

The ant farm comparison seems to be on point when it comes to managing busy ER departments and the like. Today more than ever, patients are converging on emergency rooms across the country seeking treatment for their ailments. Resulting from this is - you guessed it- overcrowded ERs filled to capacity and short staffed in many cases. According to the USA TODAY, some hospitals are faced with spikes as high as 12%.

It is apparent that an increase in volume can cause problems, and without proper planning and supply chain management, there could be inefficiencies such as shortage of staff and medical supplies in emergency situations. So, look at hospital management from the ant farm perspective if you will...it might just make it a little clearer...and little more fun to analyze efficiency. Make sure you know what is happening in your ant hill.


Tags: healthcare, healthIT, patient satisfaction, Scribe, emergency