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Welcome to eFocus. Our goal is to provide you with timely, informative and useful short summaries and links about UM UCH related news, issues, or events. Feel free to contact us if you have news to share, story ideas or any other feedback. As always, your comments are welcome.

eFocus, April 2022 topics include:

WELCOME

We have started April with a brighter sky and fewer COVID patients. UM UCH and the state of Maryland continue to enjoy lower COVID hospitalizations with a full opening of society. Everyone should be proud of their role/s that they played within our hospitals and offices. We recently had a visit from our UMMS Unified Incident Commander, Dr. Marcozzi, who acknowledged the disproportionate weight of COVID that hit UM UCH and congratulated the teams on the incredible work that was done. Both UMMS Unified Command and UM UCH Incident Command have now been decommissioned and we remain in a state of readiness to see what the fall and winter will bring. 

With that, we must work relentlessly to regain our top spot in UMMS with regards to patient safety, quality and patient experience. The Back to Basics initiative has kicked off and, as of April 1, we start by focusing on the improvement of provider communications with our patients. Making sure we connect with our patients, taking a seat in order to be eye level with them, and speaking in terms they understand when they are their most vulnerable are just a few of the things we need to work on. We have seen some incredible success already (see PX Doctor’s Communication Graph) and we need to keep driving it. 

I am holding a personal competition--please Tiger text me your upcoming vacation plans. Whoever has the most original and unique vacation will be awarded a $100 gift card to help with that vacation. Take care everyone! 

Fermin Barrueto, Jr., M.D., M.B.A.
Senior Vice President/CMO
Medical Staff Affairs

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Kick Starting Back to Basics: Now that the number of COVID positive cases is on the decline, we are asking for your support and assistance as we refocus on areas in which we saw declines in performance. This includes our quality and safety harm events and patient experience ratings. We are starting with the following:

  • Nurse Leader Rounding on patients (a best practice that is shown to have an impact on patient experience ratings),
  • Physician Communication (also highly correlates with a better patient experience), and
  • Care Transition Rounds (focused on what care is needed for the patient based on their diagnosis).

Throughout the month, we will track our performance to determine any barriers and assess our progress. Also in April, we will hold a virtual Town Hall meeting for our Team Members to provide further information on this initiative, as well as a retreat for leaders. Stay tuned for more information.

Our goal is to decrease the number of sentinel events, hospital-acquired complications, and hospital-acquired infections while increasing our patient experience scores over the next six months. We can only do this by partnering with you on this journey. Our Team Members have always been the keys to our success. We look forward to hearing from you, learning from you, and taking the leap! 

Sincerely,

Faheem Younus, MD FACP FIDSA – Vice President and Chief Quality Officer
Antonio DePaolo, PhD - Vice President of Transformation & Continuous Improvement
Elizabeth Wise, FACHE - President/CEO

Nominate a ‘Top Doctor’ for Baltimore Magazine: Baltimore magazine's 35th annual ‘Top Doctors’ survey is now underway for 2022. We hope that you’ll participate by nominating your physician peers across 100-plus specialties. The survey is available HERE. Last year, more than 300 individuals in 108 specialties and sub-specialties who provide care across University of Maryland Medical System hospitals were recognized as ‘Top Doctors’ in the November 2021 issue of Baltimore magazine. Sixty-five of them were on staff or had privileges at UM Upper Chesapeake Health. You can see the full 2021 list at umuch.org/topdocs. DEADLINE IS JUNE 24!

COVID UPDATES

System Incident Commanders: UM UCH COVID Incident Commander, Dr. Fermin Barrueto, recently joined all UMMS hospital incident commanders for a much-needed gathering and dinner. Also joining was UMMS Unified Incident Commander, Dr. Marcozzi.

Dr. Leo's COVID Corner: View this month's full library of articles and resources HERE. Topics include misinformation in the time of the pandemic, antiplatelet therapy, incidence rate of CVT (cerebral Venous thrombosis) after SARS-CoV-2 infection, and more.

SAFETY UPDATES

  

Journey to Zero Harm: Below is the current Harm Index graph. The IP Team continues to round, educate and work to assure our team members are knowledgeable about Infection Prevention basics and the bundle-best practices to target prevention of specific HAIs. If you have any questions, concerns or needs, please reach out!

  

EMPATHY & WELLNESS UPDATES

Physician Communication and Patient Experience: Please review this latest presentation on physician communication and patient experience, shared by Dr. Bahl.

Physician Kudos: Each month, our Patient Experience team collects positive comments and kudos from patients' responses on the HACPHS surveys. Check out last month's many notes of thanks and appreciation to several of our physicians at HMH and UCMC!

Physician Support Line: The Physician Support Line is a free, confidential peer support line staffed by volunteer psychiatrists helping physician colleagues navigate the many intersections of their personal and professional lives. For support, please call 1-888-409-0141, 7 days a week, from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. EST. You can also visit www.physiciansupportline.com to learn more.

UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS

Mark your calendars for important standing meetings and special events.

  • Cultural Humility and LGBTQ Communities - Virtual Training Available
    Thursday, June 16
    10 a.m. to 12 noon
    Clinicians and other healthcare workers serve sexual and gender minority people every day, but adequate preparation about supporting these populations is rarely offered professional training. Using a Cultural Humility framework, this workshop provides a broad overview of LGBTQ+ terms, gender identity concepts, cultural beliefs, health disparities, and barriers to accessing services, as well as best practice strategies for creating an affirming care experience.
    Register here.
  • Multidisciplinary Thoracic and General Conferences: 12 Noon, Alternates Every Thursday (e.g., Thoracic is 11/3, General is 11/10)
    UM UCMC, KCC Streett Conference Room
  • Multidisciplinary Breast Conference: 8 a.m., Every Tuesday
    Radiology/Oncology Conference Room
  • Pharmacy &Therapeutics (P & T) Committee: 7:30 a.m., Third Tuesday of each month
    UM UCMC Maryland Room
  • Credentials Committee: 7:30 - 9 a.m., First Friday of each month
    UM UCMC, MSCR
  • Medical Staff Leadership:  8 - 9 a.m., Fourth Thursday of each month
    UM UCMC, Fallston Room/UM HMH, MSCR

  • Metabolic Bariatric Surgery Committee: 5 p.m., Quarterly, Wednesdays
    HMH MSCR and UCMC Fallston Room

  • Advanced Practice Providers (APP) Review Committee: First Tuesday of each month

      As mentioned during this morning’s Patient Safety Brief, UM UCH has achieved 90% Hand Hygiene Complianceduring August observations, see graph below. Our goal is to be 90% or better for hand hygiene compliance, so well done and please continue to stay clean with hand hygiene!
 
Attached is August hand hygiene data broken out by nursing unit and by role. If your unit does not have data in attached slides, it is because there were no observations collected and/or submitted for the month of August.
      As mentioned during this morning’s Patient Safety Brief, UM UCH has achieved 90% Hand Hygiene Compliance during August observations, see graph below. Our goal is to be 90% or better for hand hygiene compliance, so well done and please continue to stay clean with hand hygiene!
 
Attached is August hand hygiene data broken out by nursing unit and by role. If your unit does not have data in attached slides, it is because there were no observations collected and/or submitted for the month of August.
      As mentioned during this morning’s Patient Safety Brief, UM UCH has achieved 90% Hand Hygiene Complianceduring August observations, see graph below. Our goal is to be 90% or better for hand hygiene compliance, so well done and please continue to stay clean with hand hygiene!
 
Attached is August hand hygiene data broken out by nursing unit and by role. If your unit does not have data in attached slides, it is because there were no observations collected and/or submitted for the month of August.