eFocus – November 2022
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, November 2022 topics include:
We have seen the leaves begin to change color and with that we are ushering in our new set of system values: Compassion, Discovery, Excellence, Diversity and Integrity. These will be our North Star--how we treat patients and treat one another. These new values were collectively developed from all of us within UMMS and are replacing our previous UM UCH values. You will see that this issue of eFocus, and all future issues, are reformatted to reflect our new values.
We also have much to celebrate as we recognize our 'Top Docs' for 2022 in Baltimore magazine, see a lot of green on our safety, quality and patient experience dashboard, and, finally, some data regarding health inequity that exists across the state and within UM UCH. More to come. Enjoy this month’s eFocus in its new format!
Fermin Barrueto, Jr., M.D., M.B.A.
Senior Vice President/CMO
Medical Staff Affairs
Just Culture Leadership Training: As we continue our journey to HRO, we want to ensure that our leaders are equipped with the tools necessary to drive a culture that improves patient safety. During November, we will be hosting several Just Culture leadership workshops. These workshops will be focused on training our leaders to effectively utilize the just culture algorithm to balance organizational and individual accountability while maintaining an environment that supports continuous learning. Stay tuned for more details. And for those of you who already received an invitation to a workshop, please do your best to attend.
Providers Needed - Walk with a Doc Series: We are looking for providers to educate and lead our walks! The Walk with a Doc (WWAD)--Bel Air and Joppa chapters--are part of the international nonprofit Walk with a Doc organization, whose mission is to improve health through physical activity, strengthen relationships between physicians and patients, and provide access to health information and education. The Bel Air and Joppa WWAD chapters were started by UM UCH's own Dr. Marie Kanagie-McAleese. Bel Air walks take place on the first Sunday and second Saturday of every month at 10 am at Schucks Regional Park. The Joppa walks take place on Saturday, Nov. 19 and Saturday, Dec. 17 and, beginning in January, the fourth Saturday of each month, 10 am, at Magnolia Elementary. These events are free to the public and open to all ages and abilities! Each walk starts with a brief talk on a health topic of your choice followed by a walk around the park/school at each participant’s preferred pace. For more information, contact Dr. Kanagie-McAleese at mkanagie@umm.edu / 443-485-1110.
Children's Corner Emergency (CCE) Opens at UCMC: In response to the pediatric surge within the ED, which is expected to last through April, we opened a Children’s Corner Emergency (CCE) at UCMC. Initially, it will remain open Thursdays through Mondays, 3 p.m. to midnight; however, it may be closed on certain days based on anticipated volume fluctuations and provider staffing. The 5-bed CCE—near the team member hallway in the ED, by Imaging—will be staffed each day with an ED provider with pediatric expertise and a pediatric ED RN. Together, they will see pediatric patients up to age 20, with preference given to younger patients. We will continue to closely monitor our pediatric volumes and acuity.
Grand Rounds Seminar - Cardiovascular Effects of ADT in Prostate Cancer: The Kaufman Cancer Center is hosting a Grand Rounds seminar on Friday, Nov. 11 from 7:30 - 8:35 a.m. in the Streett Conference Room. Drs. Ashkan Bahrani and Dipan Desai, a medical oncologist and cardiologist, respectively, will present "Cardiovascular Effects of Androgen Deprivation Therapy in Prostate Cancer". This live activity has been approved for one CME/one CEU. Please review this handout for additional information.
Baltimore Magazine Top Docs: More than 250 UMMS physicians in more than 90 specialties and subspecialties have been recognized as "Top Doctors" in the November 2022 issue of Baltimore magazine. The results are based on the magazine's annual survey of thousands of physicians in the Baltimore region, who were asked to name the best doctors in 116 specialties and subspecialties. Within UM UCH, 24 providers were recognized, with two of them being named twice in two categories). View the entire list.
Welcome Lindsay McMurdie: Lindsay McMurdie recently joined UM UCH as Director, Medical Staff Strategy. Lindsay is a strategic minded healthcare leader, most recently having spent six years with GBMC focused on program development, operations management, and systems improvement. Having worked with a range of organizations from start-ups to large work systems, other past experience also includes insurance underwriting, public health, finance, and accounting. She holds a B.S. in Public and Community Health from Utah Valley University and a Masters in Health Administration from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Alongside executive leadership, Lindsay will use integrative approaches to develop strategic priorities and implementation plans. Through core principles of performance improvement and innovation, she is focused on data driven decision making and sustainable change management.
Peer Review “Pearls of Wisdom”: (brought to you by the UCH Quality Management Department)
As we all work toward better outcomes for our patients and in the spirit of process improvement, we would like to draw your attention to the below information, which are findings gathered from case reviews.
- When ordering imaging, it is requested that the order include relevant history to facilitate the best quality interpretation by the radiologist.
- Provide clear instructions with devices such as immobilizers, braces and wound VACs. Ensure that the order for the device is complete, such as when to wear device and when to take it off. If the device is not to be removed, orders must clearly state that.
- Overriding dose warnings/flags when ordering medications may lead to errors.
- Medication reconciliation is an important element of patient safety and it is a shared responsibility between Nurses, Pharmacists and Prescribers/Physicians/ Licensed Independent Practitioners. Allergies should also be reviewed by all of the clinical team.
- Discuss resumption of antiplatelet or AC therapy with surgeon after a procedure.
- Minimize cut and paste, particularly from a colleague's note.
- Answer pages in a timely fashion.
- Communicate discharges with case management.
Back to Basics Update: B2B is showing success in driving better health outcomes for our patients. Hospital acquired infections continue to drop thanks to your efforts. (see below) Our
culture of safety means every team member is empowered to speak up and ensure best practices are used for our patients.
Isolation Tips - COVID/PUI and Respiratory Viruses: While this is not new information, we ask that you review the following tips to ensure proper isolation is being implemented when needed. It includes 1) clarity on how to prioritize the use of negative pressure rooms for COVID/PUI patient (not every COVID/PUI needs a negative pressure room); and 2) a reminder on which category of isolation is needed for these "other" respiratory viruses we are seeing surge across the state.
Information Blocking: The information blocking statute of the 21st century CURES Act went into effect on 4/21/2021. To ensure UMMS is compliant with information blocking laws, all blocked notes are being audited weekly. The attached slides will provide background on the statute and allowable exceptions blocked notes must meet. Anyone with questions can submit them online.