In this issue:
· HealthStream Live Webinar: HCAHPS Is Not Just a “Score” – Turning a Mandate into an Effective Tool for Improved Physician-Patient Communication
· HCAHPS Essentials
· Ask the Experts: HCAHPS Acronyms
· White Paper: Improving Physician-Hospital Alignment: Key Drivers & Essential Attributes
· HealthStream Assists Clients with the new Joint Commission Standard that Addresses Disruptive and Inappropriate Behaviors
· Summit - Save the Date
· Submit your Success Story
HealthStream Live Webinar: HCAHPS is not Just a “Score” – Turning a Mandate into an Effective Tool for Improved Physician-Patient Communication
Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 3:00 ET
This activity has been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM.
HealthStream is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.
Presented by:
Barbara Paul, M.D., Senior VP and Chief Medical Officer
Community Health Systems
Bo Hansen, RN, MBA, Consultant
HealthStream Research
The purpose of this Webinar is to educate hospital administrators, physicians and nurses on understanding the behaviors that compound poor communication between physicians and patients and the consequences of those behaviors. Patients’ feedback on their experience with physician communication is more than a score; it is an opportunity for physicians to re-evaluate the risk associated with poor communication skills and it is an opening for them to consider their ethical obligation to create a therapeutic patient-physician partnership.
The goal of this educational Webinar is to identify behaviors and actions by physicians, hospital administrators and by nursing staff to eliminate barriers and build strategies to more effective physician-patient communication. This session includes specific actions by hospital administrators to facilitate that improvement. Additionally, participants are given examples of nursing decisions and actions that have a powerful impact on enhancing the therapeutic value of physician-patient communication.
For complete Webinar accreditation information, click here.
Barbara Paul, M.D.
Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer
Community Health Systems/HealthStream Research Client
Dr. Barbara Paul is Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Community Health Systems. Dr. Paul is responsible for maintaining and enhancing the company's relationship with affiliated physicians, developing physician leaders, and providing strategic direction to enhance the quality of care in one hundred and twenty CHS-affiliated hospitals around the country. Dr. Paul is a board-certified Internist who enjoyed 12 years of full-time practice in northern California. In 1999, she joined CMS (the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services). She directed the Physicians’ Regulatory Issues Team, an agency-wide group at CMS working with physicians to minimize paperwork, reduce administrative burden, improve communications, and create Medicare policies that support physicians in providing care to patients. During 2002 – 2004, she directed CMS’s Quality Measurement and Health Assessment Group where she was instrumental in the development of Medicare’s first "pay for quality" demonstrations and development of the Hospital Quality Alliance. Dr. Paul represented the agency as a board member of the National Quality Forum and the Leapfrog Group. Named by Modern Healthcare magazine as one of the "50 Most Powerful Physician Executives in Healthcare" in 2007 and 2008, Dr. Paul is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin - Madison, and received her M.D. at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Bo Hansen, RN, MBA
Consultant, HealthStream Research
Bo Hansen has twenty-nine years of clinical and administrative healthcare experience. In her current position as Consultant with HealthStream Research, Ms. Hansen assists healthcare system executives, hospital leaders, and front line managers with research-based recommendations to address deficiencies, initiate change, and improve operational strengths. Prior to her role as a healthcare research consultant, Ms. Hansen served as Assistant Vice President of LBA HealthCare, an affiliate of HCIA. She has also served as president of CareComp Solutions and BHA Healthcare, consulting firms that specialize in measuring and relating cost of care with clinical and service outcomes. Ms. Hansen’s clinical experience includes managing Emergency Rooms and Operating Rooms in Canada, Denmark, England and the USA. She is a published author and a frequent presenter on the use of data and communication tools to strengthen relationships. Ms. Hansen is a graduate of University of St. Francis, Joliet, IL, and received her MBA at the University of Phoenix.
Date: Thursday, April 23
Time: 3:00-4:00 p.m. ET
Forum: Online webinar
Cost: $99 per log-in – the number of participants is unlimited – Clients save $50 and pay only $49! Email us at researchinfo@healthstream.com for the special client invitation code.
Registration Required. Click the link below to register online. Payment is required at the time of registration via credit card. Instructions on accessing the webinar will be provided with your registration confirmation.
Register Online Now
Note: The Knowledge Network Webinar series has been renamed to HealthStream Live. HealthStream Live will continue to feature national experts on critical and timely healthcare topics that have the ability to accelerate improvement within your organization.
HCAHPS Essentials - March 2009
Is your Service Recovery program or discharge process in violation of the latest CMS guidelines?
To read the information in this month's HCAHPS Essentials, including critical HCAHPS news, important updates, and upcoming data submission deadlines, click on the link below.
Click Here for HCAHPS Essentials
Ask the Experts – HCAHPS Acronyms
As with any subject, knowledge of commonly-used terms can lead to increased understanding. Here are the terms HealthStream Research has found to be most useful for understanding HCAHPS and related government initiatives.
Click here for list of HCAHPS Acronyms
White Paper: Improving Physician-Hospital Alignment: Key Drivers & Essential Attributes
Written By:
Mollie Elizabeth Condra, Ph.D.
Senior Director, Communications, Research, & Investor Relations, HealthStream
&
J. Edward Pearson
President, HealthStream Research
Physician-hospital alignment has never been both more important and complex as it is today. Hospital and healthcare system executives know that without a steady, growing stream of referrals and admissions from a base of loyal medical staff members, it can be very difficult to grow. With physician satisfaction levels reaching all-time lows in some specialties, physician shortages forecasted, and high physician turnover rates, healthcare executives are seeking strategies that support physicians and, at the same time, the business of running their hospitals (Lubell, 2007; Ginsberg, 2007). Based on a meta-analysis of published literature, supported by an examination of HealthStream’s physician survey database—the industry’s largest with over 29,000 physician responses in 2007 alone—we know how to establish strong physician-hospital alignment. We are pleased to share this knowledge for the first time in this white paper.
Full Article
HealthStream Assists Clients with the New Joint Commission Standard that Addresses Disruptive and Inappropriate Behaviors
The Joint Commission issued a Sentinel Event Alert in July of 2008, warning that disruptive and intimidating behaviors can have an adverse effect on patient safety and quality outcomes of care. All healthcare professionals must be aware of the potential dangers of these types of behaviors and their negative impact on not only patient care but also their negative impact on staff working relationships and collaboration.
HealthStream is proactively taking steps to help hospitals prepare for the new Joint Commission Leadership Standard (LD.03.01.01) that addresses disruptive and inappropriate behaviors in the healthcare setting:
1) HealthStream has developed survey questions that focus on disruptive and inappropriate behavior for both our Employee and Physician Insights surveys. These questions will provide hospitals the opportunity to identify units/departments where disruptive and inappropriate behavior is perceived to be an issue. It will also provide your organization with a performance baseline, trending in order to measure the effectiveness of policy implementation, and documentation that you are implementing a process for managing disruptive and inappropriate behaviors in support of meeting the new Joint Commission standards.
2) HealthStream is developing a course on disruptive and inappropriate behaviors and making it available for a limited time at a pre-order discount of 25% off. The Joint Commission issued a Sentinel Event Alert in July of 2008 warning that disruptive and intimidating behaviors can have an adverse effect on patient safety and quality outcomes of care. In order to address the training needs around disruptive behaviors, HealthStream is developing the course Disruptive Behaviors and their Negative Impact on Patient Safety. The course will be available by April 15, 2009.
Pre-Order Special - Order the Disruptive Behaviors and their Negative Impact on Patient Safety courseware by April 15th and receive a 25% discount. Click here.
If you would like more information concerning how HealthStream can support your efforts, please contact us at info@healthstream.com.
HealthStream will be hosting the next Summit on May 17-20, 2010, in Nashville, Tennessee. Please save the date for this “must attend” event for creating excellence in healthcare.
Click here to read a letter from HealthStream CEO Robert Frist about Summit 2010
Submit your Success Story
Has your hospital or healthcare organization done something worth shouting about? Are you ready to share your Success Story with the HealthStream community, packed with healthcare leaders and professionals just like you? HealthStream is committed to connecting everyone in the HealthStream community to your successes and best practices.
Go to http://www.healthstream.com/mysuccess/ and you’ll find an easy to use form that lets you provide the details of your success. HealthStream will transform your approved submission into a professionally-formatted Success Story document, which you can then use in your own marketing and recruiting efforts.