In this issue:
1. Knowledge Network Webinar: How Improved Physician Behaviors towards Staff Can Influence Satisfaction, Communication and Clinical Outcomes of Care
2. Discovery: The Impact of Physician Alignment
3. HealthStream Research Brings New Insights to Employee Research
4. HealthStream and Essential Learning Partner to Deliver Behavioral Health Courseware Library
5. HCAHPS Spotlight
6. Ask The Experts by Mollie Condra, Ph.D.
7. Improve Patient Safety by Increasing Physician Competence in Identifying and Mitigating Risk
| Knowledge Network Webinar: How Improved Physician Behaviors Towards Staff Can Influence Satisfaction, Communication and Clinical Outcomes of Care
Presented by:
Alan H. Rosenstein M.D., M.B.A.
Vice President & Medical Director
VHA West Coast
Effective January 1, 2009 for all accreditation programs, The Joint Commission has a new Leadership standard (LD.03.01.01) that addresses disruptive and inappropriate behaviors in the healthcare setting. Disruptive behavior in the healthcare setting is a serious issue that can have a significant negative effect on staff relationships, team collaboration and communication efficiency which can adversely affect patient outcomes of care. This Webinar will discuss the cause, frequency and impact of such behaviors and provide a series of tools and strategies designed to either prevent their occurrence or minimize their impact. Plan now to bring your entire team together to hear Dr. Rosenstein’s timely presentation on how your team can increase awareness, sensitivity and responsiveness by implementing appropriate policies and procedures that hold individuals accountable for their actions.
Dr. Alan Rosenstein is currently Vice President and Medical Director for VHA West Coast, Pleasanton, CA. He graduated from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He earned his M.B.A. in Health Services Management at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, CA. He has had numerous publications, lecture, seminar presentations and national and international consultation experiences in the areas of performance improvement, information management and decision support, return on investment, resource and case management, coding and documentation, technology assessment, outcomes analysis, managed/ integrated healthcare delivery systems, nurse- physician relationships, physician education, physician leadership, performance profiling, hospital report cards, quality improvement and cost-effective care.
Date: Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Time: 3:00-4:00 pm ET
Forum: Online webinar
Cost: $99 per log-in - the number of participants per log-in 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 |
| Discovery: The Impact of Physician Alignment
Physician alignment is defined as “…the degree to which physicians and their medical groups share, identify with, and work toward accomplishing goals together with their affiliated health system.” (Budetti, Shortell, et al, 2002) This Discovery Paper will explore how aligned and non-aligned physicians differ (including breakouts by specialties) and ways you can increase alignment among your physicians.
Full Article |
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| HealthStream Research Brings New Insights to Employee Research
The HealthStream Research Employee Insights suite of survey tools allows employees to speak candidly and anonymously to management about their feelings and attitudes through a third party research firm. HealthStream Research has moved to an expanded, multi-dimensional approach to employee measurement.
Based on our recent research, we do not think satisfaction by itself is enough—nor do we support measuring only employee engagement, although other companies have chosen to take this more limited viewpoint. Our research shows there is an important relationship between the two—satisfaction and engagement—that provides hospital administration with the deepest insights into retention and other key bottom line indicators.
Full Article |
| HealthStream and Essential Learning Partner to Deliver Behavioral Health Courseware Library
HealthStream is pleased to announce that it has partnered with Essential Learning, the largest provider of e-learning services in the behavioral health and human services industry, to offer Essential Learning's online behavioral health library to our customers. The courseware will be available for purchase by healthcare organizations, whose employees train on the HealthStream Learning Center® (HLC), HealthStream's learning platform.
Developed by industry-leading subject matter experts, the behavioral health library from Essential Learning is a collection of over 40 online courses designed to train employees on the most current regulations and standards of practice. The interactive courses accommodate various learning styles and contain pre- and post-tests to measure comprehension. This library is designed to help behavioral health organizations reduce risks, increase employee competency, and remain compliant.
To see the full press release, go to:
http://ir.healthstream.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=342053
To download the current HealthStream Course Catalog, go to:
http://www.healthstream.com/coursecatalog08/HealthStream%20Course%20Catalog%20Fall08.pdf |
| HCAHPS Spotlight
IMPORTANT! HCAHPS DATA SUPRESSION COMING TO AN END
The December 2008 public reporting period (covering April 2007 – March 2008 data) will be the last one hospitals will be able to suppress without it affecting their Annual Payment Update (APU). Hospitals that have been suppressing their results need to prepare for public reporting in the subsequent reporting periods after December 2008.
Options for Hospitals with 5 or Fewer HCAHPS Eligible Discharges in a Month
Hospitals with 5 or fewer eligible HCAHPS patient discharges in a month may choose to not survey those patients for that given month. If patients are not surveyed, an HCAHPS Header Record will still need to be submitted on line via My QualityNet. Please click here for information on filing notification of not surveying fewer than 5 eligible HCAHPS patient discharges for a given month on line.
Hospitals Submitting "Zero Case" Data On line
Hospitals with zero eligible HCAHPS patient discharges ("zero cases") should submit information on line via My QualityNet. Letters to the HCAHPS Project Team regarding "zero cases" are being phased out and replaced by online filing. Please click here for information on filing "zero cases" on line.
Upcoming Data Submission Deadlines
2009 deadlines for HCAHPS data submission are as follows:
• January 14, 2009 is the data submission deadline for patients discharged in July, August and September 2008. September 2008 Dry Run data also must be submitted by this date.
• April 8, 2009 is the data submission deadline for patients discharged in October, November and December 2008. December 2008 Dry Run data also must be submitted by this date.
• July 8, 2009 is the data submission deadline for patients discharged in January, February and March 2009. March 2009 Dry Run data also must be submitted by this date.
• October 14, 2009 is the data submission deadline for patients discharged in April, May and June 2009. June 2009 Dry Run data also must be submitted by this date.
For HCAHPS questions or assistance at HealthStream Research:
Bobbi Rogers
Client Services Consultant at (301) 575-9300
bobbi.rogers@healthstream.com
Briley Price
Client Services Manager at (615) 224-1550
briley.price@healthstream.com
For questions or assistance at Quality Net Exchange:
Quality Net Exchange at qnetsupport@ifmc.sdps.org
1-866-288-8912
Official HCAHPS Website for content, announcements, updates, & reminders:
http://www.hcahpsonline.org/ |
| Ask the Experts
“Could you explain what ‘Insight into Action’ means?”
Answer provided by:
Mollie Condra, Ph.D.
Senior Director, Communications, Research, & Investor Relations
HealthStream, Inc.
HealthStream provides research and learning solutions for the healthcare industry that enable healthcare organizations to transform insight into action. Through our research products, executives from healthcare organizations gain valuable insight about patients’ experiences, workforce challenges, physician relations, and community perceptions of their services. Through HealthStream’s learning solutions, which have been contracted by over 1.7 million hospital-based healthcare professionals, healthcare organizations take action to create safer environments for patients, increase clinical competencies of their workforces, and facilitate the rapid transfer of the latest knowledge and technologies.
Our innovative approach to bridge research and learning in our solution set means that we can provide healthcare organizations with targeted actions through learning to address challenges revealed through research. In this way, healthcare organizations’ investment in learning is optimized with solutions that maximize workforce development, improve physician alignment, and build strong community relations.
Moreover, we believe the process of helping healthcare organizations transform insight into action is dynamic and continuous.
That is, the results of measuring the satisfaction levels of patients, employees, physicians, and members of the community provide valuable insight regarding learning solutions most needed. As action is then taken via the learning solutions, results are measured once again to track progress. In other words, the cycle of transforming insight into action is dynamic—just like healthcare organizations and the people who work in them. |
| Improve Patient Safety by Increasing Physician Competence in Identifying and Mitigating Risk
According to the Institute of Medicine, between 44,000 and 98,000 people die in hospitals annually each year due to preventable medical errors annually, and these cases can cost more than $6 billion per year. HealthStream offers ELM’s Medical-Legal Education for Physicians library, which improves patient safety and reduces the financial costs to provider organizations by teaching providers to recognize, react to, and avoid risk in their day to day practices.
The courses develop physicians’ critical thinking and decision-making skills by using real-life case studies to clarify proper conduct in questionable situations. Through case-based learning, physicians will become more skilled at identifying and mitigating risk in their clinical practice, which will help them protect their patients, protect themselves, and protect their organization.
To read the full courseware description, go to:
http://www.healthstream.com/ELM/index.html
To download the current HealthStream Course Catalog, go to:
http://www.healthstream.com/coursecatalog08/HealthStream%20Course%20Catalog%20Fall08.pdf
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