Strategies for Delivering LGBT-Inclusive Care
By Jennifer Comerford, MJ, OTR/L, CHC, HEM; and Cynthia Wallace, CPHRM Discrimination against individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) has been common in many contexts, including healthcare. Consider the following de-identified events reported to the ECRI Institute PSO, a federally certified patient safety organization (PSO), from January 2013 through mid-2015: Physicians … Continued
Reducing Falls by Engaging Patients
When clinicians walk into a patient’s room at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, they only need a quick glance at a laminated, color-coded sheet of paper next to the bed to understand the fall risks of that patient.
Community Circles: Transforming Care in Downeast Maine
By Holly Gartmayer-DeYoung, BSN, MBA Each morning, Eastport, Maine, is the first city in the United States to see the sunrise. Among the contiguous United States, Eastport has the deepest natural harbor (Fallows, 2014), one that buzzed with industry and prosperity during the 19th century and well into the 20th. The city’s fortunes have largely … Continued
Beyond Empowerment: Patients, Paradigms, and Social Movements
A conversation with “e-Patient Dave” deBronkart
By Susan Carr
Dave deBronkart, known on the Internet as e-Patient Dave, is one of the world’s best-known evangelists for the patient engagement movement. A 2007 survivor of stage IV kidney cancer, he discovered the movement in 2008 and started blogging about it as a hobby. In 2009, he moved his electronic hospital data to a personal health record, which triggered a series of events that landed him on the front page of The Boston Globe (Wangsness, 2009). Invitations to attend policy meetings in Washington and give speeches followed. An accomplished speaker in his professional life, he has now participated in 450 healthcare events in 15 countries. His 2011 TED Talk has been seen by almost a half million viewers online.
deBronkart is a child of the Sixties, which leads him to see the e-patient movement as a social revolution, parallel to civil rights and feminism. And as an MIT graduate, he also sees it as the natural evolution of a scientific field. The following is based on a conversation he had recently with Susan Carr, editor of Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare.
‘Citizen Jury’ Recommends Ways to Improve Diagnosis
The Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM), the Jefferson Center, and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University are working with healthcare consumers to develop a list of the ways patients can reduce diagnostic error. The project is using a process developed by the Jefferson Center’s founder, Ned Crosby, PhD, … Continued
Readmissions Dip 47% When Some Patients Self-Administer IV Antibiotics
By: Alexandra Wilson Pecci, HealthLeaders Media Uninsured patients requiring prolonged courses of treatment with intravenous antibiotics can be trained to treat themselves at home and achieve outcomes comparable to patients who receive treatment in traditional settings, data shows. Teaching uninsured patients how to self-administer IV antibiotics for outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) has … Continued
Predictive Analytics, Home Health Monitoring Combine for Better Care
CareSage is a new predictive analytics engine from Royal Philips that enables health systems to better monitor and care for elderly patients by combining actionable insights with wearable devices and monitoring.
Better Patient Education for Improved Engagement and Compliance
Solid patient education strategies are foundational to improved compliance and success with national patient engagement initiatives. Numerous regulatory requirements—Meaningful Use, Value-Based Purchasing, and the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program—converge to advance the accountable care movement. To succeed in the risk-bearing reimbursement landscape, providers must ensure that patients understand and comply with their care plans.
Two Hip Replacement Surgeries: Lessons Learned about Patient Responsibility, Self-Advocacy, and Personal Health Information
It’s true. I’m much younger than the average age for hip replacement surgery. At 44, six years ago, an orthopedist replaced my left hip. Six months ago, a different orthopedist replaced my right hip. I guess you could say I’m “really hip.” To what, I am still trying to find out.
Leading Pharmacies and Retailers Join National Effort to Provide Patients with Easy Access to Personal Health Information
Today, as part of the growing movement to help customers access and securely share their own health information, several of the Nation’s largest retail pharmacy chains and associations are pledging to support the Blue Button initiative—a public-private partnership between the health care industry and the Federal Government that aims to empower all Americans with access to their own electronic health information.