CHANGING ADDRESS

http://sphere3consulting.blogspot.com/

Please follow us at the new address - we are making the switch to the new company name. I look forward to hearing from you there.

Information Overload

I love the new Bing.com commercial where the daughter asks the parents a simple question and they begin to rattle off information containing the word within the request. Notice that they never get her the right information to answer her question. The internet has made us more connected, and more informed than ever before. We are masters and weeding quickly through information, and scanning documents to find the nugget that we need, but how do we know we are getting the right information? How do we assess the nugget is not just information containing the word but not really providing the answer?

Apply that thought process to the speed at which information travels to our clinicians. How do we make sure the right nugget of information gets to their hands at the right moment? How do we delineate critical vs clutter?

Stay Tuned for the next post as we continue the discussion.

When One Fall is Too Many

Patient Falls are a sensitive subject to deal with in a hospital for many reasons. As one of the highlighted “never-events” that medicare will not reimburse, the “quality control” of the organizations processes and measurements become increasingly more important. Clinical Transformation of the processes and interactions with technology become crucial, but are they enough?

While evaluating patient falls, programs and seeking possible solutions, I began to dissect the issue from different perspectives. At the patient level is dealing with additional injury, upset family members, and increased length of stay. All of which leads to emotional frustration, anger, or what people in the industry term as “Patient Dissatisfaction”. This is compounded for the hospital by non-reimbursed cost for care, possible litigation, and publication of data which leads to the stigma of being labeled “unsafe”. In addition there is the emotional factor for the providers who desire to make people well.

Hospitals implement programs, purchase expensive beds, and work with patients. All of these in hope of reducing the probability of the fall. So how does a hospital balance response to this critical issue with mounting costs of care?

At Sphere3 we empower caregivers with technology, process, and measurement. What we have found are ways to improve process, use technology integration to support an enhanced process, and document the results with reporting metrics.

However, the answer to this issue lies deeper then technology and process. The desired solution can only be realized when technology is supported by the attitude and fervent belief which is communicated down from leadership all the way to the janitor that One Fall is Too Many.
Sometimes in technology we categorize in black and white. We are sucked into the mindset that everything is an “If, Then” statement. Reality is that your incident #2 from July has a name and a life. Linking that name and life to a fall reduction initiative is enormously valuable. That individual can and will become the symbol for your program – the story becomes the battle cry. The technology and process become more essential and less routine. Human nature identifies personally with a story or a memory. Why was Alex’s Lemonade Stand so successful? While giving to cancer is a noble cause, Alex gave childhood cancer a face, a name, and a story. She inspired millions to contribute.

We encourage your team to find your story, internalize the process, compliment with technology and work to solve the problem.

When One Fall is too many, you can count on Sphere3 to support your cause.

We reduce Falls – Guaranteed.

Thanks to the story from: http://www.alexslemonade.org/newsroom/heroes

Alarm OVERLOAD

If your hospital is considering using the wireless device to receive clinical alarms direct to caregivers to “make them more efficient” consider this:

• Automating the Nurse Call System on average can send 5 alarms (not considering escalation which could double this potential) per patient
• Automating the Telemetry on average can send 15+ alarms per patient
• Automating the Vents and Pumps without Data (ie through a contact closure – not the full information available) can provide 2 alarms per patient
• Automating the Bed Exit Alarm is a single alarm per patient
• Automating the additional Bed Alarms can send up to 28 alerts per patient

This does not include things like Bed Management, Lab Results, Orders, Automated Process Stations, etc. The question is balance. If you were to automate all of these alarms you could be sending over 51 alarms to your caregivers per patient. In a 1:4 Ratio situation that’s over 200 alarms! Planning and preparing for these are crucial. Categorizing alarms and keeping response procedures simple can improve the process of automation.


At Sphere3 we specialize in evaluating the current situation and providing best practices solutions. Understanding the information that is being processed, the systems that are sending the data, and the caregivers workflow is our specialty. Many providers will encourage automation as a decision point for their product, but understanding the full scope of the integration is the key. Contact us for more information

New Learning

I just enjoyed the X3 Summit in San Fransico. The learning and collaboration was great, and I look forward to engaging more with my new colleagues. From now on when you read the blog we will work in groups of 3 - this will keep the blogs concise and the information structured in a optimal learning paradigm - the power of 3.

Social Media

Having the conversation - is intimidating to say the least. Presenting your learning in a manner which readers can engage and interact with the findings puts the presenter in danger of "being wrong". I would object - that the conversation should not be able being wrong, especially when we are looking at healthcare. It must be about finding the best solution to our ever growing need. Having the conversation is about engagin new ideas, challenging the thinking of the norm, and establishing whether status quo is most effective or needs to be adjusted. In a world of Twitter, Facebook, and Blogs our thoughts are moved freely our abilities to assess are only limited by our abilities to tolerate the conversation. Long-Term -- Healthcare can be improved by these conversations but we must be prepared to move thoughts and words into action.

ROI

Many of the hospital learners were discussing ways to justify purchases based on a Return On Investment analysis and several good points were made. I must admit my view point was challenged as well. When assessesing ROI projections from vendors understanding their starting point is crucial. Each vendor has the ability to mold the ROI to their benefit based on small feature sets that differentiate their product. Establishing your goals associated with a return is crucial. It may be beneficial to engage a firm or team with outside perspective to help establish the correct principles.

You also need to assess - if we are reducing work in a process what is the person going to do with the additional time and how is that improving the overall picture. If you simply add technology to save time - you have to decide prior to implementation what the new found time will be used for - if not you won't see any global productivity changes.

Technology Infrastructure

I was enlightened to the world of "Healthcare IT Consultants" during this visit. It's a broad term that can be interperted in several ways. Some are focused on the low voltage aspects, while others are focused on the technology, and others are foucsed on the transition. While my initial perspective was - you don't need them just evaluate the products you are presented with associated with your needs. At the end of the conference - I am convinced that a technologist is needed during a construction process. As a former vendor, who didn't appreciate the consultant, I now see that they are extremely valuable in decreasing the hospitals overall costs associated with purchasing and making sure that the workflow dictates the technology - not the other way around.

HEALTHCARE IN CRISIS

This is an article to be published in FLOURISH Magazine (www.flourishmagazine.com)

As we watch insurance premiums increase and benefits decrease, we are all compelled to fix the rising cost of healthcare. Hospitals, the once untouchable vertical, are faced with increasing charitable care and are working diligently for ways to remain solvent. They are seeking methodologies like “Lean” principles which examine their processes and shore up inefficiencies. They are competitively seeking your business and want to have high customer satisfaction. However, with rising concerns for litigation correlated to patient safety and government regulation surrounding transparency their challenges are great.
So what’s the answer? Do we shift our healthcare system to mirror Canada where no one is denied care? Or do we model after Australia where government provides healthcare but you have the choice available of private care for an additional fee? According to the CMAJ those making ≥$59,000 have tax rate of 55% of income in addition to a monthly premium. Any way you slice it, the answer is not easy. There are layers of items that we need to find a solution that is both ethical and fiscally responsible. Hospitals are doing their part to increase efficiencies, focus on patient care, and meet safety expectations. We need to do our part. Be informed, partner with them and become active to ensure the best solution is found.

Setting a VISION for Healthcare Communications and Workflow

“A Vision without a Task is but a dream. A Task without a Vision is drudgery.”

From a Church in Sussex, England c. 1730

Exploring how vision affects your everyday activities and guides your overall strategy is fascinating.



We believe that a hospital should have a vision for their communications workflow. A phrase or sentence that embodies the desire of the facility to achieve high patient satisfaction, improve safety, and reduce overall workload for their caregivers.

Breaking down communications processes and linking them to the vision for the future communiations models allows you to improve your processes in a balanced methodology. Let us show you how.

CIO ROUNDTABLE in April – email me for details! kgovro@allsyskc.com