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NEWSWEEK: Newsweek's Latest 'Health for Life' Package Looks at Ten Hospitals With Innovative Solutions to Widespread Problems -- From Pain Management, to Digital Recordkeeping, to Improving Hospital Food

Posted on: Sunday, 8 October 2006, 12:00 CDT

NEW YORK, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- In the October 16 issue (on newsstands Monday, October 9), Newsweek looks at ten hospitals from across the country that are using innovation, hard work and imagination to improve care, reduce errors and save money. As the population ages, medical demands surge and costs rise, America's hospitals are being tested like never before. Solving the crisis is a formidable task, and no institution is doing everything right. But a national reporting team, including Senior Writer Claudia Kalb, General Editor Jennifer Barrett, Assistant Editors Mary Carmichael and Julie Scelfo, Correspondents Anne Underwood and Brad Stone, and Senior Editors David Noonan and Cathleen McGuigan, join with experts from Harvard Medical School to look at how some hospitals are rising to the challenge.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061008/NYSU005) * Brigham and Women's Hospital: Facing Up to Mistakes -- During an ankle-replacement surgery at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, a nerve block injected by anesthesiologist Dr. Rick van Pelt went straight to Linda Kenney's heart, sending her into full-blown cardiac arrest. She was saved by open-heart surgery. Since then, van Pelt and Kenney have teamed up to speak out about their experience and to open lines of communication between doctors, hospitals and patients. Van Pelt talked to Brigham administrators about the need to acknowledge the impact errors can have on patients and staff. Today, Brigham is a leader in patient safety -- and in openness when things go wrong. * Johns Hopkins: The Goal Is to Communicate -- In the aftermath of the death of 18-month-old Josie King, her mother concluded that there had been a huge communication breakdown. The head of Hopkins' Children's Center took the unusual step of visiting the Kings at home and apologizing. But the Kings wanted to be sure that what happened to Josie would never happen again. Rather than sue, the Kings settled for an undisclosed amount, then donated a portion of the money right back to Hopkins, establishing the Josie King Patient Safety Program. Today, Josie's mother works closely with Hopkins, an institution now adamant about open communication. * Cooley Dickinson: A Standard Approach -- In the age of smart cards, Cooley Dickinson Hospital manages its information using paper and pencils. Patients carry wallet-size yellow cards that list their medications, their last vaccinations and their contact information; when they visit doctors, they present their info for updating. The cards are part of a recent overhaul that has focused on deceptively simple, and mostly affordable, ideas. And they've been such a hit that hospitals all over the country have called wanting their own copies. * Virginia Mason Medical Center: Making Pain a Priority -- A few years ago, Virginia Mason's CEO Gary Kaplan encouraged his 5,000 staff members to submit suggestions. That led to innovations in several areas, including pain management. For example, the hospitals have "pain-service teams" -- a doctor, nurse specialist, pain fellow and resident anesthesiologist -- that check on patients and make medication adjustments. Plus, in some cases, patients can self-administer additional doses if they become too uncomfortable. "We think you should look at the quality of life, too, not just getting through the surgery, and pain is a big part of that," says Dr. Donald Low, surgical director of the thoracic-oncology program. * UPMC Shadyside: New Ideas for Nurses -- Across the nation, nurses are feeling overworked and underappreciated, with little more than lip- service support from their managers. But as UPMC Shadyside shows, it's possible to get things right. When Tami Merryman became chief nursing officer at Shadyside nine years ago, she started experimenting with solutions. They were so forward-thinking that, in 2003, Shadyside became one of just three hospitals selected to participate in a new program called Transforming Care at the Bedside (TCAB), a joint initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. The mission: to boost nurse retention by improving teamwork and eliminating inefficiencies, such as unnecessary paperwork, that divert nurses from direct patient care. * Bradley Hospital: Helping Kids in Trouble -- Hospitals' youngest patients admitted overnight have limited time with therapists, may face medical interventions designed for quick results (like feeding tubes or medication), and endure the added stress of being in an unfamiliar surrounding -- an especially significant issue for emotionally fragile kids. It was with this in mind -- and a growing realization that younger and younger children were being admitted to hospitals -- that Dr. Elizabeth Wheeler created a program that provides patients with intensive, five-day-a-week help without having to spend the night. * Denver Health: A Technology Prescription -- Denver Health offers a prime example of how technology can heal America's ailing health-care system. The hospital has responded to financial challenges over the last decade by embracing efficiency-improving, high-tech systems, like electronic medical records and billing systems. It has put a computer in each office and treatment room, so doctors and nurses can see a patient's lifetime medical history and get quick access to medical references. Such widespread computerized care places Denver Health on the front lines of America's drive to drag health care into the high- tech age. * Kaiser Permanente: Fresh Ideas About Food -- Tracking day-to-day medical progress may be difficult for families, but you don't need a degree to read the meaning in "She didn't touch her tray." And Kaiser Permanente's Dr. Preston Maring, associate physician in chief of the 346-bed Oakland Medical Center, surely understands why it is difficult to provide appetizing institutional food. Nevertheless, a simple "What if?" moment Maring experienced three years ago led to an exciting pilot program, launched this August, to serve fresh, local, sustainably grown produce to patients in Kaiser's 19 northern California hospitals. * Banner Estrella Medical Center: Design for a Healing Space -- The architects of Banner Estrella, NBBJ of Seattle, worked hard to offset the sterile, disquieting ambience of typical hospital rooms. Big windows open to views and let in natural light, which help patients keep track of the cycles of day and night. Medical equipment is hidden behind a screen or curtain as much as possible. Good design is much more than window placement and paint colors: it's understanding the culture of health care and how needs are constantly changing. * Mount Sinai Medical Center: Special Care at the End of Life-Determined people like Mount Sinai's Dr. Diane Meier are transforming the way U.S. hospitals care for the most seriously ill patients. The engine of change is palliative medicine, a holistic, team approach to advanced illness that focuses on controlling symptoms (especially pain), setting realistic treatment goals and improving communication among all the parties involved in a case. When it's done right, patients suffer less, families have more control, doctors and nurses have closer and more satisfying relationships with patients and families, and hospital costs are reduced even as the quality of care improves. (Read the entire Health for Life package at http://www.newsweek.com/.) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15175919/site/newsweek/ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10851400/site/newsweek/

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061008/NYSU005AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN1PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

Newsweek

CONTACT: Andrea Faville, +1-212-445-4859

Web site: http://www.newsweek.msnbc.com/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15175919/site/newsweekhttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10851400/site/newsweek

Source: PRNewswire

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