Clinical

As you may know, the World Health Organization has named 2020 the ‘Year of the Nurse and the Midwife,’ as it is the 200^th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale. What a year to set aside for nurses! More

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought forth great uncertainty to many nations around the globe and it is certainly an opportunity to ponder and reflect on the value of life and justice. As our nation adjusts to a new reality, we begin to hear of health care practices and life-or-death decisions once thought unfathomable. More

The modern world has not encountered a pandemic like COVID-19, which has many organizations scrambling to identify the best way to deal with the massive toll it will inevitably take on the U.S. health care system and its workforce.  More

The Institute of Medicine defines patient safety as “the prevention of harm to patients.” While great strides have been made in the name of patient safety in the last 20 years, efforts to improve safe care will continue to be a priority for the unforeseeable future. More

Providing the right care in the right setting has long been advocated to improve health care quality, patient experience and cost. Often that setting is the ambulatory environment with a strong foundation of primary care and collaboration with specialty care. More

On a recent visit to see his elderly mother, a son finds her struggling to breathe. She lives on the second floor of her apartment building and while she is able to walk, she can’t navigate the stairs and he’s unable to carry her.  More

Historically, health care organizations in the United States have struggled with helping patients navigate their care choices when facing serious illnesses. More

Overuse of advanced imaging modalities has been scrutinized by policymakers as a factor contributing to unsustainable levels of health care spending in our nation. That scrutiny was the driving force behind the passage of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA). This federal law includes a CMS mandate that ordering physicians consult Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) using a qualified Clinical Decision Support Mechanism (CDSM) when ordering advanced imaging procedures such as CT, MRI... More

In my career I’ve heard many facilities and non-facilities personnel question the value of all the regulations that hospitals have to comply with. I’ve actually heard staff say, “We’ve never had a fire, so our safety systems are working.” I’m sure Jazan General Hospital in Saudi Arabia, which burned in December 2015, generally felt the same way prior to their fire.   The loss More

Elizabeth, or Libby as her friends and family call her, has been a fighter her entire life. Born with kidney and lung problems, her battle began very early. Doctors in the neonatal intensive care unit didn’t expect Libby to go home but eventually she did. After several months of home dialysis, special food preparation and challenging care, Libby was strong enough to receive one of her mother’s kidneys. More