Supporting Safer Healthcare

November 7-13, 2010 is National Medical Staff Services Awareness Week. The Medical Staff Service Professionals in your organization are, as this year’s NAMSS Awareness week poster suggests, the front line for patient safety.  By staying abreast of current standards, regulations and laws, your MSP’s are able to thoroughly verify the credentials, education and training of the [...]

The Ohio State Medical Association has posted guidelines for physicians who use social media.  “Social Networking and the Medical Practice.”  If your hospital or practice needs to develop or update a social media policy for medical providers, this guide is a great place to start.

Our days. or in some cases our nights, are spent with co-workers.  The desire to collaborate with compassionate, intelligent people led me to a career in healthcare, and over the past 25+ years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with some phenomenal individuals. Some have been physicians; both those who have cared for family and for me, as well as those with whom [...]

Adverse actions taken against providers in healthcare often involve mandatory reporting to one or more agencies.  Many organizations fail to report, either because they are hesitant to report actions taken for fear of being sued over an error, or because staff members are not well educated about reporting requirements. It’s not just hospitals that struggle with keeping abreast of all the various [...]

“Those surgeons have it made.  Sure, residency is tough, but once they’re in practice they make tons of money for just a few hours of work…” Buckeye Surgeon offers up a slightly different perspective.  If you work with surgeons, or just know one, you’ll want to read “It’s Never Easy.

This intriguing job ad was posted a few weeks ago by a large health system.  It would seem that this hospital is ahead of the curve when it comes to understanding the need for resources dedicated to the data requirements of the organized medical staff. Performs related functions for tracking and data analysis of JHH [...]

I recently had the pleasure of working on a consulting project with Buchanan & Associates Consulting.  Lynn, and the consultants who work with her, have a wealth of knowledge about the ever-changing field of medical staff services.  This post is to help spread the word that the BAC web site recently moved to a new location on the web and can now be found at   [...]

“I care for you, I care about you, and I know you in ways no one else does; I am your doctor. ” The physician patient relationship is unique, sensitive, and vitally important.  Imagine for a moment, that you are the physician who made the opening statement, and that the patient to whom you spoke those words has suddenly, [...]

Are you wondering what the Joint Commission’s thought process is for Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluation (OPPE) or whether specific privileges are required for the administration of moderate sedation?  Those and many other topics are covered under the Medical Staff section in JC’s Frequently Asked Questions. DNV  and AOA’s HFAP accreditation programs also have FAQ’s related to questions [...]

I’ve written before about the case of Anne Mitchell and Vicki Galle, RN’s who lost their jobs at Winkler County Memorial Hospital in Kermit, Texas after reporting concers to the Texas Medical Board about Rolando Arafiles, Jr, MD, one of the physcians on the medical staff.   What happened next  created a national firestorm, and is [...]