What Should We Do about Mental Health & Guns?
Mental illness and guns can make for a lethal combination as demonstrated by the recent horrific events in Newtown, Connecticut. The thought of 20 innocent youngsters being executed by a young man who has been described by all who came into contact with him as being highly troubled makes you cry. If I was one of the parents I’m not sure that I could go on. For perhaps eight years I served on the Board of Directors for Behavioral Health Services North. On occasion one of their clients would come to a meeting to share his or her unique experience. It was always insightful because unless you have lived with mental illness up close and personal, it’s incomprehensible. I will always remember one gentleman who had been chief financial officer for a large...
Read MoreOur Challenge: Find Better, More Cost-Effective Ways to Provide Care
There are certain truths that those of us who work in hospitals are coming to grips with as our delivery system is being turned upside down. First, no one wants to pay more for their health care. More significantly, as a nation we cannot afford to sustain the rate of growth in what is being spent on health care. Second, studies continue to conclude that too much care is being provided with minimal benefit. Seemingly every other week a new recommendation is forthcoming about reducing the frequency of one preventive test or another. Third, just because we’ve always done something one way doesn’t necessarily mean we should continue. We need to be willing to challenge ourselves to determine if we can provide greater value and better outcomes while expending...
Read MoreWe Can’t Afford to Miss the Boat
When Steve Kroll of the Hospital Association of New York State presented the state of health care to CVPH Board members in mid October his last slide was a cartoon. Two dinosaurs are perched on a rock watching Noah’s Ark sail away. One turns to the other and says something along the lines of, “Oh no! Was that today?” His point was that if you aren’t prepared and willing to embrace change it’s inevitable that you will miss the boat. That could lead to your extinction. Hospitals cannot afford to miss the boat because of all of the good they do for their communities. Change we must, and that’s a good thing. Here are some of the realities: • Health care cost increases cannot be sustained. • Everyone wants to pay less for their health...
Read MoreTalk to Your Doc; Communicating Is Good for Your Health
Doctors are extremely bright, incredibly talented and well trained. They genuinely care about their patients and have a passion for helping them maintain or regain their health. Despite that opinion, and I type this with one hand while my other has crossed fingers lest I get hit with lightning, doctors are not gods. By that I mean that we as patients, assuming that we are alert and mentally capable, are always the majority stockholder of our lives. We are responsible. Doctors make suggestions or recommendations, most often well founded, but suggestions or recommendations nonetheless. This applies to a course of treatment when there is a significant health issue. It also holds true when they tell us we need to exercise more, lose weight, stop smoking or...
Read MoreAre You Healthy Enough to Visit?
When someone requires hospitalization an element of fear always sets in. What’s going to happen? Will they make it out O.K.? No matter what the reason for being admitted, being uprooted from the home and placed in a very strange and foreign environment causes stress. Being a good friend or family member, many of us feel this need or even obligation to visit the newly admitted patient. We can help make them feel better and remind them of how important they are. We want them to get well and get home as soon as possible and we want to make sure that they know how we feel. That’s all well and good. I’ve been there and done that myself. However, as Infection Prevention Manager at CVPH I pose a question for any would-be visitor: What is your own...
Read MoreWe Owe It to Our Patients to Receive Flu Shots
As we enter the 2012-13 influenza season the age old debate begins anew: should healthcare workers be required to receive influenza vaccination? I for one am a firm believer in the rights of individual to choose, unless that right puts greater society at risk. How can a healthcare worker, sworn to heal, refuse vaccination against influenza? We (healthcare workers) take the oath, “above all else, do no harm.” We ask every patient to get vaccinated, yet we don’t vaccinate ourselves? Thousands of healthcare workers across the country will continue to bring influenza into healthcare settings putting patients at risk by refusing vaccination. The vaccination rate for healthcare workers in the US is approximately 80% for physicians, yet only 60% for nurses. ...
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