Hospitals are reaching out to us even in the ICU, according to the Wall Street Journal. There's even an APP for that.
Hospitals have begun to consider " disrespectful treatment" of the patient as important as infection control in the ICU, according to Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., medical director of the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore. Lack of compassion or patient care is now considered a form of harm to the patient. Patients and families are provided tools for communicating with staff to facilitate better care.
"Hopkins' Project Emerge, one of four ICU redesign initiatives underway at various hospitals to improve patient safety, collects and analyzes data from monitoring equipment and medical records, and incorporates the information into a "harms monitor" for use in the ICU. The monitor tracks incomplete tasks to remind staff which preventive measures to perform and alert them to high-risk scenarios. It also tracks how well the ICU team complies with patient and family care preferences. The monitor also includes an app that allows family members to select which tasks they want to help staff with, such as washing the patient's hair or helping their loved one walk down the hall, according to the article."
"Similarly, Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital has developed the Patient-Centered Toolkit, a web-based portal that allows patients and their families to access their plan of care as well as information on lab results, medications and their conditions. It also allows them to address specific questions to the ICU staff, the Wall Street Journal reported. "
The desire to communicate with the patient and family has certainly come a long way. Is this a result of the Health Care Reform Act? Or a necessy step in satisfying the patient to compete for their business? Whatever, it is surely accruing to our benefit as health care receivers. If our hospital does not have such a program already in place, we should ask. They will definitely have heard about the concept and be ready to get on board.
Hospitals have begun to consider " disrespectful treatment" of the patient as important as infection control in the ICU, according to Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., medical director of the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore. Lack of compassion or patient care is now considered a form of harm to the patient. Patients and families are provided tools for communicating with staff to facilitate better care.
"Hopkins' Project Emerge, one of four ICU redesign initiatives underway at various hospitals to improve patient safety, collects and analyzes data from monitoring equipment and medical records, and incorporates the information into a "harms monitor" for use in the ICU. The monitor tracks incomplete tasks to remind staff which preventive measures to perform and alert them to high-risk scenarios. It also tracks how well the ICU team complies with patient and family care preferences. The monitor also includes an app that allows family members to select which tasks they want to help staff with, such as washing the patient's hair or helping their loved one walk down the hall, according to the article."
"Similarly, Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital has developed the Patient-Centered Toolkit, a web-based portal that allows patients and their families to access their plan of care as well as information on lab results, medications and their conditions. It also allows them to address specific questions to the ICU staff, the Wall Street Journal reported. "
The desire to communicate with the patient and family has certainly come a long way. Is this a result of the Health Care Reform Act? Or a necessy step in satisfying the patient to compete for their business? Whatever, it is surely accruing to our benefit as health care receivers. If our hospital does not have such a program already in place, we should ask. They will definitely have heard about the concept and be ready to get on board.
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