MUSCMedical LinksCharleston LinksArchivesMedical EducatorSpeakers BureauSeminars and EventsResearch StudiesResearch GrantsCatalyst PDF FileCommunity HappeningsCampus News

Return to Main Menu

Currents

To Medical Center Employees:
Through our continuous JCAHO Survey Readiness campaign we have sought to provide educational opportunities for everyone regarding the JCAHO standards and survey trends. We’ve also attempted to provide easy access to useful tools for JCAHO readiness. While our goal is to be “continuously ready,” the JCAHO survey is expected to take place in November 2003. 

Our management communications meetings in recent months included “Star Productions” focusing upon various standards. Soon the Star Guide to JCAHO Survey Readiness manual will be issued to all departments and will be available on our Medical Center JCAHO Intranet website. This guide will summarize all of the Star presentations and should be a good resource for everyone. Future Star presentations will be distributed electronically for inclusion in the manual. 

The Medical Center Intranet provides easy access to important information and tools for JCAHO survey readiness including CATTS (training and tracking system), clinical education, patient safety, performance improvement, and other helpful material. The Intranet also provides access to the JCAHO manual and the updated 2003 manual will be issued electronically very soon.

I encourage everyone to take full advantage of the resources available for continuous JCAHO survey readiness. If anyone needs assistance locating information or has questions concerning how standards are applied, please contact your manager or Terri Ellis, JCAHO coordinator, at ellist@musc.edu or 792-5106. 

Thank you very much.
W. Stuart Smith
Vice President for Clinical Operations
and Executive Director, MUSC Medical Center

STAR Productions presents ‘Quiz Show’ 

Lois Kerr, Accreditation Services, announced to managers that starting March 25, every fourth Tuesday of the coming months would bring “The Quiz Show,” and subsequently, a monthly barrage of JCAHO preparedness questions to test the skills of the medical center’s management team. 

Kerr began her first quiz session with questions based on advance directives, resuscitation orders, abuse and neglect, documentation, and medication use. Those who answered questions correctly (like Mark Ruppel) achieved Starburst candy and those that offered incorrect answers received Airhead candy. Once the managers got into  the game, Kerr remarked on the enthusiasm of the group.

Hollings to initiate Dress Down Day
When Hollings Cancer Center opened in 1992, it began serving 19,000 patients. Now operating with 40,000 patients, Hollings’ growth mandated the current expansion and construction to add clinical and research space. 

Tonya Pilkenton, Special Projects director, told managers about a universitywide dress down day, a proposal to continue to raise money for the new construction. 

Participants pay $5 in order to dress down on June 6, dependant on supervisor approval. 

Participation automatically puts an individual’s name in for a variety of prizes to be drawn from a universitywide raffle. For more information about dress down day, call Pilkenton at 792-1669 or e-mail pilkentt@musc.edu.

Announcements
Michael Irving, Patient Care Systems manager, pointed out the prominent location of the CATTS (Computerized Annual Training and Tracking System) on the Medical Center’s Intranet page. He also announced the winning entry for the Clinical Documentation project- Computerized Clinical Computing or C3. The winner’s identity will be announced at a future meeting. 

Irving announced the arrival of the “Name That Thang!” contest, with the purpose of finding a name for the system scheduled to replace ClinLAN. The contest spans March 21 to April 18 and the winner will receive a modest cash prize. A pilot group of machines with the new system is scheduled for the end of April or the first of May. For additional information, visit its Web site at http://www.musc.edu/medcenter/namethatthang.html.

  • Meredith Repick, March of Dimes, announced the annual March of Dimes “Walk America” would take place in Cannon Street Park on April 26. Registration will be at 8 a.m. and the walk begins at 9 a.m. Registration may be handled online at http://www.walkamerica.org or by phone at 843-571-1776. The event includes a five-mile walk through historic Charleston and activities for children and families. 
  • Brad Masteller, Dietetic Services General manager, announced that Mary Basel, Dietetic Services, received the Clinical Nutrition Manager of the Year Award for the Sodexho Healthcare region. She was honored out of nominees from 32 hospitals.
  • Dave Moses, Systems Engineering Services manager, announced that LINC (prototype name for the ClinLAN replacement) is moving along smoothly. All back-end support systems are in place and engineers are working to integrate applications into the Radia system, a system used to manage and distribute (i.e. install) applications such as Oacis, Groupwise, and MS Office to the LINC workstation. The first of the workstation conversions from ClinLAN to LINC (or whatever the official name will be as a result of the “Name That Thang!” contest) is scheduled for early May. Eventually, all MUHA workstations will be converted to LINC over the remainder of the year based on demand, application availability, and other factors.
Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.