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Currents To Medical Center Employees: At a recent Medical Center communication meeting Dan Furlong, CCIT  special projects manager, and Helena Bastian, Medical Center human resources director, updated the management team on work done by the Integrated Account Management Steering Committee (IAMSC). The committee was charged with the task of addressing problems we now experience with systems access. For example, users seeking access to systems are faced with multiple forms and processes. Authentication procedures (password strength requirements, password change procedures, etc.) among the various systems are inconsistent. Accounts have not always been properly terminated when employees and other users terminate, change roles or otherwise leave MUSC. We must ensure  proper information security levels in order to comply with current and anticipated HIPAA regulations. Therefore, all system users are asked to give their attention and support to the committee's work. The committee's goal is to create more effective methods  for identifying, authenticating and authorizing users by developing  more efficient procedures and process for creating, managing and terminating accounts. Their work involves putting together the pieces necessary to accomplish this goal. In the future, users will be assigned a core set of role-based computer accounts for use upon hire or when needed. Accounts will be  terminated in a timely fashion when users change roles or leave MUSC and the sign-on process will be made more consistent among systems, all resulting in better compliance with  information security regulations. A key piece needed to achieve these account access improvements was CCIT’s creation of a Systems Registry (http://sysreg.musc.edu). Anyone responsible for a computer system that allows others access needs to register their system(s) before Aug. 15. Users of all systems are encouraged to view the system registry. If a system is not listed,  call a system administrator and request the system be registered.  Highlights of the presentation are outlined below, including meeting dates for question and answer sessions. A more detailed summary of the committee’s work was published in a July 4 Catalyst article prepared by CCIT entitled “Registry Improves Account Management Process.”  Thank you very much. W. Stuart Smith Vice President for Clinical Operations and Executive Director, MUSC Medical Center STAR Productions presents ‘28 Days’ A scene from “28 Days,” starring Sandra Bullock, highlighted the importance of having a plan for health care providers and patients during the discharge process.  Lynne Nemeth, Care Management, Research and Evaluation director, told managers about JCAHO standards concerning the discharge process. Discharge planning, initiated early in the treatment process, is based on requirements for a patient’s plan of care. Criteria for discharge are set and vary based on age and disability of the patient, as well as treatment goals. Nemeth referred JCAHO standards PE 1.6 and PE 1.7.1 as the important sources for these standards. JCAHO requires an initial assessment completed within 24 hours of admission, and the medical center’s inter-disciplinary documentation system requires that the admission assessment is done within 8 hours. Screening assessments are required along with medical history and physical, and nursing care assessment. The discharge planning screen identifies numerous starred items-which must be reported to a social worker. Before discharge, the patient’s status and need for continuing care are assessed, the patient is educated on discharge procedure, and patients and families know what to expect. At discharge, the patient is directly referred to practitioners, settings and organizations to meet continuing care needs, and the use and value of continuing care to meet the patient’s needs are reassessed. The hospital provides information or data to help others meet the patient’s continuing care needs. Specifically, the hospital must provide a reason for referral, transfer or discontinuation of service or discharge, conditions for transfer, remain responsible for continued care from one clinician, organization or unit to another, remain responsible during transfer, and provide mechanisms for internal and external referral, including formal and informal affiliations. The medical center must initiate follow-up practices as well, including case management, home health, special education, and adult day care, based on the patient’s needs.  Appropriate information related to care and services provided is exchanged when a patient is referred, transferred, discontinued service or discharged to receive further care and services and to ensure continuity of care within and between organizations and within the community. This type of information includes reason for transfer, referral or discharge, patient’s physical and psychosocial status, summary of care and progress towards goals, community resources or referrals provided to the patient, evidence in the medical record, patient and family information about discharge planning (i.e. access to follow-up care and rights and responsibilities). The continuum of care standards CC4 and 5 are sources to review and were reinforced from a previous presentation made in April. Currently, the official MUSC Discharge policy is under development and review. The policy will incorporate previous PI work and formalizes many years of work. Integrated Account Management Steering Committee Update Helena Bastian, Medical Center Human Resources director, and Dan Furlong, CCIT, announced the implementation of a new organization-wide account management initiative. The main areas of focus are creation of user accounts, disabling an account when an employee/student leaves, and general account management (passwords/transfers/role changes). To this end, the System Registry, a Web-based application was developed and serves as an integral piece of the initiative. The system will capture all systems (including but no limited to applications, databases, etc.) used by MUSC, MUHA, and UMA. All systems administrators are required to register their systems/applications in the registry. System Registry may be accessed at http://sysreg.musc.edu. An MNA account is required to login. Guidelines and instructions are also provided at this site. When in doubt, register the system/application! Question and Answer training sessions will be held 9 to 10 a.m. on July 15 and 28 in Clinical Science Building room 220 and 9 to 10 a.m. Aug. 6 in Harborview Tower room 803. For more information, contact Bastian at 792-5098 or go to The Catalyst Archives on the MUSC Web site and look for the article “Registry improves account management process,” in the July 4 edition. Mentoring Opportunities  Laurie Zone-Smith, Clinical Services Administration, and Janie Nealy, South Carolina Hospital Association, spoke to managers about the variety of mentoring opportunities available to the managers and staff of MUSC, MUHA, and UMA. Nealy sought to dispel many of the myths about mentoring including: Mentoring is only a one-on-one, long term, face to face process. Not so, according to Nealy. She said there are many different models to pick from like online/virtual mentoring, health science mentoring, career specific mentoring, general hospital mentoring, personal mentoring, and group mentoring. For a handout describing the different mentoring styles, contact Zone-Smith at 792-7769. Mentoring opportunity posters will be distributed throughout the hospital in the next few weeks. Young people have poor attitudes and bad work ethic. The students are hand-picked by their teachers to participate in the program, so you can be assured that only the best and brightest students will be a part of the program. You need a “toga.” Nealy said the program not only looks for highly experienced professionals, but new comers, too. Often times, young personnel can provide feedback to students that other professionals may be far removed from, etc. Mentoring will decrease your productivity. To the contrary, mentoring may inspire an increased commitment to your chosen profession and remind you of good communication techniques and promote goal clarity. Health care professionals don’t have time to mentor. While it is quite clear that health care professionals lead a fast paced work schedule, there are many mentoring models to choose from, all with different levels of involvement to fit anyone’s schedule. Nealy also reminded managers of the importance of mentoring, as the young adults in college, high school students, and other children are the future health care workforces. To volunteer for the mentoring program or to send a list of volunteer names, contact Susan Carullo at carullos@musc.edu or Irene Thomas at thomasi@musc.edu.  Issues involving medical device failures Dan Altman, Biomedical Engineering, told managers the steps in dealing with medical device failures. He offered the following advice in dealing with medical device problems and failures: Plug in the device when not in use for transport. If the device does not stay plugged in as much as possible, the battery will continue to drain until it will hold no charge. Return EOC devices promptly when not in use. Document and report all medical device failures. Refer to administrative policy #A 48 for how to document reportable medical device failures using UHC SafetyNet. Refer to administrative policy #A 47 for routine reporting of equipment problems to the Bio-engineering department. It is essential to label the device with a description of the problem, as well as the failure code or information on the device display at the time of failure.       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.