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Currents To Medical Center Employees: The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization survey of the MUSC Medical Center in November was among the last surveys conducted under the old standards. We have gained much satisfaction from our highly successful November survey. Plans are now underway to roll out an educational campaign concerning the new JCAHO accreditation standards. The JCAHO’s new standards embrace changes requested by accredited organizations and translate into a fundamentally new accreditation process. The standards are designed to be woven into our daily operations and are geared to: Reduce paperwork and documentation burden  Be patient-centered and actively engage physicians and other direct caregivers Use data from various sources to identify and focus upon strengths and weaknesses and facilitate systems improvement Require a mid-cycle evaluation in which we will evaluate our own performance Use the tracer survey methodology to randomly select patients and follow patients’ charts through the system from point-of-entry to post-discharge, and to serve as a vehicle to assess all relevant standards (e.g. physician credentials, staff competencies, environment of care.) While change is challenging, I am confident the new standards will be well received. Soon we will announce a timeline for the educational campaign to implement the new survey process. In the meantime, JCAHO’s 2004 Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals is accessible online, and I encourage the Medical Center management team and all others concerned to review it. Thank you very much. W. Stuart Smith Vice President for Clinical Operations and Executive Director, MUSC Medical Center Study: tube system reliable for transport The hospital’s pneumatic tube system for the transport of blood cultures recently underwent a LEAD Team study to determine if it is being fully utilized.  The conclusion: It’s not. But major academic medical centers across the country use their systems and swear by them for the efficient and safe transport of blood cultures to their labs. The study revealed that with the proper use of the system and with the use of proper carriers, the pneumatic tube system could save staff time that would otherwise be taken by hand-carrying the specimens. Use of the system improves timely transport, the cultures get into the incubator faster, and the system improves workflow in the lab, said team presenter Mary Allen, quality management coordinator. “We’ve added 50 carriers to the system,” Allen said, explaining that the glass carriers have been replaced with the more tube-friendly plastic carriers in locations throughout the tube system. “You can still use the glass carriers for blood cultures, but not in tube system,” she said. Reliability—the tube system has earned a reputation for not being reliable—is high when operated according to instructions, when the carrier is not overfilled, and when time is taken to dial the correct station. “The directory has been revised,” Allen said. Allen said that managers and educators should address tube transport system updates in their unit and staff meetings and that updates also will be relayed by broadcast message, e-mail reminders, and patient safety newsletter. The team plans to develop a written tube system procedure that should aid staff orientation to the transport processes. Allen said that in the future, expect more standardization of lab containers to include urine and other cultures in addition to blood, and further improvements will be made to the transport process. Plastic Blood Cultures may be sent by tube system to the lab when the following conditions are met: Do: Use carrier padding; use plastic blood cultures only; dial 99 for Fast Flow Lab; use only two cultures per carrier; close the carrier securely; check the display window;  secure the biohazard (BH) bag; ensure the bag is zipped securely. Don’t: Do not throw it away; do not use glass bottles; do not use old tube number; do not over pack; do not close half way; do not send if disabled; do not forget the biohazard bag; do not use staples. Web Development Initiatives  Web page customers should come, stay awhile and come back, said Dave Bennett, manager of web resources, Business Development and Marketing Services. He calls it “stickiness.” Bennett presented marketing service’s latest developments and plans for MUSChealth.com, describing it as a site designed to attract targeted consumers with MUSC’s array of services, with information on patient rights and risks, and on medical records. He said the site will include a way interactively to ask pharmacists and nurses specific medical questions that consumers need answered. “We want to link information with a solution,” Bennett said. “Seventy-eight percent of the people who go online to get information are likely to do something with that information.” Along with the general health-related information and the means to act on it, the site will include the Health Connection productions that have appeared on television. “On TV they appear just once,” Bennett said, “but on the Web site we can make them available forever.” FY 2005 Budget Timeline John Cooper, director of finance, presented the following timeline for preparation of the Fiscal Year 2005 budget: January Build FY 2004 Projected Actual; Define FY 2005 Budget Assumptions; Download Personnel Master File February Hold six training sessions, 220 CSB; New Employees—Feb. 2 and 9, 9 – 11 a.m.; All Other—Feb. 10, 1 – 3 p.m., 3 – 5 p.m.; All Other—Feb. 13, 9 – 11 a.m., 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.; Departmental budget development begins (Feb. 16) March Departmental budget development ends (Mar. 19); Preliminary budget presented to Administration; Adjustments made as necessary April Additional adjustments made as necessary; Final budget presented to administration May MUHA budget incorporated with MUSC budget June MUHA and MUSC budgets sent to Board of Trustees Action O-I Pamela Marek, decision support analyst, said that it is time once again to submit data to Action O-I (Operational Benchmarking Tool) for the quarter ending Dec. 31. The Web site available to verify and key data is http://www.actionoi.solucient.com.  “Remember to check your characteristic questions in case some new ones were added,” she said. “I have scheduled some time in the Computer Training Room (220 Clinical Sciences Building) for those who  need a refresher or have not accessed the Web site yet.” The dates are Jan. 30, Feb. 5, and Feb. 9. All classes are from 1 to 4:30 p.m. and will take 15 to 20 minutes. Call Pam Marek, 792-8793, or Clay Owens, 792-1701.