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Currents To Medical Center Employees: At the March 15 communications meeting Mark Daniels, manager of patient  support systems and project manager, and Deb Campbell, R.N., clinical systems analyst, of the office of the CIO Information Services, updated the management team on the Computerized Clinical Charting project. This project is in keeping with our tactical plan goal to improve information management. It will provide us the foundation to take us to advanced point of care documentation in the future.  At this time the project is focusing on admission assessment and will soon include the patient family education record. It is being rolled out in the areas listed below in this newsletter and will be expanded throughout the hospital in the future.  A great deal of work went into creating the technical infrastructure for this system.  Numerous nurses have been very helpful in providing feedback to the information technology team to fine tune the system and Michael Irving, manager of patient care systems, Clinical Services, was instrumental in the mobile computing solution. There will be a learning curve for nursing staff but the net result will be a much more convenient process and efficient system.  On another matter, the interactive two hour work shop provided by The McNair Group for the management team has been rated “excellent” by participants. Managers who have not attended the work shop are expected to sign-up for the April 5 work shop from 1 to 3 p.m. Please e-mail Eric Frisch (Frische@musc.edu) for more information. Also, plans are to have other sessions for all staff in the near future. Finally, the next Medical Center town hall meetings are tentatively scheduled for April 26 at 11:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. and April 27 at 2:30 p.m. in the Storm Eye Institute auditorium. Our plan at this point is to discuss customer service and to devote 30 minutes of the one hour sessions to questions.  Thank you very much. Sincerely, W. Stuart Smith Vice President for Clinical Operations and Executive Director, MUSC Medical Center UComputerized clinical charting updated Mark Daniels, Patient Care Systems manager in the Office of the Chief Information Officer Information Services, and Deb Campbell, senior clinical analyst, updated progress on computer clinical charting.  The emphasis, Daniels said, was to tackle admission assessment and patient family education record. He said that what needs to be done when rolling out to one of the units is to install equipment and train unit staff. The unit then operates in a parallel mode—what is called dual entry.  “The way this works," Daniels said, "is each of the staff nurses will take an admission from beginning to end. They will do it on paper and also do it on computer as well. Once they are comfortable that they can capture the same data on computer that they are used to capturing on paper, we consider that unit to be complete." All users may view the Admission Assessment results as entered in the computer by adding the roster column called “Admission Assessment” to their rosters. The status of the rollout: Complete: 10W and 8E. Near Complete: 8W, 6MICU, and 10E. Training: 5E, 5W and 5LDR. On Deck: 7E, 7W, 8NSICU, 2CMS and 2TJR. Daniels displayed what has been dubbed a cow, a portable, wireless 'computer on wheels' that can be moved into a room as needed.  Another device, referred to as an 'arm', can be used in critical care rooms where space is tight. This computer extends from its mounting on the wall when needed and can be returned to a position close to the wall when not in use. Because it is permanently mounted, it is not wireless and is plugged in, not battery operated like the cows.  C-105 Clinical Staff Professionalism Policy Rosemary Ellis, director of quality, presented the clinical staff professionalism policy. Purpose: “To ensure optimum patient care by promoting a safe, cooperative and professional health care environment and to prevent or eliminate conduct that disrupts operations at MUSC, affects the ability of others to do their jobs, creates a hostile work environment for employees or other medical staff members, or interferes with their ability to work competently.” Scope: “To that end, all individuals, students, employees, vendors, physicians and other independent practitioners and practitioners-in-training are required to conduct themselves in a professional and cooperative manner and perform their duties in compliance with all MUHA and MUSC policies and procedures as well as state and federal laws and regulations.” Target: “This policy is specifically directed to the medical staff of MUHA, who are not considered MUHA employees, but are expected to uphold the standards of professionalism, be honest in all professional interactions, and strive to report physicians deficient in character or competence, or engaging in fraud or deception, to appropriate entities. (AMA Principles of Medical Ethics) Examples: Unprofessional or disruptive behaviors... Shouting or using vulgar, profane or abusive language Abusive behavior toward patients, visitors or staff Physical assault or threat thereof Intimidating behavior Refusal to cooperate with other staff members Conduct that constitutes sexual harassment Refusal to adhere to Medical Center policies Inappropriate comments, written in the medical record or other official documents that impugn the patient, the care provided at the Medical Center or the care provided in any other health care setting Non-constructive criticism addressed to an individual in such a way as to intimidate, belittle or suggest incompetence Imposition on staff of unnecessarily burdensome or idiosyncratic requirements that are generally not professionally accepted and do not result in improved patient care or administrative efficiency Making or threatening reprisals for reporting disruptive or inappropriate behavior. Steps to Take: In the event of unprofessional or disruptive behavior demonstrated by a physician or clinical staff (not considered a MUHA employee)... 1. Complainant should first attempt to resolve the issues by asking the individual to discontinue the behavior. Complainant should document the attempted resolution and forward to supervisor. 2. If unable to obtain satisfactory relief or if attempt to do so is not possible, the complainant, the complainant's supervisor or other appropriate personnel should contact the primary supervising person of the individual committing the inappropriate behavior. 3. The supervising person will collect all information regarding the incident. 4. The policy should be given to the individual displaying the inappropriate behavior and documented by having the individual sign an acceptance form. 5. The supervising person will meet with all parties involved and act as a mediator to resolve the problem. If the complainant is unable to obtain satisfaction, then the supervising individual will contact the medical director of the areas and the executive medical director. Summer Camps Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission representatives will be on campus from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 22 in the Children's Hospital lobby to dispense information and registration materials on summer camp experiences for children ages 6 to 16.  “This is something we've been trying to get the Charleston county Park and Recreation Commission to do for years and it hasn't been available,” said Katy Kuder of Medical Center Human Resources. “So I hope people will take this opportunity because these camps really do book up fast.” Action O-I Reports Pamela Marek announced that the Action O-I Reports can be run or viewed for the fourth quarter (October through December) of 2004. The Web site is http://actionoi.solucient.com. The typical reports each department runs is the KPI (Key Performance Indicator) and the Trend and Compare. Those who attended the report training class have access to the reporting module. Others will need to call or e-mail Marek to obtain access.  There will be two Report Training Classes offered this quarter: March 17 from 8 a.m. to noon and March 22 from 2 to 4:30 p.m. in the Computer Training Room, 220 Clinical Science Building. The classes are 30 minutes and begin on the hour and the half hour each day.  Call Marek if you have questions at 792-8793. Friday, March 18, 2005