Provider Fee Could
Help Hospital, Uninsured Patients
With the state unable to put more money into Medicaid, lawmakers agreed to a fee assessed to hospitals that could defray the costs of providing care to the uninsured. Safety-net hospitals like UCH "could gain significantly from this." |
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| Martin McCarter of GI, Tumor and Endocrine Surgery was principal investigator for School of Medicine in important research into treatment for gastrointestinal stromal tumors. | |
Study Breaks New Ground in Treatment
of Rare Tumor
Results of a Phase III clinical trial, led locally by clinician Martin McCarter (above) showed an oral drug significantly improved survival chances for patients with a certain type of gastrointestinal tumor. |
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| Lung transplant recipient Emil Olson, shown here at Hanging Lake, found new lease on life.. | |
Lung Transplant's "Poster Boy" Speaks
UCH lung transplant recipient Emil Olson is out fishing, hiking and telling anyone who will listen about the importance of organ donation. |
New Screen, Better Diabetes Management
Some 22 percent of all UCH inpatients, spread across all services, are diabetic or hyperglycemic. A new electronic tool makes monitoring them more efficient and promises to improve the quality of their care. |
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| Derek Rushing with one of his office companions, L'il Penny Hardaway. | |
Hospital Director Never Finds Himself Alone
The hospital's Supply Chain executive director has got Michael Jordan, Indiana Jones, Chris Rock and many other famous figures hanging around his office. |
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| Volunteeers worked hard to spruce up gardens outside Infusion Center. (Photo courtesy of Associated Landscape Contractors of America.)it. | |
Garden Party at the Cancer Center
Volunteers and an association of landscapers helped rejuvenate the Cancer Center's pastoral retreat for chemotherapy patients. |
UCH in the News
Phosphorus, diabetes and CVD; return of a bioscience giant; heart failure and compassion; more. Mentions: David Bekelman, Michael Choncol, Michael Dayton, Charles Dinarello, Brian Hemstreet, Amir Masoumi, David Olds, Regina Reynolds, Richard Traystman. | |
Parking adjustments open to mixed reviews Despite some surprises, the disruptive return of more than 100 employee parking scofflaws, and complaints from a vocal minority of staff, the number of patient parking complaints dropped from about 40 a week to exactly one during the first week of the great parking switch. 
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Inside the Insider: Scofflaws at the (Leprino Garage parking) gate Commentary: While most saw necessity in the recent parking shifts, some saw evil. But it turned out the enemy was us. Plus: what you read and a lesson in Zoomerang surveys.
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Finding endangered patients quickly From hundreds of thousands of patient records, the hospital tracked down and contacted in a matter of days 485 who were taking a recalled heart drug. It was, notes CT Lin, a big win for electronic records and for patient safety.
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An ounce of prevention in Food and Nutrition A rash of injuries to Food Service staff raised questions about the adequacy of job descriptions and training and the safety of the workplace. With help from Human Resources, management is installing solutions.
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An ounce of prevention in Food and Nutrition A rash of injuries to Food Service staff raised questions about the adequacy of job descriptions and training and the safety of the workplace. With help from Human Resources, and videotaping (Paul Davis of the Health and Wellness Clinic, above) management is installing solutions.
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Code for change A simple process improvement -- letting coders handle coding and charge entry in one fell swoop -- is saving some UCH practices time and money.
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Lung cancer "super survivors" UCH Phase I clinical trials -- traditionally the most uncertain stage of testing treatments -- are helping accelerate the transformation of common cancers from death sentences to manageable chronic diseases.
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Diabetes classes seek to clear a language barrier The hospital is now the only one in the metro area to offer diabetes education classes in Spanish. Educator Tavia Vital (above) hopes they will eventually help improve care for an underserved population.
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More "missiatives" It may not be a real word, but the monthly messages assume that common behaviors can help define an uncommon hospital.
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Home-grown patient safety improvements The hospital and the School of Medicine have again teamed up to offer "small" grants for researchers' big patient safety and quality improvement ideas. Sidebar: how to apply.
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Not for the uninitiated The annual Milestones Luncheon cited 72 employees with at least 15 years of service to the hospital, plus 23 retirees. Some, Bruce Schroffel noted, "have been with us longer than you've been with your significant others."
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The clean hands people In the drive to eliminate hospital-acquired infections, UCH's inpatient clinicians' compliance with handwashing standards rebounded sharply in March. Ambulatory Services, meanwhile, stayed about 90 percent for the seventh consecutive month.
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Around UCH Our regular round-up of goings on, big and small, in and around the hospital. This issue: Gopalan says good-bye; National Nurses Week looms; new digs for Outpatient Psych; more...
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