Keeping Guns
off Campus -- and away from UCH
Appeals court judges have overturned CU's 40-year ban on firearms on its campuses, including Anschutz. The ban still holds, however, pending the Board of Regents decides how to respond. The hospital itself may stay a no-carry zone regardless.  |
| | University Medicine - Denver providers at work in new, airy cube. The practice designed its physical layout to encourage this type of interaction. |
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Lowry Breaks Down Walls -- Literally
When it moved into new digs at Lowry, University Internal Medicine moved into an experiment in fitting futuristic design to good, old-fashioned health care communications. So far, so good. |
Sidebar: Space Redesign Aims to Get Nurses off the Phones
With their emphasis on face-to-face communication, physicians' and staff's biggest design win may be giving providers at the new Lowry location more time to devote to direct patient care. |
| | Mame Fuhrman, Jamie Le-Lazar and Deb DeVine (left to right) have played key roles in shifting and reducing hospital's use of agency staff. |
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UCH Gears up the
Other "Daily Show"
By partnering with a Kansas City staffing agency, HR and nursing have successfully learned to mobilize "per diem" nurses to cover when there aren't enough regular employees to cover work shifts. The payoff has been increased flexibility, lower costs. |
UCH in the News
Autoimmune disease and the King of Pop; running down lung cancer; dwindling docs; more. Mentions: Elizabeth Brass, Cheryl Chessick, Donald Gilden, CT Lin, Christine Nyquist, David Olds, Erica Schwartz, Richard Spritz, Michael Weyant. |
Dean Krugman's News
The latest about what's going on at the School of Medicine. |
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Most employees to get "new" health insurer July 1 It's UCH itself, which is starting a "self-funded" plan in hopes of controlling future premium increases better. For employees, the few immediate changes are mostly in more convenience. For the hospital, though, the risks will grow. 
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Medicare proposal would cost CU physicians millions The proposed reimbursement cuts, currently on hold through May, would also affect Tricare and slash professional fees by around $7.5 million. If approved, "aggressive belt-tightening" at the School of Medicine would follow, one UPI official predicts.
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When patients need other kinds of help Despite mighty efforts to prevent them, things like long waits, missed communications, medical confusions, inconveniences and even insensitive employees can make patients angry. A team of patient representatives (above), working closely with President and CEO Bruce Schroffel, strain not to take it personally as they hustle to find immediate solutions.
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Outside recruits join the Epic Army First there were the curious and - let's face it - pretty brave UCHers who traded secure jobs for the three-year challenge of weaving a state-of-the-art electronic medical record system into a growing, complex hospital. Now come those who left other employers to join the challenge. They weren't offered job guarantees at the end of their stints, either.
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Inside the Insider Commentary: Why did Todd Neff cross the road? And did he do the right thing? Also: "What You Read" and a note of thanks.
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Hurdles. Doors slammed. Red tape. Parents and providers say finding mental health care for children and adolescents - especially those on Medicaid - in the social services maze can be slow and frustrating. UCH's Outpatient Psych Practice, The Children's Hospital, and a state agency have teamed up to change that.
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Tiny device may offer huge advance for cardiac patients In a trial that included UCH, a tiny clip to close leaky mitral valves promised to give patients an alternative to open-heart surgery and improve quality of life. But it's a "most challenging" interventional procedure.
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A cholesterol drug for COPD? A Phase III trial is about to test whether statins can be used to prevent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease flare-ups. The study aims to track about 80 patients here.
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Around UCH Our regular round-up of goings-on, big and small, in and around the hospital. This issue: Safeway's big gift to Cancer Center (left); employees donate time to Project C.U.R.E.; medication drop-off opportunity; Hospital Week on the horizon; more...
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