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Volume 4 | Issue 14 | Through February 1, 2011
Nearby Valentines
Physician Briefing

More patient parking coming; some staff to move The hospital soon will break ground on a project to create 662 patient parking spots for patients --about 450 more than are there now -- across 16th Avenue from the AOP at Aurora Court and Colfax. To preserve patient parking until it's finished next fall, some employees now parking in the surface lot west of the AIP are going to move to new temporary spaces. >>More 

 

 
Emergency Room

Violence against health care workers The hospital this month lifted the often dangerous and time-consuming responsibility for monitoring suicidal inpatients from certified nursing assistants and gave it to "at-risk patient watch officers" from UCH's security firm. >>More 

 

 

Online Pharmacy

UCH pharmacies turn into Epic pioneers  Like several UCH clinics, the outpatient pharmacies will go live on Epic on February 1. Unlike them, they're using a brand-new module for the electronic medical record system -- one they've played a big role in helping Epic develop.  >>More
 

 

The Cancer Center dabbles in the poster business Hoping to raise awareness among the nation's oncologists, the hospital and UCCC are mailing out posters with a famous illustrator's work on one side and outcomes data on the other. >>More 

 

Qanin Ryan

A good job, but hard on the feet Security officers with extra customer service training are serving as "ambassadors" at the hospital's front doors, offering protection with a smile. For Qanin Ryan (right), it also means not sitting down for almost eight hours. >>More

Children's, UCH team up to tackle neuromuscular disease 
The news: kids with neuromuscular diseases are living better and longer. The unintended consequence: they need special attention and wholly new arrangements as they pass from pediatric to adult care. The solution: the campus's pediatric and adult hospitals are collaborating on the transition. >>More 

 

Superman

Irresistible forces, immovable objects In This Hospital Life: With Epic's first launch a dozen days away, it may be time to accept that, like it or not, the future of health care will not be written with pen and paper. What Superman could teach us about that. Plus, "What You Read" and some campus deer. >>More

 
Tim Wimbish Hillary Duffy

Rehab's rehab Though hardly ailing, the Rehabilitation Medicine Department is rolling out new job descriptions to give staffers more career opportunities and, in the process, provide patients a still wider range of expertise. Left: Inpatient Supervisor Tim Wimbish and Outpatient PT Manager Hillary Duffy believe the changes could make the department one of the nation's best. >>More

 

Dee Riedel

A UCH manager becomes a breast cancer study "evangelist" 

Dee Reidel  took and kept off 30 pounts after her breast cancer treatment. She's been cancer-free ever since. Now the National Cancer Institute is seeing if it was a coincidence  >>More

Coupons for employees The hospital starts a trial this week of a new Web site that makes local and national coupons available to UCH staff members -- for free. >>More 

 

Dana Godec


Around UCH 
Our regular round-up of goings-on, big and small, in and around the hospital This issue: another DAISY Award winner (Dana Godec, left); socks for the homeless; thanks of a grateful patient; more.  >>More 

PSCU
 
Magnifying Glass
An Epic Launch -- and a Drop in Productivity
Anticipating some slow going as they get used to the new electronic medical record, the first wave of ambulatory clinics going live on February 1 are scheduling fewer patients -- and a financial hit -- the first two weeks. >>Go

So Far, So
Good for 2011 Incentive Payouts
Halfway through the fiscal year, hospital employees are on track to meet or exceed most of the full-year financial and patient satisfaction goals needed to authorize a payout next August. >>Go

 
Birth Center Lean Team
Some of the members of the "Lean" team that improved discharge times in the Birth Center.
Birth Center  Discharge Process Tightens 
Dismissing two patients -- mom and baby -- can make discharging even more complex and time- and bed-consuming. With help from Clinical Excellence and HR and a critical look at "the way we've always done it," the Birth Center is managing it faster and earlier in the day. >>Go

A Getting-Better Committee Gets Set to Convene
Process-improvement ideas big and small have been bubbling up throughout UCH. Now the hospital is convening a group to try to support and coordinate them all. Sidebar. Lean Cuisine Spaghetti, WORMPITs and other Delicacies. >>Go

UCH in the News
The skinny on obesity; pharm dollars for docs; shots for shingles; more, Mentions: Debra Bislip; Virginia Borges; Robert Eckel; Mehdi Fini; Richard Krugman; Edward Melanson; Myron Levin; Amie Meditz; Leigh Perreault; Barton Schmitt; Hong Wang; Richard Wright.   >>Go

Dean Krugman's News
The latest about what's going on at the School of Medicine.   >>Go