Christina's Considerations

Banging my head on the wall!

Sometimes, at work, with family or with others I feel like I'm banging my head on the wall.  So, is it any wonder that I broke out laughing when I looked over my husband's shoulder and saw this representation. 

The reality is that I feel less and less like this as I build great relationships with the people around me.  Over time we learn how to interact with each other to produce the best results, or we part ways.     

Today I have great people around me, but every now and then I think of the wall!

Tiger Baseball: LSU

I know that my readers are happy to hear that the LSU Tigers beat the Texas Longhorns yesterday by a score of 11-4 in Game 3 of the CWS finals to win their 6th National Championship in baseball! 

The LSU SoCal Alumni are still recovering from the annual crawfish boil at the Rose Bowl, but were still able to cheer the team on toward victory.  I remember watching LSU baseball in the early 80's as a young student and congratulate these Tigers on their accomplishment!!

Healthy Debate

Kate and Eddie at Worth Ethic have some great guidance on the need for healthy debate, that I believe is so important in healthcare.  Especially in tough business/job climates peers often don’t want to been seen as throwing stones at a colleague who is struggling. It’s as if there’s an unspoken agreement that “I won’t criticize you if you don’t criticize me, especially in team meetings when our manager is present.” As a result, constructive and innovative solutions often aren’t explored, because the starting point of those discussions is to bring a problem more fully to light.

My experience is that some of the craziest comments have lead (after some discussion and processing) to really great solutions to the challenge at hand.  My experience has also proven that great solutions to challenges are often delayed or never identified when the environment (set by the leaders) allows or even promotes a "stay out of my business" culture.  Instead of teamwork, you get silos of work that doesn't benefit from collaboration and all of the knowledge and expertise assets being paid for by the hospital.

Katie and Eddie offer tips that can be used to increase healthy debate on your team.

·         State your objective of creating a team that is more committed to healthy debate, confrontation and receptivity to constructive criticism by a peer.

·         Starting with yourself, then going around the table so that each person speaks, answer these questions:

°                     What have I done in the past to shut down critical input?

°                     What will I do differently going forward to ensure an open and healthy debate about problems

·         As a team, identify the chronic business issues which are not being adequately resolved.  

·         Brainstorm different people’s ideas about what process or approach might work to address each issue. To dig in deeply enough to get at root issues, it’s important that you get all ideas out before you jump in to evaluate and critique different approaches.

·         Clarify commitments. Whoever has the lead responsibility for resolving a particular problem needs to say specifically which of the ideas will be used and what the process is of reporting back actions and improvements.

·         Get in the habit of doing a modified version of this process, focused on current problems, at the beginning of every major staff meeting.

Monty Python and the Hospital OR

Paul Levy  and  Ausmed  have helped me find a lighter look at how we sometimes treat our patients and why older generations might not even try to take an active role in their care.  The Monty Python Hospital Sketch was written and performed many years ago and unfortunately is not too far off from reality even today.  The best example of this was when the "patient" asked what she was to do and was told by the doctors "nothing" becasue they are the experts. 

Healthcare is a team effort between the patient and care providers.

Red Flag Rules in Healthcare

I like HFMA's Analysisof the Red Flag Program and its application to healthcare.  I've been concerned about use of another's identify for payment reasons in hospitals and with other healthcare providers and think this will provide some valuable guidance. 

Inventory for Consumer Education and Engagement on HIT

The Consumer Education and Engagement Collaborative (CEE), which is part of the national HISPC effort has released the  HIT consumer education and engagement inventory.  This compliments the work of State of Georgia.  My hope is that consumers are learning about the future of information technology in healthcare and are being engaged by the HIE projects across the country, and world.

DHHS/ONC "Meaningful Use" Defined

The draft text of the  Federal Register notice on "meaningful use"  went public today and will be published on Thursday.   DHHS/ONC  requests comments on the recommended text by Friday, June 26 at 5pm/EST.  The text and definition of "meaningful use" is the result of the Meaningful Use Workgroup presentionto the HIT Policy Committee today.

The Meaningful Use Workgroup presentation to the HIT Policy Committee meeting agenda and materials are available on the ONC website at http://healthit.hhs.gov 

Blogonomics

I have to share this thesis on Blogonomics and its abstract.  While it isn't focused on healthcare it is a nice overview of blogs in general.

Payer Role in HIEs

Health Data Management had an interesting article in the June 2009 issue on the payer role in HIEs.  I've commented on the subject a few times (Editorial to President Obama, tax on health plans for HIE) and appreciate the steps that are reported in the article, but still want to see more widespread movement by the health plans supporting heath information exchange.   This is an opportunity for improvement that needs to become a priority!

If there are any plans out there who need someone to help develop a strategy, I'd be so pleased to work with you.  Just contact me at cthielst@cox.net.

Readers, what do you think? 

Time to reflect

First there was hospital evacuation and now preparing for mass fatalities!  It has been a busy time working and researching for the new book. 

Graduation ceremonies are over and it is once again summer break!  A time to re-charge, rejuvenate and re-energize!

Check out the reading program at your local library and have a wonderful and experiential summer!

Finally, a music download on HIT!

Ross Martin serenades AHIC, CCHIT and HITSP!  Now, that's entertainment!

Tweet and Wiki

I've been busy with  research and came across a couple of things I want to share.  First, I loved this cartoon, because whetherwe like it or not, our patients are communicating about their healthcare on social networks.  I think it is best when we learn what they are saying so we can respond.  Perhaps this doctor might make changes to his lunch choices or his cologne!

I also just finished the first chapter of the book Wikinomics and want to make a couple of observations about mass communication and collaboration using social media tools.  Just as Don Tapscott states in the book, I believe we will play more active roles in our workplace, communities, national democracies, and the global economy at-large and that the benefits will include the opportunity to make governments more accountable and lift millions of people out of poverty.

Just yesterday, (in the old days) big business, big government, politicians and plain old crooks could run and hide, if even for a while.  The new speed and efficiency of mass communication and peer collaboration will mean they can run, but not hide.  Those businesses and governments (including healthcare providers) who can harness and direct human skills, ingenuity, and intelligence more efficiently and effectively will not only survive, but thrive.  The pressure is on in healthcare and we shall see which of those among us is ready for the challenge! 

Shout America

Shout America is committed to cultivating sustainable solutions and policies that address today's healthcare crisis with a conscience for tomorrow.  The site, aimed at educating and engaging youth and young adults to get involved with the decision making that will most definitely impact their adult lives.  With the site and weblog, I think Shout America is on to something!

My recommendation to young people is to adopt a healthy lifestyle as an example to those of us who are older and might be a little late in learning.  Your decisions today will benefit the health and wellness of future generations.