Nov 17 2011

C&W Patients Safe and Sound

by Beth Johnson, editor and senior writer, PRMC Comments (0)
General

Guest service specialists greet and screen all visitors 

Patient safety and security are important measures in any health care setting and, with a world-class children’s and women’s hospital opening soon, patients and families can expect the best when it comes to greeting and screening visitors. 

Guests of the current C.S. Mott Children

The C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital employs 68 guest service specialists, with 20-25 people on duty at any given time. These highly trained individuals carry a minimum of an associate degree with backgrounds ranging from teaching to criminal justice. All guest service specialists complete a four-week in house training program, as well as extra training in customer service, security and internal policies and procedures. Other skills include: 

  • Non-violent crisis intervention (CPI)
  • Use of an automated external defibrillator (AED)
  • Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
  • First Aid

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Nov 3 2011

There’s No Place Like Home

by Cathy Mellett, contributing writer, PRMC Comments (0)
Lean

U-M leads Lean for Clinical Redesign Collaborative

There’s a term in the health care industry called “the patient-centered medical home” or sometimes simply “the medical home” that refers to an improved approach to primary care. Essentially, the primary care doctor facilitates interactions between their patients and other care providers. When it’s appropriate, the primary care provider will interact with a patient’s family to better manage the patient’s care.

Lean CQI teaches principles and process improvement to primary care providers around the State of Michigan.

In its simplest terms, the primary care provider acts as a home base or point person for a patient and everything related to his or her health care.

The patient-centered medical home could be an answer to improving primary care in the United States. But how does a primary care practice transform itself into an effective medical home?

Together, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the University of Michigan may have found the solution using lean thinking.

The Lean for Clinical Redesign Collaborative Quality Initiative (Lean CQI) was created at UMHS by Christopher Wise, Ph.D., M.H.A., to lead the process. With help from an outside company called Lean Transformation Group, Lean CQI teaches principles and process improvement to primary care providers around the State of Michigan who are transforming their care into the medical home model. Read the rest of this entry »