Sharing successes, challenges and daily happenings in the Department of Medicine
We are writing to inform you of several changes being made across Johns Hopkins Medicine to improve access to and broaden the number of users of the Chesapeake Regional Information System for Our Patients (CRISP), Maryland's statewide health information exchange. These changes will be effective on March 13 at noon and are outlined below. Current(...)
Now in the cold days of January, winter storms are always a possibility. This is the time to review the Inclement Weather guidelines. Below is the updated version sent by Ambulatory Services. These policies apply to ambulatory clinics. Decisions regarding closures are made by the Incident Command Team with leadership representation present for JHH, Bayview and(...)
The DOM is excited to announce the opening of Meyer 8 and 9 on Wednesday, December 14 after extensive renovations. Outlined below are the plans for these two units: Meyer 8, with its 24 private rooms, will replace H2O2. These beds will house the hospitalist patients as well as MEG patients. Meyer 9 will have 21(...)
There are several exciting initiatives taking place in the Johns Hopkins ambulatory setting to enhance care delivery. First, the Johns Hopkins Patient Access Process Improvement group has been promoting the use of Appointment Issue Tracker (AIT) to record issues related to the quality of scheduled appointments made by central scheduling. Benefits of AIT are: Centralized(...)
Good communication between hospital providers and primary care providers (PCPs) prevents readmissions, medication errors and dropped treatment plans, but good communication is not the norm. Discharge summaries, a standard form for this communication, are often received late or never at all.1 Direct communication between providers during the hospitalization can be challenging to implement. Phone calls require(...)
The ever-evolving demands of healthcare delivery in academic medicine have resulted in both a challenging clinical practice environment and provider dissatisfaction for some in our department. Department of Medicine leadership aims to create an environment where our providers feel valued, understand their role in the larger context of Johns Hopkins Medicine and are motivated to(...)
1) Infusion Center hours have been expanded for greater access! Dr. Sisson’s prior email: Ambulatory Services is pleased to announce that effective Wednesday, June 1, 2016, the Osler 6 IV Infusion Center has expanded its hours to 7:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Osler 6 offers an alternative site of care for same-day patient treatment(...)
This past spring the Department of Medicine leadership conducted a survey of section chiefs, clinical directors and division administrators in order to elicit means to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the DOM’s professional fee billing operation. On behalf of myself, Production Unit Manager Amanda Holmes, and Coding Manger Denise Burke, we thank all who(...)
The Department of Medicine supports diverse outpatient practices that offer a range of highly sought-after clinician groups. This strength can also present challenges when trying to apply clinic standards for ambulatory medicine. What initiatives are most important to improve patient care and safety? Who decides the priorities? How do we achieve the goals? These questions are(...)
Why are we talking about MHACs? To promote quality improvement and financial responsibility, Maryland and the federal government have instituted hospital pay for performance programs. Maryland is unique nationally in that the state sets hospital reimbursement rates for all payers. Maryland hospitals have a waiver from CMS’s Value Based Purchasing incentive program (limited to Medicare(...)