The initial experience and response of vascular surgeons in Michigan during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The unprecedented pandemic spread of the novel coronavirus has severely impacted the delivery of healthcare services in the United States and around the world, and has exposed a variety of inefficiencies in healthcare infrastructure. Some states have been disproportionately affected such as New York and Michigan. In fact, Detroit and its surrounding areas have been named as the initial Midwest epicenter where over 106,000 cases have been confirmed in April 2020. METHOD, RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Facilities in Southeast Michigan have served as the frontline of the pandemic in the Midwest and in order to cope with the surge, rapid, and in some cases, complete restructuring of care was mandatory to effect change and attempt to deal with the emerging crisis. We describe the initial experience and response of 4 large vascular surgery health systems in Michigan to COVID-19.

Professional identity of allied health staff associated with a major health network organizational restructuring.

Maintenance of professional identity, particularly during periods of organizational restructuring, is critical within modern complex healthcare systems as professional identity contributes to the psychological well-being of staff and leaders. This study aimed to evaluate change in professional identity of allied health staff associated with a major health network organizational restructuring in Australia. Data were collected from allied health staff in 2017 and 2019, before (n = 226) and after (n = 197) the restructuring. An online questionnaire including the 10-question Brown's Group Identification Scale that considers the strength of professional identity of the individual with their own professional group was used. Professional identity of allied health staff was high before and after the organizational restructuring, although several individual statements, and overall professional identity, declined significantly post-restructuring. It was difficult to attribute these changes solely to the restructuring due to some differences in demographic characteristics between the two cohorts. Future studies should seek to understand the effect of other workplace factors on the professional identity of allied health staff. Further research could also investigate allied health professional identity to understand its importance within contemporary healthcare.

Reflections from London's Level-1 Major Trauma Centres during the COVID crisis.

Emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in dramatic changes in global healthcare provision. Resources were redirected across all healthcare sectors to support the treatment of viral pneumonia with resultant effects on other essential services. We describe the impact of this on the provision of major trauma care in a major capital city.

Reorganizing Care With the Implementation of Electronic Medical Records: A Time-Motion Study in the PICU.

OBJECTIVES: To assess caregivers' patient care time before and after the implementation of a reorganization of care plan with electronic medical records. DESIGN: A prospective, observational, time-motion study. SETTING: A level 3 PICU. PARTICIPANTS: Nurses and orderlies caring for intubated patients during an 8-hour work shift before (2008-2009) and after (2016) implementation of reorganization of care in 2013. INTERVENTIONS: The reorganization plan included improved telecommunication for healthcare workers, increased tasks delegated to orderlies, and an ICU-specific electronic medical record (Intellispace Critical Care and Anesthesia information system, Philips Healthcare). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Time spent completing various work tasks was recorded by direct observation, and proportion of time in tasks was compared for each study period. A total of 153.7 hours was observed from 22 nurses and 14 orderlies. There was no significant difference in the proportion of nursing patient care time before (68.8% [interquartile range, 48-72%]) and after (55% [interquartile range, 51-57%]) (p = 0.11) the reorganization with electronic medical record. Direct patient care task time for nurses was increased from 27.0% (interquartile range, 30-37%) before to 34.7% (interquartile range, 33-75%) (p = 0.336) after, and indirect patient care tasks decreased from 33.6% (interquartile range, 23-41%) to 18.6% (interquartile range, 16-22%) (p = 0.036). Documentation time significantly increased from 14.5% (interquartile range, 12-22%) to 26.2% (interquartile range, 23-28%) (p = 0.032). Nursing productivity ratio improved from 28.3 to 26.0. A survey revealed that nursing staff was satisfied with the electronic medical record, although there was a concern for the maintenance of oral communication in the unit. CONCLUSIONS: The reorganization of care with the implementation of an ICU-specific electronic medical record in the PICU did not change total patient care provided but improved nursing productivity, resulting in improved efficiency. Documentation time was significantly increased, and concern over reduced oral communication arose, which should be a focus for future electronic improvement strategies.

The "5Rs of Reorganization": A Case Report on Service Delivery Reorganization within a Pediatric Rehabilitation Organization.

AIMS: Pediatric rehabilitation centers constantly reorganize services to accommodate changes in funding, client needs, evidence-based practices, accountability requirements, theoretical models, and values. However, there are few service delivery models or descriptions of how organizations plan for change to guide organizations through this complex task. METHODS: This case report presents the "5Rs of Reorganization," a novel process for planning service delivery reorganization projects in pediatric rehabilitation centers. The 5Rs include: 1. Recognize the need for change, 2. Reallocate resources for project management, 3. Review the reality of clients, service delivery, and the community, 4. Reconstruct reality, and 5. Report results. RESULTS: The implementation and outcomes of the "5Rs of Reorganization" process are described for one pediatric rehabilitation center to illustrate how use of this process led to effective service delivery reorganization planning. The resulting multi-component customized service delivery plan reflects high levels of stakeholder involvement. CONCLUSIONS: Principles of project management can be applied to support service delivery reorganization planning within pediatric rehabilitation centers using the "5Rs of Reorganization." Strong communication throughout the planning phase is key to developing and sharing a plan for service delivery reorganization. Communication can be supported through use of the 5R process.

Preparing yourself for board roles: nurses in governance.

This article focuses on the need for nurses to begin to think about their potential roles as board members for health care organization or system boards. The transformation of US health care into integrated, value-based models that will serve people across the continuum of life is requiring a high level of expertise on boards of trustees. Nurses are uniquely qualified to serve as board experts on the models of care delivery, from the unique point of view of both a clinician and a business leader. They are advocates of patients and families. It is time for nurse leaders to assess both their interest in serving in a governance role and the ways they can pursue board membership.

[National organization of forensic medicine in France]. / Organisation nationale de la médecine légale en France.

Forensic medicine has long been characterized, in France, by diverse medical practices, which affected its recognition and development. A change was needed, Harmonization procedure includes the development of professional guidelines and allows forensic medicine to look at itself. However, the implementation of the recommendations is still far from complete. A national reform came into effect on 15 January 2011 and has defined a national reform of forensic medicine which includes funding by global budgets instead of fee-for-service. This reform allows easier organization and identification of forensic medicine units. One year later, tangible results are mixed. Forensic medicine is now more clearly identified but properly defined funding criteria are still lacking.

Reopening Endoscopy after the COVID-19 Outbreak: Indications from a High Incidence Scenario.

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Restructuring Electrophysiology During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Practical Guide From a New York City Hospital Network.

The coronavirus disease 2019 crisis is a global pandemic of a novel infectious disease with far-ranging public health implications. With regard to cardiac electrophysiology (EP) services, we discuss the "real-world" challenges and solutions that have been essential for efficient and successful (1) ramping down of standard clinical practice patterns and (2) pivoting of workflow processes to meet the demands of this pandemic. The aims of these recommendations are to outline: (1) essential practical steps to approaching procedures, as well as outpatient and inpatient care of EP patients, with relevant examples, (2) successful strategies to minimize exposure risk to patients and clinical staff while also balancing resource utilization, (3) challenges related to redeployment and restructuring of clinical and support staff, and (4) considerations regarding continued collaboration with clinical and administrative colleagues to implement these changes. While process changes will vary across practices and hospital systems, we believe that these experiences from 4 different EP sections in a large New York City hospital network currently based in the global epicenter of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic will prove useful for other EP practices adapting their own practices in preparation for local surges.

Service design. Sink or swim.

Small hospitals are struggling to remain independent of large centralised facilities. They are employing imaginative solutions to retain key services. Historical barriers to these solutions are diminishing.

A holistic view on implementing hospital autonomy reforms in developing countries: a systematic review.

The excessive use of resources, inefficiency and poor service quality in public hospitals has led developing countries to create reforms in public hospital governance, including autonomization. Hospital autonomy refers to the delegation of administrative rights to the hospital management team. The purpose of the present research is to review different aspects of hospital autonomy reforms in developing countries, such as incentives, preparations, obstacles and facilitators to change prior to implementation, impacts on achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) goals, challenges, outcomes and implications for implementation. A systematic review of the evidence from developing countries was performed. The results showed that these countries have undertaken autonomy reforms in order to improve the efficiency, quality and accountability of their hospitals. Also, studies emphasized the role of the World Bank in facilitation and guidance, and identified bureaucratic culture and political instability as barriers to change for the implementation of hospital autonomy reform. Preparations were limited to two key areas, i.e. ensuring access to healthcare services and ensuring the implementation of these reforms. The main challenges were lack of infrastructure, poor planning and policymaking, poor programme control, limited decision rights, inappropriate incentives and weaknesses in the accountability system. The results indicated that these reforms had no discernible effect on quality, efficiency and other management indicators, while leading to an increase in hospital costs and out-of-pocket payments. Also, implementing these reforms affected the progress toward achieving UHC. Overall, the results showed that there are two factors in failed implementation of these hospital reforms in developing countries: (1) lack of a systematic and holistic view, and (2) incomplete or poor implementation of different aspects of these reforms.

Lean thinking across a hospital: redesigning care at the Flinders Medical Centre.

Lean thinking is a method for organising complex production processes so as to encourage flow and reduce waste. While the principles of lean thinking were developed in the manufacturing sector, there is increasing interest in its application in health care. This case history documents the introduction and development of Redesigning Care, a lean thinking-based program to redesign care processes across a teaching general hospital. Redesigning Care has produced substantial benefits over the first two-and-a-half years of its implementation, making care both safer and more accessible. Redesigning Care has not been aimed at changing the specifics of clinical practice. Rather, it has been concerned with improving the flow of patients through clinical and other systems. Concepts that emerged in the manufacturing sector have been readily translatable into health care. Lean thinking may play an important role in the reform of health care in Australia and elsewhere.

Improving emergency department efficiency by patient streaming to outcomes-based teams.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the process and results of a process redesign based on task analysis and lean thinking approaches aimed at improving emergency department (ED) efficiency. METHODS: Before-and-after study comparing 12-month periods before and after the process redesign for total episodes of ambulance bypass, waiting times (overall and by triage category) and total ED time (overall and by triage category). Time data were analysed using non-parametric methods. RESULTS: The years were broadly comparable, with the exception that there was an 8.4% increase in total hours of care delivered (a marker of ED workload) in the year after the change. Episodes of ambulance bypass reduced by 55% (120 v 54). There were statistically significant waiting times reductions for triage categories 3 and 5 (median reductions 5 and 11 minutes respectively). There was an increase in total ED time for triage category 3 (median increase 7 min) and a decrease for categories 4 and 5 (median reduction 14 and 18 min, respectively). CONCLUSION: ED process redesign based on task analysis and lean thinking approaches can result in improved ED efficiency.

Increasing physician engagement. Using norms of physician culture to improve relationships with medical staff.

Comments on the 2004 survey identified that physicians thought it was too early to judge whether the new structure itself was successful. This year, the survey will be repeated to measure the effectiveness of the new structure and to help administrators set goals to further improve physician engagement levels. Meanwhile, Mercy & Unity is using the tenets of the physician compact, elements of physician culture, and elements of administrative culture to inform new process-improvement activities. More study is needed to identify whether Mercy & Unity's techniques of reorganization contributed to the higher rates of physician satisfaction and engagement, but it is our belief that incorporating physician cultural norms into the process helped prevent the change process from turning the horse into the proverbial camel.

CHANGE THE FOCUS, CHANGE THE FUTURE.

Employee culture and patient care played equal roles in the turnaround tale of a struggling hospital, says the chief medical officer who helped it find a new, winning way.

PHYSICIAN ADVISERS ADD UP FOR SOME HOSPITALS.

A team of health care experts crunches the numbers sand reaches the conclusion that creating - or expanding - a physician adviser program is a good return on investment for any organization that's considering it.