December 2004

Medical Staff Bulletin

Message from the Chief of Staff

Many members of the medical staff are aware of plans, developed over the last year, to construct a Cancer Center in the North Pavilion (CC/NP) on the current site of the Grace Building and Parking Lot #9. Within the last two weeks, the Yale-New Haven Hospital board of trustees granted approval to proceed with this project, entailing construction of a 500,000-square foot facility at a cost estimated around $430 million.

The last major expansion of our medical center was completed more than a decade ago, with the opening of the Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital. The South Pavilion opened a decade before that. Two major considerations have driven this CC/NP project. First, optimal cancer care requires better consolidation of facilities and services. The CC/NP will bring together our medical, surgical and gynecologic oncology nursing units, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, bone marrow transplant units and the Breast Center.

Further, there is a growing need for additional inpatient resources. Total annual inpatient discharges in the last five years have increased by more than 6,000, and it is recognized that replacement of as many as 280 beds in the East Pavilion may be necessary within the next 10-15 years. We are close to exceeding capacity in our operating rooms and expansion of diagnostic imaging services will be essential to meet patient care demands.

The CC/NP will, in summary, permit Yale-New Haven Hospital to greatly improve the coordination, delivery and ease of cancer services for our patients and their physicians. It will also add critical capacity for all inpatient services that have been very stressed in the last few years. Special thanks to Norm Roth, senior VP for administration, who has led the CC/NP planning, with a large supporting cast. Thanks also to all the members of the medical staff who have participated in hundreds of hours of planning and programming.

We hope this holiday season brings you much peace and especially good health in the new year.

CCSS sunset and SCM dawning

Since August, we have been engaged in an aggressive campaign to ensure that all members of the attending and house staffs obtain sign-on codes for our new clinical information system, Sunrise Clinical Manager (SCM). Within a month, direct access to CCSS will disappear from clinical work stations and access to CCSS will only be through SCM. You can obtain an SCM sign-on code in the CCSS/SCM department, located behind the East Pavilion cafeteria, Monday-Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The hospital has created an online training module that will help physicians gain familiarity with the new system. It can be accessed from any web browser, at any time. In addition, during the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, there is a dedicated phone line (203-688-4357, ext. 3) for you to call with any questions regarding SCM.

Performance Management Update

Over the last few months in this space we have discussed our performance on our publicly reported quality metrics, and have pointed out our steady improvement. One area that has demonstrated the most improvement in the past three months is the use of ACE-I in CHF and AMI. In addition to the work of Dr. Crede and the staff of QISS, we must thank Janet Parkosewich and Dr. Jamie Gerber and the staff of CCSS for the breakthrough improvement with this measure. Many thanks!

In October, the hand hygiene compliance rate for physicians after patient contact was 74%; a rate substantially below last year's performance and lower that any other group of hospital staff for the month of October. The reports of an especially virulent strain of C. difficile that have plagued many U.S. and Canadian hospitals in recent weeks highlight how extremely important hand hygiene is in the protection of our patients. Please take the opportunity to review the performance chart below. If you have any questions, please call Dr. Tom Balcezak a (203) 688-1343.

August Performance

Efficient management of our precious bed resources has been hampered by available systems to communicate bed status in a timely fashion. For the last two years, Victor Morris, Jennifer White, David Wurcel and Carol Holland, with considerable support from Management Information Systems, have been laboring to rectify this problem. A new computer system, Premise, now permits creation of a Bed Management Dashboard (BMD) and provide real-time notification of the availability of every bed.

In conjunction with the BMD, the roles and responsibilities of our environmental associates (EAs) have been restructured to permit centralization of functions, rapid room turnover, improved efficiency of patient transport, and enhanced overall environment of care.

Physician Referral Service registration information

Members of the Yale-New Haven Medical Staff are eligible to participate in the hospital's Physician Referral Service operated out of our call center at (203) 688-2000 and online . You must register to be included. The service is free to physicians and to the consumer. Last year, the call center provided almost 16,421 physician referrals, while online users requested 51,600 physician profiles. In addition to providing information to consumers, the call center also provides physicians with a report on how often consumers are given their contact information.

In January each year, the call center sends each participating physician a letter with her or his profile so they can update any of their call center information, including new office locations, change of phone numbers and insurance participation. To register or for more information about the advantages of participation, contact Ann Marie Bonvini, manager of call center services, at (203) 688-8403.

Refer items for the next issue of Medical Staff Bulletin via phone, fax, E-mail or mail to:
Peter N. Herbert, MD
1063 Clinic Building
P: (203) 688-2604, F: (203) 688-7152
herbertpn@ynhh.org
or
Katie Murphy
Marketing & Communications
GB 443
P: (203) 688-2492, F: (203) 688-2491
Katie.Murphy@ynhh.org

Back issues of the Medical Staff Bulletin:

• November 2004
• October 2004
• September 2004
• July 2004
• June 2004
• May 2004
• April 2004
• March 2004
• February 2004
• January 2004
• January/February 2003
• October/November 2002
• August/September 2002
• April/May 2002
• February/March 2002
• January 2002
• November 2001
• July/August 2001

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Last revised: December 14, 2004 (mv)

Home page URL: http://www.ynhh.org

All information is intended for your general knowledge and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. You should seek prompt medical care for any specific health issues and consult your physician before starting a new fitness regimen.