|
|
|
 |
 |
For members of the Texas Children's Hospital medical staff
|
|
From
the medical staff president
Transforming clinical care
 |
|
|
Robert W. Warren |
|
By Robert W. Warren, M.D.
With two hurricanes in September, it feels to me like an
eternity has passed since the last Progress Notes in August. Dr. Feigin writes of the extraordinary medical relief effort by
Baylor and Texas Children's Hospital physicians and staff here
in Houston for Katrina evacuees, and also about our own
preparations for a very close call with Rita. We have learned a
great deal from those experiences and are preparing to handle
future crises even better.
And then there was a second hurricane
Many thanks to the physicians, staff and volunteers of Texas
Children's who demonstrated their dedication and commit-ment
to our patients and families in dealing with Hurricane Rita
on Sept. 22-26. It is during times like these when an
organization’s true character comes to light, and Texas
Children's has proved once again that we can organ-ize,
execute and problem-solve in the most stressful of
situations. Many of you served on ride-out and relief teams
without hesitation, and although conditions were somewhat
challenging at times, everyone rose to the occasion with
confidence, compassion and professionalism.
Again, thank you for your individual sacrifices, great
teamwork, extraordinary leadership and continued commitment
to the children and families we serve.
Mark A. Wallace
President and Chief
Executive Officer
Dr. Ralph D. Feigin
Physician-in Chief |
And it’s also important that, even as we continue to care for
the displaced persons of both hurricanes, that we move on with
the work ahead. This edition of Progress Notes also focuses on
infection control in the hospital, with an article by Dr. Jeff
Starke, past president of the Medical Staff. News from Medical
Staff Committees includes new Pediatric Surgery Grand Rounds the
first Friday of each month and intranet online access to the
call schedule for all services. Dr. Sunehag is the author this
edition of our regularly featured “Bench to Bedside” article,
discussing glucose metabolism in very low birth weight infants,
and Dr. Buffone writes about fractionated and total bilirubin
measurement. Read carefully – this is an example where the
apparent total isn’t the sum of its parts!
HCIS vendor demonstrations
I’ve written before about our search for a new Health Care
Information System (HCIS) that will be a comprehensive inpatient
and outpatient tool. Epic and Cerner are the two finalist
vendors, and I’m very grateful to report that the first rounds
of demonstrations by each vendor were attended by hundreds of
physicians and staff. Extraordinary. The Epic second round has
just been completed, but Hurricane Rita led to the postponement
of the Cerner second round to late October/early November.
Please be sure to attend. The second round includes vendor
demonstrations of how their systems work with “real” patient
scenarios that we have written ourselves. We very much need your
feedback. Also during October and November, Texas Children's groups will be
visiting children’s hospitals around the country with Cerner or
Epic installed. All this information, plus vendor responses to
extensive questions we’ve written, will ultimately lead to a
system choice in December, followed shortly thereafter by
contract negotiations and the beginning of implementation in
2006.
Going forward, it’s very important to remember this is about
transforming clinical care – much, much more than installing or
even learning a new piece of software, like a word processor. As
examples, outpatient and inpatient documentation (and patient
demographics and scheduling) will all be tightly linked.
Clinical decision support will be a mouse click away, and you’ll
be able to place sets of orders. There will be linkages between
orders and results; so you’ll be able to decide about a
gentamicin order based on the last creatinine and patient’s
weight, brought up on screen for you automatically. No more ICU
flowsheets that are 10 feet by 10 feet, nor struggles to find
the one from day before yesterday, or to figure out if there’s been
a trend in blood pressures or I/O over the last week. You’ll be
able to see and document on the patient’s chart remotely, and
identify and communicate with others caring for the child
quickly and efficiently. So … those are the dreams.
Transformation to reality comes not only from our choosing the
best HCIS for us, but also with our creative work together,
pursuing perfection in clinical care. |
Robert W. Warren, M.D., is the 2005 president of the medical staff; medical director, Rheumatology Service; medical director, Information Services; and assistant medical director, Ambulatory
Services at Texas Children’s. He also is associate professor, Department of Pediatrics, at Baylor College of Medicine.
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
Online
CME
Free online
activity
A pediatric
educational series
Special topics in Pediatrics: Diagnosing a
Fever of Unknown Origin and Antimicrobial usage Update
|
|
Grand Rounds calendar
8:30 a.m., Fridays,
Texas Children's Hospital,
lower-level Auditorium
unless
otherwise listed.
October 7
Advances in Pediatric Nutritional Support
Leticia Castillo, M.D.,
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
October 14
CT and MR Angiography - A Primer for Pediatricians
Rajesh Krishnamurthy, M.D., Assistant Professor of Radiology
October 21
Fever Without Source in the Era of Conjugate Pneumococcal
Vaccine
Mark A. Ward, M.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
October 28
Vesicoureteral Reflux in Children
Eric A. Jones, M.D., Assistant Professor of Urology
November 4
Pediatric Trauma: Emergency Assessment, Stabilization and
Initial Management
David M. DeLemos, M.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics David
E. Wesson, M.D., Professor of Surgery
November 11
Reba Michels Hill Lectureship: The Impact of Maternal
Nutrition on the Neonate
Stish Kalhan, M.D., Professor and Director of the Center for
Metabolism and Nutrition, MetroHealth Medical Center, Case
Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
November 18
Clinical Pathological Conference: TBA
M. John Hicks, M.D., DDS, Ph.D., Professor of Pathology
November 25
Thanksgiving
December 2
Syncope in Children and Adolscents
Richard A. Friedman, M.D., Associate Professor of Pediatrics
|
|
