Given that today's culture is fully immersed in technology, it is easy to assume that any information you might need can be found with a few clicks. Occasionally, however, a few clicks can turn into an hours-long search-and in the world of medical staff services, it seems this...
Admitting fault and apologizing are skills that don't come naturally to many physicians, not because they are physicians, but because they are human, says Daniel O'Connell, PhD, master trainer and course manager at the Institute for Healthcare Communication in New Haven, Conn.
Thrombosis, sclerosis, embolism-it might not require conjugating verbs, but medical terminology is a language in itself, one that often creates a barrier between physicians and patients. When the patient also doesn't speak English, communicating becomes an even bigger obstacle.
Gone are the days when physicians could claim they were board eligible, even if they finished residency training 30 years ago. Effective January 1, the ABMS has put limits on the time between when a physician finishes residency training and when he or she passes the board...
The Arkansas Supreme Court recently opted not to recognize negligent credentialing as a cause of action in a medical malpractice case, going against the majority of other states and causing quite a stir within the medical community.
Better Times Hospital is in crisis. The medical staff is deeply rooted in a departmental structure that relies heavily on committees, and few physicians want to serve on them. Joe, the medical staff president, has just finished reading Leading Change by John Kotter and has...
In the medical setting, electronic devices are supposed to help improve communication between physicians and various individuals and functions in the hospital.
The medical executive committee (MEC) at Better Times Hospital has proportional representation. Many years ago (no one is sure exactly when), the MEC agreed that each of the 15 clinical departments should have at least one seat on the MEC regardless of its size. For every...
The National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) is taking a stand to protect the identities of healthcare organizations, physicians, and other healthcare practitioners. In September 2011, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) shut down its public-use data file after...
Let's be honest-in the past, physicians at some organizations secured access to new devices and technologies by putting pressure on the hospital CEO. "The louder they yelled, the more likely they were to get what they wanted," says Virginia Gortych-Barnes, MD, physician...
