Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Top Health system?

This past January my hospital was named the #1 most integrated health facility in the U.S. That sounds like quite and achievement? right? Our hospital has taken this designation and run with it. putting up signs all over the facilities, hanging billboards, making shirts, practically everything you can do in the advertising world. Every sign says this; #1 integrated health system. That statement makes you think it's the top health system in the U.S. when in fact, it's just the most integrated. I know this is a little confusing, it was confusing for me as well, so I did a little investigation.

Verispan evaluates health systems based on the level of integration in eight categories: integration; integrated technology; contractual capabilities; outpatient utilization; financial stability; services and access; hospital utilization; and physicians.

It sounds to me like they're really just evaluating how integrated the computer systems are. Which makes me wonder a couple of things.
A. Is it a lie to proclaim the status of #1 integrated health system? should they have to say They're the most integrated health system?
B. How crappy are every one else's systems. The army's information management systems are better than my hospitals. We run 15 year old programs on brand spanking new computers, we have multiple programs that aren't interfaced, and Nothing "crosses over" so there are workers who have unnecessary jobs like transferring information from one system to the next. It's all terribly inefficient.

Don't get me wrong I think That we're a very good hospital. But, Honestly, I've worked at much maligned hospitals in the military (think Walter Reed) who were far superior to this place. It just makes me wonder how liberal these processes are. Can you basically give your hospital any title you want. While it is a great a achievement to have a supposed top computer system, I don't think you can translate that into actual care.

(Now a Side note)
Anyway, I'll remind you that I don't really get to see patients. The only thing I get to see are test results, Lab requisitions, and a diagnosis. so sometimes it's pretty funny Like last night i got a requisition for a 97 year old man that came into the E.R. With The diagnosis of "misbehavior" Are you shitting me? He's 97 he can do whatever the hell he wants. It also turns out that his drug screen was positive for THC. This old guy was high as a bird. let him do what the hell he wants he doesn't have that much time to live anyway. The point seems to have gotten lost in this last paragraph Though. I see these weird diagnoses all the time and I'm going to start keeping a record of them to share with you. I think it'll be damned funny and it'll give me alot more material to write about. I can only write PTBG girl is an idiot so many times.

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