Weekly Progress Notes July 10

Suburban Hospital’s 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) report is complete! The report is a result of a yearlong process aimed at identifying the most pressing health issues affecting our surrounding community.

The comprehensive assessment examines a variety of health indicators, including mortality and morbidity rates for chronic health conditions. The report identified cardiovascular health, cancer, behavioral health, diabetes, injuries and infections as the most pressing health priorities for our community.

The CHNA is another example of how Suburban Hospital is transforming lives and helping to improve health outcomes outside the walls of the hospital. Medical staff may use this data to help support grant writing, white papers and presentations as well as to learn more about the health issues that influence the patients and families we serve. 

Bethesda Magazine highlighted Suburban’s “A” rating from the Leapfrog Group in the spring 2019 round of hospital safety grades. Here are a few highlights from the article:

• The Bethesda hospital excelled in virtually every area, leading Maryland hospitals in staff cooperation to prevent errors, use of computer systems and reducing risks to patients.
• “It’s all about diligence and focus, that comes from our leadership,’ Suburban Vice President of Medical Affairs Dr. Eric Dobkin said. “Our leadership team is focused on patient safety and the quality of care that we provide.”
• Suburban has taken a preemptive approach to preventing errors, analyzing deficiencies at similar hospitals and taking measures to avoid those issues, Dobkin said.

Epic Upgrade on July 14

A major version upgrade to Epic is scheduled for Sunday, July 14 from 2:30 – 4:30 a.m. During this downtime, critical system, application, full client and interface updates will be installed, configured, and deployed in the Production environment. All users will have access to the View-Only SRO (Supports Read-Only) for inquiry during the downtime. If needed, downtime forms are available on HPO under “SH BCA Forms.”

Sepsis Treatment Advancement Team

The Sepsis Treatment Advancement Team (STAT) will be set up outside the elevator bank on the 2nd floor of the hospital on Monday, July 15 from 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.Stop by to participate in fun educational activities and games. By popular demand, the team will also be selling a limited supply of the Suspect Sepsis tee-shirts featuring the Sepsis Dude (a.k.a. “Chief of Staph”).

Suburban’s Professional Development Council will also be leading Sepsis activities on Friday, July 19 from 11 a.m. –1 p.m. on the 2nd floor of the hospital, outside of the elevator bank.

Minutes for June Pharmacy and Therapeutics Medication Error Reduction Committee Meeting

Click here to download the minutes from the June 11, 2019 Pharmacy and Therapeutics Medication Error Reduction Committee meeting.

 

MEDICAL STAFF CALENDAR

Click here for the July 2019 calendar. 

Rather than rely on categorizing schizophrenia by symptoms, researchers have long sought how to better classify types of this mental disorder to tailor treatment. Read about new research showing that an abnormal protein buildup — like that found in neurodegenerative diseases — may be a marker for specific kinds of schizophrenia.

An experimental drug related to bone growth was recently shown to increase growth rate among children and teenagers with achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism. Learn more about how this may lead to improved quality of life for patients with dwarfism.

 

HOPKINS GREATER WASHINGTON MD HIGHLIGHT  

Introducing the Johns Hopkins National Proton Therapy Center

In October, Johns Hopkins will open the National Proton Therapy Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital with the most advanced technology available. One of only a handful of centers nationwide, physicians will be able to refer patients to the center, without the need for travel. In this video on HopkinsGreaterWashingtonMD.org, Curtiland Deville Jr, M.D. highlights the capabilities of the center. 

 

EPIC TIP OF THE WEEK

Epic Photo Display

Beginning July 14, staff and faculty members will have greater control over their photo display in Epic, including the ability to hide photos from display in patient-facing applications such as MyChart and MyChart Bedside. Download this handout to learn more.