Weekly Progress Notes July 17

Kudos to Informatics, ED and Radiology Medical Staff

Congratulations to the Informatics, ED and Radiology Medical Staff for developing a workflow that has received national attention and first place on a poster presented at the 2019 Society for Informatics Imaging in Medicine Annual Meeting. The workflow has also received positive reviews at the annual Epic Expert Group Meeting.

Since last summer, radiologists have been able to flag clinically significant incidental findings and overreads within their normal workflow for follow up by the ED team and PCP. This important safety net allows patients to receive the care they need even after discharge from the ED.

Special kudos to William Craig, M.D. and Brendan Carmody, M.D. for their role in implementing the process at Suburban. Andrew Markowski, M.D., Medical Director of Informatics, developed this process with a system-wide team of Radiologists, Emergency Medicine doctors, and Epic technical staff.

Translation of Patient Education Materials

The Johns Hopkins Medicine Patient and Family Education Committee—which comprises staff from Suburban—has made significant strides in making patient education materials available in languages other than English. Their collective goal is to provide 100% of written and video content in Spanish by Dec. 19, followed by adaptation into the other top five languages served by JHHS—Chinese, Arabic, Korean and Russian.

Click here for an updated list on the translation of patient education materials. Learn more on the JHHS Patient Education website.

MedChi Educational Series on Physician Dispensing

Are you looking for approved CME courses related to prescribing and dispensing opioids and other medications? The Maryland State Medical Society (MedChi) has developed the Physician Dispensing Educational Series to meet the educational needs of physicians. Click here to access the site and learn more.

SPEAK2US: Report Concerns by Calling the 24/7 Employee Hotline 

If you have a concern about illegal or unethical behavior at Suburban Hospital and Johns Hopkins Medicine, including patient and employee safety issues, make a confidential report through our SPEAK2US hotline at 844-SPEAK2US (844-773-2528). It is toll-free and available 24/7, and you have the option to remain anonymous. You also can make an online report at JohnsHopkinsSpeak2Us.com.

Study Shows Origin of Parkinson’s Disease

Johns Hopkins researchers say they have found additional evidence that Parkinson's disease originates among cells in the gut and travels up the body's neurons to the brain. Read more about this research, which offers a new, more accurate model in which to test ways to prevent or halt Parkinson’s disease progression.

Opioids and Orthopaedics

Orthopaedic surgeons are the third-highest physician prescribers of opioids. With this in mind, Johns Hopkins researchers sought to better understand what drives these prescribing practices and to identify gaps in knowledge and potentially worrisome trends. Learn what they found.

Pediatric ED

Entrance to the Shaw Family Pediatric Emergency Center adjacent to Janice’s Coffee on the 1st floor of the hospital is accessible by staff badge-access only to ensure extra security. Please do not let visitors or anyone into the Pediatric ED—even if they press a button for entry—unless they are escorted by a member of the staff who has verified the purpose of their visit.

Thank you for helping to keep all of our patients safe. Contact Security at x2500 if you need assistance or suspect unusual behavior or activity.