More “Reasons” to Come to BIDMC
BIDMC’s orthopaedic surgery department is growing by “leaps and bounds.”
Last month BIDMC updated its successful “Reasons” advertising campaign with three new ads highlighting key clinical services. Created by local advertising firm Small Army, the print ads feature eye-catching illustrations to explain why people in the community should consider using BIDMC as their hospital. The campaign also features local radio spots.
The newest ads focus on BIDMC’s cardiology, orthopaedic surgery and BreastCare Center services. They will run in local newspapers and on the radio through November.
“The campaign reinforces BIDMC’s reputation for providing the most advanced clinical care. This is a message particularly relevant to referring physicians, who are one of our key audiences,” says BIDMC Director of Marketing Communications Richard Averbuch. “Just as important, the campaign captures the lively and innovative spirit of the medical center.”
Ads highlight BIDMC’s cardiology division and BreastCare Center.
Published monthly for the people of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to build community, communicate direction, foster pride and recognize accomplishments.
Produced by Beth Israel Deaconess communications, (66)7-7300
director, internal communications: Cindy Whitcome
managing editor: Valerie Hope Goldstein
print and web layout & design: Christopher Ruhle
contributing photographers: Oran Barber, Bruce Wahl
contributing writers: Peggy Egan, Lori Howley, Cindy Whitcome
© BIDMC, Boston, MA, USA, 2005. All rights reserved. Material may be reproduced only with the express written consent of communications.
BIDMC is an EEO/AA employer.
BIDMC Implements High-Tech
Patient Safety Reporting System
Hans Kim, MD, demonstrates BIDMC's new patient safety reporting system to nurse Gina Bernard, RN, Reisman 12.
Recognizing that BIDMC staff are the eyes and ears of medical safety, BIDMC is rolling out a Web-based patient safety reporting system that lets staff and physicians report incidents such as falls or medication errors faster and share feedback across departments.
“Because they are on the front lines, BIDMC caregivers are in the best position to identify issues that may compromise safety,” says Hans Kim, MD, medical director of clinical effectiveness. “Access to the technology to document incidents and ‘near misses’ allows them to gather valuable information.”
While the department of health care quality and nurse managers always worked together to investigate incident reports, the new system speeds communication across departments. To further accelerate the reporting process, each unit’s nurse manager now takes primary responsibility for investigating reports. SICU Clinical Nurse Specialist Marcia Bixby, RN, says, “This system gives front line staff the tools and information to investigate an incident and take action to prevent a recurrence.”
Adds Director of Professional Practice Development Patricia Folcarelli, RN, PhD, “Such prompt notification of nurse managers allows for immediate follow-up and feedback to staff. We can also monitor trends and patterns of incidents across departments to further improve our systems or provide additional staff education as needed.”
The easy-to-use system, located under the CareWeb link of the Web portal, has benefits for all user groups. Nurse Manager Kim Sulmonte, RN, MHA, CC7A, says, “This system is incredibly user-friendly because the navigation is much like that of BIDMC’s other Web sites. Physicians and nurses also are kept in-the-loop as a report is processed and evaluated.”
The patient safety reporting system’s ability to interface with other IS systems, including e-mail, the provider index and the medication formulary, results in streamlined communication. Health care quality staff can also use the data to generate multi-faceted reports to prevent future incidents.
Camille Collette, RN, patient safety coordinator for health care quality, notes, “Previously, delegating tasks, acknowledging a report, and communicating with the incident reporter, the nurse manager and others were time-consuming and labor intensive steps. Now, everyone involved is notified simultaneously of a report’s status and the next steps.”
Kim concludes, “Since the 1970s, industries such as airlines have demonstrated the value of implementing a reporting system that encourages people to report incidents and near misses. The more data available, the better able we are to make improvements.”
— Peggy Egan