From the President, May 2013
Welcome to all of you once again to another issue of your medical staff’s newsletter, and a warm welcome to you, Spring, in particular.
As all of you who work in the hospital are of course by now aware, “EHR” (electronic health-records) and Epic (the brand we have at Summit and through Sutter) are with us—and they are here for good. Our brave new electronic world commenced right on schedule, on April 6, and so far it seems as though things are going just about as expected—or about as I, a non-expert, expected anyway. Read More about From the President, May 2013
Post EPIC Go-Live
Here we are at “Post Go-Live.” There has been so much effort getting the EPIC system installed, that the Post Go-Live time is both anti-climactic because it is over, but also eye-opening because of the clarity that there is still a lot of work to be done. The Medical Staff at Summit has done extremely well overall. The statistics that we received including the percentage of doctors utilizing order entry are very good, and the comments we have received from the training and support staff have been impressive. Many have been at multiple Go-Lives, and they are impressed with how most of us have done at ABSMC. Read More about Post EPIC Go-Live
2010 Affordable Care Act
The 2010 Affordable Care Act specified penalties to hospitals whose severity-adjusted readmission rate exceeded expected levels for Medicare beneficiaries. On Oct. 1, 2012, more than 2,000 hospitals throughout the country were notified of penalties for excessive readmission rates, ranging from 0.01 percent-1.00 percent of Medicare reimbursements. Alta Bates Summit Medical Center was one such hospital. Beginning in October 2013, the maximum penalty becomes 2.00 percent and then 3.00 percent in 2014. Read More about 2010 Affordable Care Act
Novel Influenza A (H7N9) Health Alert
The World Health Organization Report on Cases of Novel Influenza A (H7N9) in China reports there has been 51 laboratory confirmed cases, 11 deaths and no person-to-person transmission or epidemiological link of any cases to date.
Consider the possibility of novel influenza A (H7N9), if a patient is ill and has had: 1) recent travel to countries with human cases, especially those with close/direct contact with animals and/or 2) recent contact with a known human case of infection with novel influenza A (H7N9).
In the RARE event that we have a possible case of novel influenza A (H7N9), please do the following:
- Implement Standard plus Droplet, Contact, and Airborne precautions including eye protection, negative pressure or AIIR
- Collect nasopharyngeal specimen and send to CCPH Lab
- Order novel influenza A (H7N9) PCR test and send to CCPH lab
- Antiviral treatment with neuraminidase inhibitors should be started as soon as possible after the onset of illness (preliminary data suggest that the virus is susceptible).
- Cases of influenza due to novel viruses are reportable on California.
Additional information can be found at: WHO Situation Updates @ http://www.who.int/csr/don/en/ and the CDC Health Advisory (April 5, 2013) and CDC avian influenza A (H7N9) information page http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/h7n9-virus.htm.
By Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Infection Prevention Department
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Conference: New ICD-10 Codes
May 9, 2013 | Fir Conference Rooms | 12:15-1:15 p.m.
The transition to ICD-10 is one of the most daunting regulatory requirements ever imposed on physicians. Not only will the number of diagnosis codes increase almost fivefold—from 14,000 ICD-9 codes to 69,000 ICD-10 codes—new formatting and documentation requirements will impact numerous medical office processes and personnel. While the Oct. 1, 2014, implementation date may seem far away, physicians are well-advised to start planning for ICD-10 right away. Read More about Conference: New ICD-10 Codes
Welcome New Physicians
Please welcome the new physicians who joined our staff in April:
Charlton Byun, M.D.
Radiology
4241 Long Beach Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90807
562-912-2507
Arti Gehani, M.D.
Emergency Medicine
350 Hawthorne Ave.
Oakland, CA 94609
925-962-1800
Babak Kanani, M.D.
Internal Medicine
400 34th St.
Oakland, CA 94609
510-869-6883
From the President, April 2013
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