November 2013 ~ kathiskreations

Saturday, November 30, 2013

How to deal with performance anxiety

Here's a really interesting insight from a musician about one way to deal with performance anxiety. Or Ben-Natan is a vocalist who sings bass in classical and other music concerts in Israel. At a recent rehearsal with a chamber group in Zichron Ya'akov, his wife made sure that their little granddaughter was sitting near her in the front row to watch the performance.When...

Shaking the hubris of the profession

My friend Danny Sands writes a remarkable story about a recent medical problem he faced. It's called "On The Ultimate Loss of Control, Living with Uncertainty, Reflecting on the Future, and Being a Patient." It is beautifully written and worth a look.I have been struck by a number of similar types of stories recently in which doctors have become patients or have been with close families members in that situation. I think it is a wonderful...

In memoriam: Arik Einstein

The story goes that, on his 70th birthday, Arik Einstein was invited to lunch by the president of Israel. "Mr. President," he replied, "please let me stay home."This week this legendary performer, an icon in the country, died from a ruptured aneurysm at age 74. The outpouring of grief and appreciation has been truly remarkable. For example, thousands of people attended hours-long open-air concerts in Tel Aviv, singing the well-known lyrics...

Happy holidays!

My friend Lisa Popick Coll offers this version of a Thanksgivukkiah on Facebook.Reportedly the two holidays will not coincide for another 70,000 years. More or less. The explanation:The overlap this year is because according to the Jewish calendar, this is a leap year, meaning that an entire extra month is added to the calendar. Because of that, most major Jewish holidays...

Traveling in Chicago recently, I saw these ads on the side of a major hospital. I was struck by the idea that advertising for a mall was getting equal billing to advertising for orthopaedic services. Orthopaedics has always been a high profit item for hospitals. I guess dining and shopping has now reached that same lev...

Remembering Monique Doyle Spencer

A reminder of some of the impact of Monique Doyle Spencer, noted on the second yarzheit (anniversary of her death.) The Sunshine Girls, a breast cancer support group in Southeast US, with copies of The Courage Muscle. We'd often laugh about how she was always misplacing her reading glasses! Here's part of the collection she maintained by her bedside just...

Simulation centers have been popping up in hospitals across the world. These are useful, but for the most part their function is to provide technical training in surgical and other interventional techniques, as well as to practice resucitation and the like. Sometimes, too, they are used to study teams in stressful situations to provide lessons in team dynamics.Amitai...

Scott Adams: I hope my father dies soon.

Dilbert's Scott Adams writes an entirely serious (and angrily raw) post about an important topic, doctor-assisted suicide. Excerpts: I hope my father dies soon.And while I'm at it, I might want you to die a painful death too.I'm entirely serious on both counts.My father, age 86, is on the final approach to the long dirt nap (to use his own phrase). His mind is 98% gone, and all he has left is hours or possibly months of hideous unpleasantness...

At first, I thought it was an isolated incident. @Bob_Wachter from UCSF reported on Twitter:Lines betwn personal/professional contnue 2 blur, as I now use my @iPhone flashlght 2 look into my patients mouths. OK 2 clean it w/ alcohl?I jokingly responded:This makes me feel a bit uneasy, Bob. What if the phone rings? Or worse, buzzes! :)He answered:Good point, tho its not...

A colleague and I are in the midst of an introductory training session about the Lean process improvement philosophy at Sheba Medical Center on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel. We were invited by Dr. Eyal Zimlichman, head of quality management for the hospital (seen here with Jessica Livneh, head nurse of the oncology outpatient unit.) As is often the case, we find...

Competition matters on both sides of the Atlantic

There is often a lot to learn by comparing the US and UK health care systems, but as often as not we revert to Shaw’s “two nations separated by a common language” when looking for lessons. Let me give one example.Although the UK has had a single payer, nationalized system for over six decades, there also exits a small but vibrant private sector system. In this sector, private insurance companies—supported by premiums paid by individuals or corporations...

IWantGreatCare advances the Lean agenda

I don't think Neil Bacon (of IWantGreatCare* fame) meant to reinforce one of the main tenets of Lean process improvement in a recent blog post, but he did do so. I also don't think Neil meant to enhance the Lean philosophy by adding a new key dimension, but he did that, too. Let's start with his story from University Hospitals Morecambe Bay Trust:The senior nurse from the surgical unit recounted to her colleagues how last week an elderly patient...

Terry Wise shares

Terry Wise is an extraordinary person--wise, empathetic, warm, thoughtful, and vulnerable. She shares all these attributes with us in her book Waking Up, but she shares the benefit of her work with others through The Missing Peace Foundation:The Foundation provides financial assistance, public speaking and other resources to entities that lack funding to advance their...

Emily Mayhew's book Wounded, about which I wrote in early October, is now available in the United States through Amazon. This is simply the best book I have read about World War I, the 100th anniversary of which occurs this coming year. It tells the intimate stories of doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel assigned to the front during this terrible w...

From The Times of London, a new type of Advent calend...

Leadership Skills on WIHI

Madge Kaplan writes:The next WIHI broadcast — New Leadership Skills for Better Health and Health Care — will take place on Thursday, November 21, from 2 to 3 PM ET, and I hope you'll tune in.Our guests will include:Gary R. Yates, MD, President, Sentara Quality Care Network; former Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Sentara Healthcare Lee Sacks, MD,...

I have no way of knowing whom I may have hurt

A colleague writes with a thought-provoking story:As is often the case, learning the meaning of something can happen well after the actual events that precipitate our own maturation. So it was for me when my mother developed a growth on her esophagus just before her stomach, in the fall of 2009.My mother was scared and my father was trying not to appear scared. Together, they were preparing themselves to be lead by the healthcare...

My friend, colleague, and neurologist Seward Rutkove has invented several new fascinating medical devices. One of these--Aim--is designed for the general marketplace (as opposed to medical clinics.) He and his partner have started an Indiegogo campaign through which you can support the introduction of this device, plus get one for yourself. What does it do?Press...

Expanding our horizons as teachers

Bradley Flansbaum tells an amusing story about an international medical graduate he was mentoring and then concludes:Watching an international graduate take his first step assimilating into a new professional role, American style, opened my eyes once again to the valuable guidance we provide as teachers. I consider moments with them as prized as the interactions with my patients. What is the difference really? In both instances,...

Coaching as a leadership theme

Dr. Brian Wong has written a book called Heroes Need Not Apply. A number of friends have recommended it to me. I've not read it yet, but I did watch Dr. Wong's video in which he answers the question: "In your book, why does coaching become such an important leadership theme?" I found his answers thoughtful and compelling and recommend the short video to you. I'll look forward to reading the book some d...

Sweet to be mentioned. Thanks!

How lovely to have this blog listed as one of the "100 Important Sites for Healthcare Leaders and Executives" on the MHAPrograms.org website. They note: "Blogs, news sites and magazines in the healthcare industry often dedicate articles to covering the latest news on health leadership, promoting upcoming leadership conferences, and sharing advice that administrators can use to improve the efficacy of their organization."Indeed, one of my hoped-for...

Patty Skolnik adds "author" to her credentials

Congratulations to patient advocate Patty Skolnik in her new role as co-author in an international journal, Teaching and Learning in Medicine. The title of the article is "Patient Safety Education: What Was, What Is, and What Will Be?" You can find it here.The abstract:Patient safety is an important topic that has been receiving more attention in the current health...

Schwartz Center brings all together again

Petra Langer reminds us of an event that has become a mainstay of the New England healthcare community. This may be one of the few places where the intensely competitive actors in the region join forces in total unanimity!More than 150 doctors, nurses and other hospital staff who treated those injured in the Boston Marathon bombings will be honored at the 18th annual Kenneth B. Schwartz Compassionate Healthcare Dinner on Thursday, November...

A modest proposal

I’m going to offer an idea that is so outrageous it might actually have merit. This concerns the Boston area health care market, but my readers from other regions might also find it of interest.There are two health care entities in Massachusetts that face uncertain futures. One is Tufts Medical Center, a relatively small but highly respected academic medical center with a notable history, going all the way back to its antecedent’s founding...

Those of us in the US who have been overwhelmed lately by overly excited health care stories in the media look fondly across the Pond. We are confident that we can find a much calmer discourse about these issues in the UK. After all, a single payer system, well established, and held in fond regard by the populace can’t be very controversial. Well maybe. Here’s...

What's your QI IQ?

Here's an excellent program for residents and attending physicians in the New York City area who are interested in enhancing their quality improvement skills. It is offered jointly by CIR/SEIU Healthcare.A summary:This is a great educational opportunity for residents and attendings who are interested in taking their QI project to the next level and plan for publishing...

Sportsmanship supreme

You don't have to be a soccer fan to enjoy this video clip. Summary:Al Nahdha's goalkeeper Taisir Al Antaif was about to make a clearance early in the second half with the score still at 2-2 but noticed that his shoelace had come undone, and was clearly nervous about his boot coming off as he kicked.The opposing striker bearing down on him, a Brazilian by the name of Jobson, noticed what was going on - but instead of trying to take advantage,...

A thought for the day from the world of coaching girls soccer, with thanks to a colleague at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago.After a soccer game between two teams of seven-year-old girls:Frustrated coach: Your heads were just not in the game! Where were they?Player: I was thinking about princesses and puppi...

Northwestern Medicine learns from patients and families

I had the pleasure of making a presentation at a leadership meeting at Northwestern Medicine today. Afterwards, while sitting through some other business sessions of the team, I saw this simple graphic representation. It is emblematic of the types of changes that can occur when patients and families help set a health system's priorities. Northwestern has convened...

Chutzpah

The classic definition of chutzpah is provided by the man who kills his parents and then pleads for mercy from the sentencing judge on the grounds of being an orphan.Now, we have a story by Julie Donnelly in the Boston Business Journal about the CEO of a hospital system who bemoans the fact that "any savings from layoffs in the health care industry are constrained by labor agreements that often force hospitals to lay off the youngest, cheapest...

The word from Mt. Sinai

There’s some good stuff happening at Mt. Sinai Hospital in downtown Toronto, and I thought I’d take a moment to share examples with you. I was there because the folks at the hospital had invited me to give grand rounds and also to participate in some sessions with senior leadership and with their quality improvement champions. As is often the case, I learned more than I imparted,...

Southlake offers positive change

I shared a delightful day with people from Southlake Regional Health Centre, in Newmarket, Ontario. I found a (large) community hospital that has dramatically updated its service lines over the past few years and has also made real efforts to improve quality and safety. You could see signs of staff engagement throughout the hospital, including this visual reminder...

Extreme unusualness

I'm in Toronto to meet with the staff about quality and safety progress at Southlake Regional Health Centre and Mt. Sinai Hospital and am very much looking forward to that. Meanwhile, I get to read the Toronto Star, which has a story about the return to work of Mayor Rob Ford, "who ignited a firestorm last week when he admitted to smoking crack cocaine" and "will try to go back to business-as-usual."Here's the quote of the day, the best I have...

Learning from the sewers

The Fowl Meadow todayThe basic stages of building infrastructure--plan, design, build, and maintain--apply equally well to information systems and physical infrastructure like pipes, roads, and power systems. Over the years, the science of project management has developed many tools to help such projects stay on schedule and on budget, yet many projects fail to meet their...

Helping in Haiti

My good buddy Cherie Abbanat is CEO of Haiti Projects, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation with a mission to empower women in rural Haiti to lift themselves out of poverty, become self-sufficient and build community. Haiti Projects is located in the town of Fond des Blancs, where it is the second largest employee in the region where over 35,000 people live with no electricity...

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Monday, November 25, 2013

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Friday, November 22, 2013

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

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Sunday, November 17, 2013

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