CHOC Docs Blog

CHOC Children’s has been ranked as one of the nation’s best children’s hospitals in U.S. News & World Report’s 2013-14 Best Children’s Hospitals rankings, available today at www.usnews.com/childrenshospitals.  CHOC ranked in the following specialties: Cancer; Diabetes & Endocrinology; Neonatology; Neurology & Neurosurgery; Pulmonology; and Urology.

U.S. News introduced the Best Children’s Hospitals rankings in 2007 to help families of sick children find the best medical care available. The rankings provide families with quality-related information at the individual hospital level.

Each hospital’s reputation among doctors was only a small part of what U.S. News factored into its rankings. Three-quarters of each hospital’s score was determined through an analysis of patient outcomes and data on the structural resources each hospital has in place to support pediatric care.

To learn more, please visit CHOC’s Pressroom page or click here: http://www.choc.org/pressroom/index.cfm?id=P00296&nid=687&section=pressroom&keyword=pressroom

The 2013 Physician Engagement Survey deadline has been extended to Sunday, June 9, 2013. Don’t miss this important opportunity to provide CHOC Children’s with your confidential feedback to better serve you and your patients!

Please look for your email from Morehead Associates, an independent research firm, with your survey link and password.

Thank you in advance for your participation. Should you have any questions, please contact Leslie Castelo, Project Leader, at 714-509-4329 or LCastelo@choc.org.

In appreciation for completing the on-line 2013 MD Engagement Survey, all participants will be entered into a raffle for the opportunity to win a Universal Gift Card ($100.00 value).

By Sharief Taraman, M.D., pediatric neurologist at CHOC Children’s

“That it will ever come into general use, notwithstanding its value, is extremely doubtful; because its beneficial application requires much time and gives a good bit of trouble both to the patient and the practitioner; because its hue and character are foreign and opposed to all our habits and associations.” – The London Times

No, this is not a quote about the electronic health record; rather, it is from 1834 and about the stethoscope. So, imagine how incredulous the newspaper would have been about the topics discussed earlier this month at the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Southern California Chapter’s “Adventures in Clinical Informatics” Summit held May 3 at CHOC Children’s Hospital.

Sharief Taraman, M.D.

Healthcare is on the verge of an exciting technological transformation, particularly with the widespread implementation of electronic health records (EHR).  Dr. Steven Simpson, from the University of Kansas, opened the summit by sharing how the EHR was leveraged to identify and treat sepsis. The EHR algorithm markedly reduced the mortality rate related to sepsis, and, if applied nationwide, will save more than 100,000 lives per year.

Jerry Fahrni, PharmD, from Talyst shared with attendees about pharmacy automation and advancements in mobile health. A recent Pew Internet survey found half of all smartphone owners use their devices to get health information and one-fifth of smartphone owners have health apps. Eighty percent of cell phone owners say they send and receive text messages, but just nine percent say they receive text updates or alerts about health or medical issues. 

Healthcare providers have identified this underutilized ability to connect with patients, and numerous groups are developing solutions for this niche. Exciting advancements include products like Asthmapolis, a Bluetooth-enabled sensor that monitors inhaler usage by date, time and location, and provides information for improved patient care as well as population health data regarding inhaler usage at street level geolocation. With an estimated market of $5.6 billion by 2017, the mobile application sensor market is bound to yield many more exciting products that improve healthcare delivery and surveillance.

Dr. Bob Dolin, of Lantana Consulting Group, then tackled Meaningful Use, the standards defined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Incentive Programs that govern the use of EHR and allow eligible providers and hospitals to earn incentive payments by meeting specific criteria.  His presentation focused on how the “big data, incrementally structured” philosophy is being operationalized.

Representatives from The Bill Holmes Tower at CHOC Children’s activation team also presented “Merging People, Processes and Technology to Create the New CHOC.” This talk highlighted the opening of emergency medicine, radiology, laboratory, pathology and surgical services in the Holmes Tower. As indicated by the talk’s title, technology was not the be all and end all of the new tower, but rather like the stethoscope: another tool to aid the medical field.

Also on the day’s docket was an advocacy session that took place with members of the California Assembly, as well as a closing keynote address from Willa Fields, RN, who shared her perspective of an HIMSS delegation to Israel. 

This is the second consecutive year that CHOC has hosted the HIMSS Southern California Chapter Annual Clinical Informatics Summit and we look forward to hosting many more in the future.

Slides from the Summit are available here: http://www.weyond.com/himss/socal/acis/2013/

Another prominent conference is on CHOC’s horizon: From Oct. 3 through 5, CHOC will  host “Pediatrics 2040: Trends And Innovations for the Next 25 Years,”   a comprehensive three-day academic program at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa that focuses on emerging medical and technological advances and trends in the care of children in the coming era.  For more information, visit www.choc.org/pediatrics2040/.

 The opening of Orange County’s first and only completely pediatric emergency department is the final link in strengthening the region’s pediatric safety net. The 22,000-square-foot Julia and George Argyros Emergency Department at CHOC Children’s Hospital offers world-class pediatric emergency medical care. Board-certified pediatric emergency medicine physicians and specially trained nurses provide rapid triage, diagnosis and treatment within the safest, most technologically advanced environment available.

The new emergency department also offers patient- and family-centered care, including Child Life Services intended to mitigate pain and anxiety for our young patients. Even our larger-than-usual exam rooms have been specifically designed to accommodate family members and strollers.

Open since late March, CHOC’s emergency department has:

• Three triage suites and 31 treatment rooms, with the capacity to add more.

• Quick and easy access to pediatric surgical, pathology, imaging and laboratory services located inside The Bill Holmes Tower, in addition to enhanced family amenities.

• Four ambulance bays and two rooftop heliports (one on each tower).

Working in Partnership With Community Physicians

Expect to see familiar faces inside the new emergency department. Emergency Medical Specialists of Orange County (EMSOC) continues to provide board-certified pediatric emergency medicine physician coverage around the clock.

“EMSOC has been taking care of CHOC children for over 36 years —about 32.5 million children during that time,” said James Pierog, M.D., medical director of emergency services at CHOC. “Our experience in managing patients is excellent and the reputation of our group is outstanding.”

For more information, contact Dr. Pierog or Dr. Lilit Minasyan, assistant medical director, EMSOC at (714) 543-8911.

 5 Tips To Know

1) Calling Ahead For Patients

If you are directing a family to drive over to the new emergency department, please call (714) 509-9095. You will be immediately transferred to an ED nurse or physician to facilitate the information and transport.

2) Arranging For 24-Hour CHOC Emergency Transport Services

To arrange an immediate transport from your office, please call (714) 509-5324.

3) Accessing ED Test Results, X-Rays

All physicians may access this information through the hospital’s Cerner Information Network.

• CHOC Medical Staff: Please contact the CHOC Help Desk at (714) 509-4457.

• Non-CHOC Medical Staff: Please contact CHOC Business Development at (714) 509-4363.

4) Retrieving ED Visit Reports — Upon receipt of parental consent, this information will be automatically forwarded to your office.

5) CHOC Help Desk — Call any time you need assistance accessing electronic records at (714) 509-4457.

The CHOC 2020 Strategic Planning process continues making great progress.  As the name suggests, the product of this visioning effort is a comprehensive road map to guide our organization through the next seven years — an era that will bring dramatic change for CHOC as well as our surrounding environment.

In recent months, six work groups, led by a physician and hospital representative, were formed to define goals and begin to develop tactics, including resources, to meet those goals. 

Some areas of strategic focus include:

- Creating CHOC’s Pediatric System of Care
- Delivering high quality, safe care and an exceptional patient and family-centered experience
- Expanding CHOC’s geographic footprint and growing clinical programs
- Enhancing research, innovation and teaching
- Optimizing organizational infrastructure

The process began in September 2012, and the most recent event involving physicians was a physician retreat on March 9, in which workgroup progress and outcomes were presented by each physician co-leader, followed by break-out sessions and electronic polling to facilitate additional input from the broad cross-section of primary and specialty care physicians in attendance. The spirit of collaboration at the retreat was extremely gratifying, with the net result of a large volume of valuable insights and observations to guide us toward the conclusion of this vital process.

CHOC’s senior leaders are working closely with our physician leadership to distill the outcomes of the workgroups and physician input into a focused, prioritized set of recommendations for consideration. Before final recommendations are presented to the Board of Directors in June, we will be seeking additional physician participation through a variety of means.

For questions, more information, or if you would like to provide feedback, please email chocdocs@chocchildrens.org.