Geri Aston

Physician Leaders, Care Delivery, Quality & Patient Safety

Re-evaluating diagnostic testing

Hospital radiologists and pathologists are on the receiving end of orders for scans and tests. But they can’t do their work alone.

With that in mind, they are building relationships with ordering physicians and working with them to ensure that patients get the right tests at the right time in the right place and in the right manner. They are encouraging ordering physicians to be thoughtful about what tests they order while also identifying ways to make diagnostic testing more efficient and patient-focused.

Physician Leaders, Care Delivery, Behavioral Health Care Delivery

Collaborating for behavioral health

Trustee talking points

• An estimated 43.4 million U.S. adults had a behavioral health issue in 2014. 
• People with chronic medical conditions have an increased risk of depression and vice versa.
• Worldwide, the lifespan of patients with severe mental disorders is 10 to 25 year shorter than that of the general population. The excess mortality among this group is largely related to preventable conditions.
• Only 12 percent of people in the U.S.

Physician Leaders, Care Delivery, Patient and Family Education/Engagement, Strategic Planning

New views on womens services

Trustee talking points

• The 2014 birthrate for women ages 25 to 29 was 106 births per 1,000, just slightly higher than the rate of 101 per 1,000 women ages 30 to 34, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• The only growth in U.S.

Delivery System Transformation, Operational Excellence, Care Delivery, Strategic Planning, Issues & Trends

Dispensing with old pharmacy rules crucial in health transformation

Governance Effectiveness, Operational Excellence, Quality & Patient Safety, Strategic Planning, Leveraging Technology, Issues & Trends

Hospitals Boost Cybersecurity Efforts

2015 was the year of the health care security breach. Nearly 100 million electronic health records were compromised, according to a December 2015 IBM Security report, blowing away the number of data breaches that occurred in the computer services and financial sectors.

Care Delivery, Quality & Patient Safety, Strategic Planning, Issues & Trends

3 Ways Hospitals Are Improving Behavioral Health Care

Snapshot

Years of deep cuts to mental health care services have left ill-equipped hospital emergency departments struggling to care for untreated patients. Three organizations confronted the problem head-on by integrating behavioral health into primary and specialty care, screening and supporting vulnerable families, and developing expansive partnerships with other organizations.

Operational Excellence, Care Delivery, Quality & Patient Safety

Connecting behavioral health patients to outpatient services

Florida's Lee Memorial Health System is using several strategies to connect emergency department patients with mental health and/or substance abuse problems to the outpatient care they need.