Issue 16, August 2010
- Patient-Centered Care Urged by New Head of Medicare and Medicaid Services
- Trustee and Staff Support Internship Program That Encourages Diversity in Health Care Management
- Handmade Shawls Comfort Patients
Patient-Centered Care Urged by New Head of Medicare and Medicaid Services
Donald Berwick, MD is a revolutionary.
And as the new director of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, he is in a position to make change happen.
In an essay in Health Affairs, a leading journal of health policy thought and research, Dr. Berwick argues for putting the consumer of medical care first.
Donald Berwick, MD, is director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Berwick previously served as president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, clinical professor for pediatrics and health care policy at the Harvard Medical School and professor of health policy and management at the Harvard School of Public Health. He proposes this new definition of patient-centered care: “The experience of transparency, individualization, recognition, respect, dignity and choice in all matters, without exception, related to one’s person, circumstances and relationships in health care.”
Dr. Berwick recognizes that this “will involve some radical, unfamiliar and disruptive shifts in control and power, out of the hands of those who give care and into the hands of those who receive it.”
He envisions a scenario where hospitals would have no restrictions on visits by family or friends; the patients themselves would determine what they eat and what they wear; medical records would belong to the patient; operating room schedules would be designed to minimize waiting time.
Dr. Berwick is responding to what he sees as the current disaffection of patients.
“Ask patients today what they dislike about health care,” he says, “and they will mention distance, helplessness, discontinuity, a feeling of anonymity – too frequently properties of the fragmented institutions in which modern professionals work and train.” Dr. Berwick believes the focus should be on giving the patient the information, incentives and ability to make their own decisions in consultation with their doctor.
To accomplish this revolution in health care, much will depend on how physicians are trained, Dr. Berwick acknowledges. “The education of the new professional will reverse the academic notion that we must suppress our emotions in order to become technicians. We will not teach future professionals emotional distancing as a strategy for personal survival. We will teach them instead how to stay close to emotions that can generate energy for institutional change, which might help everyone survive."
Patient-centered care, as Dr. Berwick describes it, means that the patient receives treatment that is consistent with his or her goals, values, situation, and choices.
We at HealthCare Chaplaincy agree, as this philosophy of patient-centered care permeates all of our work in research, education, and clinical practice, and our future plans.
Dr. Berwick’s complete essay in Health Affairs can be found online at http://bit.ly/bozvmc
Trustee and Staff Support Internship Program That Encourages Diversity in Health Care Management
Trustee Mary Medina, founding director of the GNYHA Center for Trustee Initiatives (far left) and Jeanne Lee (far right) meet with the students. Over the past eleven years, the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) has created the nation’s largest and most successful summer internship program for African-American, Asian and Latino college undergraduate and graduate students who are pursuing a degree in health services management. Partnering with GNYHA in this Summer Enrichment Program are the American Hospital Association’s Institute for Diversity in Health Management, the National Association of Health Services Executives, and the Association of Hispanic Healthcare Executives.
The twelve-week long program is designed to increase the pipeline of racially and ethnically diverse individuals in health care leadership positions.
The program holds special interest for HealthCare Chaplaincy trustee Mary Medina, who is founding director of the GNYHA Center for Trustee initiatives. In that role she is responsible for recruiting candidates to serve on the governing boards of hospitals and continuing care facilities, with a special emphasis on diversity.
“Hospitals need talented leaders in a variety of areas,” says Mary. “People think of hospitals as nurses and doctors, but we also need attorneys, financial managers and business executives. We need a source of talent that will be able to handle the changing health care community.”
This summer two members of HealthCare Chaplaincy’s staff met with the students. Jeanne Lee, recent executive vice president and COO, shared anecdotes about her own career path. She also laid out some sobering facts. “America is aging,” Jeanne told the group. “Twenty five percent of today’s Medicare budget is spent in the last six months of a person’s life. Most of this goes to support costly medical intervention.” She stressed the need to have meaningful conversations with patients about their treatment preferences and wishes, and that a chaplain should be part of this discussion.
The Rev. Florine Thompson, director of pastoral care and education at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, explained the value that professional chaplains bring to health care administrators: “We come with more than a seminary degree and a bible. Professional chaplains attend to the spiritual needs of all patients regardless of faith. We are sensitive to their cultural diversity.”
Handmade Shawls Comfort Patients
An elderly Jewish woman was hit by an SUV. Badly injured, she was brought to the Hospital for Special Surgery. During her recovery she was given a prayer shawl, which she kept on her lap as a reminder that someone really cares for her. Attached to the shawl was a small, hand-written label with the words: “Crocheted by hand and threaded with prayers of love and hope. This shawl is a gift for you. From Lucy, St. Joseph Church, LIC.”
A young Roman Catholic man was badly beaten, his ankle crushed from the assault.
He was given a prayer shawl that he kept with him during his stay at the hospital, and clutched so tightly when he was getting his IV that he was afraid he’d tear it.
A Muslim woman was admitted for spinal surgery – a long, painful ordeal. She was badly in need of someone to care. Receiving a prayer shawl was very meaningful to her. “I hold onto it. I pray with it. I’m thankful for it.”
“Prayer shawls are knitted or crocheted for us by a prayer group from a church in Long Island City,” says HealthCare Chaplaincy’s Sr. Margaret Oettinger, OP, director of pastoral care at Hospital for Special Surgery. “They had heard about us and asked how they could be of help. They made 100 shawls for us, each with a prayer and blessing for the recipient. Upon completion, the shawls received a final blessing at a prayer service, and then were sent to us. We give them to patients badly in need of comfort.”
The idea for prayer shawls originated in 1998 by two graduates of the Women’s Leadership Institute at the Hartford Seminary. They combined compassion and their love of knitting and crocheting into a prayerful ministry and spiritual practice.
Since then, prayer shawl ministries have sprung up in many churches around the country.
Some recipients have continued the kindness by making a shawl themselves, and passing it on to someone in need. Thus the blessing ripples from person-to-person, with both the giver and receiver feeling the unconditional embrace of a sheltering, comforting spirit.
Follow us on
for the latest news about HealthCare Chaplaincy and the growing fields of palliative care and professional multifaith chaplaincy care.
We appreciate your interest and support. Please feel free to send any questions or comments to comm@healthcarechaplaincy.org.Sincerely,
The Rev. Dr. Walter J. Smith, S.J.
President & CEO
To subscribe, click here. For more information, write to comm@healthcarechaplaincy.org.Click {ClickThru1} to unsubscribe.
If this does not work, please send an e-mail toMailListUnsubscribe@healthcarechaplaincy.org, with the phrase
Unsubscribe-{FULLCAMPAIGNID}{ENCODEDUNIQUEID} in the subject line.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
HealthCare Chaplaincy
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment