This is national Patient Safety Awareness Week, a little known observance that has largely failed in its mission to measurably inspire better patient care thru distributing educational materials in hospitals. Sadly, in the national conscious this observance ranks right up there with National Deviled Egg Day. (Yes, that is a real holiday.) I would rather this week not be a total wash for patients, so I would like to introduce you one man who did make a measureable and life-altering difference in the lives of one family three weeks ago.
His name is Richard Vance. He is not a physician. Not a hospital administrator. Doesn't even work in healthcare. He owns six restaurants and sells the best iced tea on the planet. Seriously. I am addicted. Three weeks ago, Dr. Stan Horner, who sits on our Board of Directors, came to town to discuss a new cardio-pulmonary early intervention program HealthCare PSI has developed for school-aged children. Why did we do this? Because we're tired of seeing stories about teens in their prime dropping dead on a football field or basketball court from undiagnosed cardio-pulmonary disorders. More about that in a future post.
Back to my story: We met with school district officials, learned of a program they are participating in (and have for the past 3 years) and had a nice meeting. The program, CALM, is supposed to aid children diagnosed with asthma by monitoring their condition and medication administration per their physician's instructions. It's a good team concept - school + physician + family - all working to control a child's chronic symptoms. We were told that every child in the school district with an asthma diagnosis is enrolled in this program which is overseen by a researcher at the University of Missouri.
After that meeting, we had lunch then introduced Dr. Horner to our friend, Richard Vance. CALM came up in the conversation. "Every child with asthma in the school system is enrolled in this program," I said. Richard told us that wasn't the case; said one of his restaurant managers had a child with asthma - uncontrolled asthma. Further, the child is in Urgent Care or ER on average of twice a month with life-threatening symptoms. This had gone on for several years and the parents were understandably at wit's end. The child had been referred to two specialists in different cities, with no measurable improvement.
Out comes the Droid. Richard makes a quick call to the child's mother, who confirmed she had never heard of CALM nor had she ever been contacted by the school's health services to inquire about a treatment schedule or repeated medical absences. Not one phone call, email or note home in the three years the program has been running. MU has been awarded a half million dollar grant to oversee a program that has completely failed to detect a child the program is targetted to help. Unbelievable.
Dr. Horner's specialty is asthma, allergy and immunology, with decades of experience in treating patients whose symptoms don't respond to one-size-fits-all care. Richard quizzed Stan then called the child's mother back and put the two of them on the phone. Within fifteen minutes they had covered symptoms, current treatment, family history, and medical test results. The next day, she phoned Stan's office in the state capital and set up appoints for both of her children - the youngest has a rare condition.
Richard Vance didn't have to intervene three weeks ago. He didn't have to call his store manager or make an introduction. He could have met Stan Horner and gone about his day. But that's not Richard's style. He's a businessman, husband and father who cares about people. It disturbed him to watch a child go through years of ineffective treatment. He cared enough to make a phone call and an introduction that just might save a child's life. And that's what makes Richard Vance a Health Care Hero.