It’s a day when real men wear pink.

The first three months of 2012 TJC surveys are complete, and reports to Compass Clinical Consulting from clients and from the field draw a revealing and somewhat concerning picture…

READ  A Snapshot of First Quarter TJC Survey Results

…And now came the hardest part: waiting. Waiting sucks. It was six in the morning. Even though all I wanted to do was sleep, I could only doze off for about twenty minutes. I wandered aimlessly through the parents’ lounge. I watched the slice of sky between buildings outside the window change from black to grey to light blue as dawn broke over the city of Boston. Over an hour later the liaison called into the operating room for an update, and the specimen still hadn’t been taken out of my son’s body. I found that a little worrisome…

Read the rest.

And the thank-you note.

March 30th is Doctors Day in the US.

Thank you for the effort you expend in our behalf; the long hours, the sleepless nights, the time you spend patiently listening as we haltingly try to explain what has gone awry with our bodies or minds. 

Thank you for the skills you’ve honed over the years, and for your willingness to continue learning.

Thank you for  educating and reassuring us when we are confused and frightened.

Thank you for teaching the next generation so that your wisdom will benefit our chldren. 

Thanks to each of you, and Happy Doctors’ Day!

History of Doctors’ Day:

The first Doctors’ Day observance was March 30, 1933, in Winder, Ga. The idea came from Eudora Brown Almond, wife of Dr. Cha Almond, and the date was the anniversary of the first use of general anesthetic in surgery. (On March 30, 1842, Dr. Crawford Long of Barrow County, Ga., used ether to remove a tumor from a patient’s neck.)

The United States House of Representatives adopted a resolution commemorating Doctors’ Day on March 30, 1958. In 1990, legislation was introduced into the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate to establish a National Doctors Day. Following overwhelming approval by the House and Senate, then-President George Bush signed a resolution proclaiming March 30 as National Doctors’ Day.

The conference offers more than 40 sessions tracked by medical environment (Hospital, CVO, or MCO) and level of experience (New to the Field, Newly Certified, and Experienced).

Hotel booking is now open.

More information

In healthcare, safety awareness can mean the difference between life and death.

The briefing will be held in the Russell Senate Office Building Caucus Room (SR-325) on Tuesday, January 31, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

This event is free and open to the public. To attend, please RSVP at http://www.americantelemed.org/briefing.

The briefing is part of ATA’s larger effort to promote the deployment of interstate telemedicine, by reforming the U.S. medical licensure system.  For more information about ATA’s activities in this area, please visit www.fixlicensure.org.

ATA Policy on State Medical Licensure

Medical staff leaders struggle with what, if anything, to do when faced with this dilemma.  Should the clinical privileges of older staff members be limited?  Should they be forced to retire?  Many leaders choose to look the other way, especially when the practitioner is well-loved in the community and no patients have come forward to complain.  That philosophy, however, comes at a price; a high one if a patient ends up being harmed and an older, well-respected, physician’s mistake is the cause. 

Although there are no “one-size-fits-all” answers, Dr. Kenneth Cohn brings the discussion to the fore with a post on Hospital Impact. 

“The CEO and I brainstormed together when I asked him, “How does this physician want to be remembered?” Legacy becomes increasingly important when the marginal value of seeing one more patient diminishes.”

“Then his eyes brightened when I asked, “Does he have a special healthcare cause that he wants to support? Maybe, he could solicit contributions from grateful patients and their families.”

Seeing “one more patient” may not be in the best interest of anyone in this scenario, but older physicians have much to offer.  Their wealth of experience and tenure are valuable assets to the hospital and community.  They are often in an excellent position to act as advisers, or even take the lead, on medical staff projects and committees, especially those dealing with today’s complex issues.

The skill sets of older physicians may be changing, but they remain valuable.  It may simply be a matter of finding the right match of skill and need.