Advancing Health

Latest Episodes:

The Role of Firearm Safety in Preventing Suicide Sep 28, 2022

Show notes

According to the CDC, firearms are used in approximately 50% of all suicides. In this podcast, Dr. Emmy Betz, a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and director of the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative joins Laura Castellanos, associate director, Hospitals Against Violence initiative at the American Hospital Association. Together they explore the connections between firearms and suicide, and what hospitals and healthcare systems need to know about firearm suicide prevention. A variety of organizations are involved in the discussion about firearm safety and suicide. These include the Bulletpoints Project, Walk the Talk America, the partnership between the VA, NSSF, and ASFP, and the American College of Surgeons. For more information on the work that Dr. Betz is doing at the Injury and Violence Prevention Center, please visit https://coloradosph.cuanschutz.edu/research-and-practice/centers-programs/ivpc/research-practice/firearm-injury-prevention

Leadership Dialogue Series: Peggy Abbott from Ouachita County Medical Center Sep 26, 2022

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Recently, the hospital leadership team of Ouachita County Medical Center, in Camden, Ark., made the “heart-wrenching decision” to close a rural health clinic that the hospital had operated for 25 years. Leaders and staff also took wage cuts and reduced work hours. Take that one sad event … multiply it by more than 135 times over the past dozen years … and you’ve got some idea of the alarming economic challenges facing our nation’s rural and low-volume hospitals. Hospitals and health systems across the United States are experiencing unprecedented financial pressures right now. Labor shortages, increased expenses, and lower Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates impact most care providers, and none more so than rural hospitals. On this Leadership Dialogue Series podcast, AHA Board Chair Wright L. Lassiter III is joined by Peggy Abbott, CEO of Ouachita County Medical Center to discuss how the current economic stressors are affecting the small, rural hospital she leads. Like every hospital leader, Abbott’s foremost concern is keeping the doors open and continuing to meet patients’ and community health needs. Lassiter and Abbott talk about what that’s going to take…what changes are needed to keep the health care system in America as we know it functioning. As Abbott says, “Hospitals are too important to every community to let any hospital fail — we need every hospital.”

[Special Edition] How Prior Authorizations Can Harm Patient Care Sep 23, 2022

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In medical care, prior authorization was originally intended to ensure patients received appropriate care that was in line with tested methodologies. Today, “prior authorization” has become a dreaded term…often signaling delayed care and undue financial burdens posed to patients and care providers alike. In some cases, the process of prior authorization has actually put patient lives at risk. What changed over time? Most of all, what can be done about it now? In this special edition podcast, two colleagues who are very well informed about the hazards and pitfalls of the overuse or misuse of prior authorizations in the course of patient care. Terrence Cunningham directs AHA’s Administrative Simplification Policy, and Andrea Preisler is senior associate director, Administrative Simplification Policy.

Preventing Suicides in the Health Care Workforce: The Role of Resilience Sep 21, 2022

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The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on our health care teams with many suffering from stress, trauma, burnout and increased behavioral health challenges. When physicians, nurses and health care professionals experience extended periods of stress and burnout, they often feel as though they are letting down their patients, their families, and their colleagues. The impact of these prolonged stressors has amplified the need for support and efforts to improve well-being, destigmatize mental health. Continue listening to learn how the Edward-Elmhurst Health’s employee mental health committee works with members across different disciplines and backgrounds to identify and implement strategies to address employee mental health challenges. In this podcast, Rebecca Chickey, Senior Director, Behavioral Health Services at the AHA, speaks with Gina Sharp, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Lindsey Harrington, Psy.D., Manager, Psychology and Counseling, of NorthShore – Edward-Elmhurst Health in Illinois. At Edward-Elmhurst Health (EEH), employee mental health and well-being is interwoven into its recruitment and retention strategies. Earning Platinum recognition from Mental Health America’s Bell Seal for Workplace Mental Health, EEH serves as a best-practice example for how to support employee mental health and promote resiliency. In today’s podcast, Ms. Sharp and Dr. Harrington will describe their work to make employees feel safe, included and supported while building organizational resiliency. Moreover, they will share how they use employee feedback on workplace experiences and concerns to provide cutting-edge and empirically supported education and trainings on mental health and workplace violence.

#JustLead featuring University Hospitals Sep 16, 2022

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Welcome to the American Hospital Association's special podcast series, Just Lead, a look at how hospitals and health systems that have been recognized with AHA Awards for innovation, collaboration, and health equity are transforming health care for their communities. The results have been encouraging. The American Hospital Association Quest for Quality Prize is presented annually to honor health care leadership and innovation in achieving high-quality health care and advancing health in communities. The award recognizes hospitals and health care systems that are committed to and are making significant progress in providing access to exceptional quality, safe, patient- and family-centered affordable care that is improving the health of their communities. In addition, this award showcases successful innovative models of care, services and collaboration to provide seamless care and to address health care disparities. Today we are joined the recipient of AHA's 2022 Quest for Quality Prize - University Hospitals Health System in Cleveland, Ohio. Joining today is Dr. Peter Pronovost, chief quality and clinical transformational officer at University Hospitals.

Preventing Suicides in the Health Care Workforce: Lifesaving Steps from Providence Sep 14, 2022

Show notes

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dedicated team members at America’s hospitals and health systems have worked tirelessly to care for patients, comfort families and protect communities during this unprecedented public health crisis. However, the pandemic has taken a heavy toll on our health care teams with many suffering from stress, trauma, burnout and increased behavioral health challenges. And when physicians, nurses and health care professionals experience extended periods of stress and burnout, they often feel as though they are letting down their patients, their families, and their colleagues. Moreover, they often feel more challenged to care not just for their patients, but also themselves. The impact of these extended stressors has amplified the need for support and efforts to improve well-being, destigmatize mental health and address overall wellness from a system-wide level, to better care for the health care workers who care for our communities. In this podcast, Rebecca Chickey, Senior Director of Behavioral Health Services at the AHA, speaks with Arpan Waghray, MD,. Chief Medical Officer Behavioral Health Medicine Providence and CEO of Providence's Well Being Trust, in Seattle WA. Providence not-for-profit, Catholic health care system operating more than 50 hospitals, with 120,000 caregivers, across seven states, headquartered in Renton, Washington. Providence is dedicated to a holistic approach to medicine that employs not only the most advanced treatments to improve outcomes, but also puts compassion and humanity at the heart of every interaction – including interactions with their own health care workforce. The health system has developed a range of workplace well-being programs, from promoting healthy habits to improve the overall physical and emotional health of employees, to early identification and prevention of significant behavioral health disorders and suicidal ideation.

#JustLead featuring Mount Sinai Health System Sep 09, 2022

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The Power of Opioid Prevention and Treatment Series: Measuring Opioid Stewardship Sep 07, 2022

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Hospitals and health systems must be clear on goals of their opioid stewardship program and intentional about a process for measuring and monitoring progress. Over time, these metrics will help demonstrate organizational success and can be used to support broader initiatives to fight the opioid epidemic, such as advocacy efforts for legislative action. In this final episode of AHA’s five-part series on opioid stewardship, Marie Cleary-Fishman, vice president of clinical quality at the American Hospital Association, is joined once again by Dr. Holly Geyer, hospital internal medicine practitioner sub-specialized in addiction medicine at Mayo Clinic. The discussion: setting and surveilling opioid prescribing metrics, and managing outliers while keeping satisfaction scores high.

[SPONSORED] PeaceHealth Lab Stewardship Improves Patient Outcomes and Financial Health Sep 02, 2022

Show notes

Ordering the right test at the right time is crucial to providing evidence-based patient care to achieve the highest quality outcomes. It can also help increase financial sustainability for a hospital. Both of these objectives can be accomplished through a successful laboratory stewardship initiative. PeaceHealth understands this quite well. Join us to hear insights from PeaceHealth on their experience establishing a lab stewardship initiative that improved patient care and outcomes through optimized testing, all while driving down costs for enhanced financial sustainability. Today’s podcast is brought to you by the College of American Pathologists.

The Power of Opioid Prevention and Treatment Series: Mastering Opioid Stewardship Deployment Aug 31, 2022

Show notes

America has seen soaring rates of fatal overdoses from opioid analgesics – that is prescription drugs such as oxycodone, hydrocodone and fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is often produced and sold illegally. Hospitals are trying to limit the amount of opioids leaving their doors while increasing education about opioid use and misuse among health care workers and patients and deploying new treatment models. In this episode – part four of AHA’s five-part series on opioid stewardship, Marie Cleary-Fishman, vice president of clinical quality at the American Hospital Association, is joined once again by Dr. Holly Geyer, hospital internal medicine practitioner subspecialized in addiction medicine at Mayo Clinic. The discussion: encouraging careful and selective use of long-term opioid therapy in the context of managing chronic pain through evidence-based prescribing guidelines, educating staff and patients, and improving the referral to treatment process

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