So, when Gate Keeping, Patient Education, Discharge Planning and Safe, Timely Hand-offs are NOT ENOUGH what do you do to limit re-admissions prior to 30 days after discharge?   What are you doing to improve your patient and employee satisfaction scores?   Are you doing this through lay-offs, cut backs, hiring only independent contractors, short staffing nursing, and fighting transparency, employee empowerment, and the creation of a nurturing environment?

Medicare will engage in real clinical transparency, insisting on the publication of real-time information about infections and other important aspects of quality and safety as one of its conditions for participation.  How will you deal with these issues?

It was NOT THAT LONG AGO when capitated managed care was lashing at the shores of the medical complex in these United States, and the push back, lack of sensitivity to the real issues and a lack of desire to change created a rush to merge and a fear of change.

What is it going to take to enlighten our internal healthcare leadership so as to allow them to see the forest and the TREES?

A few months ago, I presented a picture of what adding Integrative Medicine modalities could and would do for a health system that was slated to be short changed tens of millions of dollars due to mediocre HCHAPS scores.  When the CEO saw the numbers involved in treating about 40,000 patients a year in both inpatient and outpatient settings with gentle, nurturing attention, he sat back, smiled and said,”All of the salaries of all of those employees amount to the cost of about ONE readmission.”

Did you read that?

What differentiates your facilities from every other facility?  Better equipment?  Better doctors?  Better care?  Is the public educated enough to understand the nuances between a 48 slice and a 128 slice CT?  Does the public understand what the alphabet soup of letters represents after your employees names?  Nope, no, they do not not.  What they hope is that you have good equipment and good people, but what they know is HOW THEY ARE BEING TREATED AS HUMAN BEINGS.

Believe me, if your patients still have to “leave their diginty at the door,” to survive in your healthcare facility, there’s a good chance that you will be consumed by another organization in the not too distant future.

What is Integrative Medicine?

Integrative Medicine — the practice of medicine that reaffirms the importance of the relationship between the practitioner and the patient, focuses on the use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches, healthcare professionals and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing.

Holistic Medicine — medical care that views physical and mental and spiritual aspects of life as closely interconnected and equally important approaches to treatment of the whole person.

Why not?  It is evidence based.  It produces amazing outcomes and helps significantly cut back on re-admissions.   It treats people with dignity.  It reaches areas that traditional medicine may never reach, and it is INEXPENSIVE.  Offer it to your patients and to your employees.  Many of the top facilities IN THE WORLD are offering Integrative Holistic medicine as part of their treatment plans and so should you.

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