Becker's Hospital Review

72 CMO / CARE DELIVERY Kaiser Permanente to invest $2M in gun violence research By Emily Rappleye O akland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente will put $2 million to- ward gun violence research within the health system, The Wash- ington Post reported. Kaiser Permanente officials said the system decided to allot funds to re- search firearms due to the number of patients affected by gun violence; its physicians treated more than 11,000 gunshot wounds between 2016 and 2017, according to the report. The system is also donating funds to the cause because little is known about how to prevent gun injuries, as federal funding for research has been scarce since Congress passed the Dickey Amendment, according to the report. The amendment, which the National Rifle Association lob- bied for, effectively ended gun violence research at the CDC. The last year the CDC had funding for gun violence research was 1996, when it had $2.6 million. The health system plans to put funds toward identifying what data would be most beneficial, as well as the interventions that will be most effective in a healthcare setting to reduce gun injury and violence, ac- cording to the report. n 4 ways nurses can fight alarm fatigue By Megan Knowles T he American Association of Critical Care Nurses released a prac- tice alert to help hospitals manage the clinical alarms that notify providers when patients' conditions change. The flood of noisy alarms during long shifts often results in providers feeling fatigued, delaying or reducing their response to the alarms, which threatens patient safety. The nurse association's alert is meant "to help nurses provide the safest patient care possible when managing clinical alarms in acute and criti- cal care environments," said Linda Bell, MSN, RN, and a clinical practice specialist with the nurse association. "The issue of alarm fatigue can most effectively be addressed, and eventually eliminated, by working with the people closest to the patient and those who support the needs of the patient," the association stated. The four strategies are: 1. Develop interprofessional teams to collect data and address clinical alarm-related issues. 2. Create default parameters and alarm management policies that are specific to different hospital units. 3. Provide ongoing education on monitoring systems and managing alarms for unit staff. 4. Establish policies and procedures for monitoring only those patients with clinical indications for monitoring. n NYC Health + Hospitals embarks on inaugural physician recruitment initiative By Kelly Gooch N ew York City-based NYC Health + Hospi- tals seeks to fill 75 new and open primary care physician positions through a new re- cruitment campaign. e campaign, called DOCS4NYC, aims to im- prove community-based primary care access across the city, as well as move the system toward greater financial sustainability, according to a news release. e campaign tag line is: "A career like no other, in a city like no other." NYC Health + Hospitals said nurse practitioners may also apply for primary care provider jobs. "Primary care is at the center of my vision for the future of our essential health system," said Mitchell Katz, MD, president and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals. "As a primary care physi- cian, I've always had a passion for both prima- ry care and public health systems, and we are looking for like-minded doctors who are excited about transforming the nation's largest public health system by positioning primary care at its very core." As part of the campaign, the system has launched a website, which provides access to in- formation on loan forgiveness programs, as well as leadership and development opportunities within NYC Health + Hospitals. According to hospital officials, the campaign also includes di- rect outreach to residency directors nationwide, as well as social media advertisements and other features. e campaign isn't the system's only recent effort to improve financial stability. NYC Health + Hos- pitals also recently announced a coder training program to improve medical coding accuracy and ensure maximum reimbursement. Additionally, the system seeks to recover $11.5 million it says it's owed in wrongful denials. n

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