Becker's Hospital Review

126 CMO / CARE DELIVERY Physician advocates: CHS should 'return to the business of healthcare excellence' By Ayla Ellison F ranklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems needs to in- vest in more nurses and equipment for Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Lutheran Health Network, rather than spending money to bat- tle LHN's former CEO in court, a group of physician advocates wrote in an op-ed in e Journal Gazette. e three physicians who wrote the article, William Cast, MD; Mat- thew Sprunger, MD; and J. Philip Tyndall, MD, are the founders of Northeast Indiana Citizens for Healthcare Excellence, a group fo- cused on bringing information to the public and promoting discus- sion about healthcare equality. e physicians provided an overview of CHS' legal battle with LHN's former CEO Brian Bauer. ey argued CHS has little to gain through the litigation. In November 2017, CHS sued Mr. Bauer, claiming he breached his contract with the health network by sharing confidential information with the system's competitors. Mr. Bauer was removed from his po- sition at LHN in June aer CHS rejected a buyout offer from a group of LHN physicians, but the lawsuit alleges he spread confidential and proprietary information about CHS' affiliates even aer he was fired. In early February, a judge dismissed three of the six counts in CHS' lawsuit against Mr. Bauer. "So where are we now? We are poorer for the exercise, and little has been gained," the physicians wrote. Drs. Cast, Sprunger and Tyndall believe CHS needs to focus on im- proving the quality of care provided at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, rather than a lawsuit against a former executive. "Federal Medicare Compare rates Lutheran Hospital as only a two-star facility. With the proper support from [CHS], Lutheran can become a five-star facility," the physicians wrote. "We believe that more millions should not be spent on flying lawyers from New York to Tennessee but instead on more nurses and equip- ment. It is time for Community Health Systems to return to the business of healthcare excellence." n How 1 hospital's 60-second test prevents pediatric flu, sepsis deaths By Megan Knowles C hildren's Hospital of Richmond (Va.) at VCU Health im- plemented mandatory sepsis screenings in the emer- gency department for all patients with a fever — an ef- fort that has significantly decreased the hospital's potentially deadly sepsis cases. The hospital noted pediatric flu deaths could be linked to sepsis, a variable that led CHoR to introduce the mandatory ED sepsis screenings in January 2016. The hospital's approach helped care providers identify pre- viously undiagnosed sepsis cases. Nurses conduct the sepsis screening, which takes less than a minute. To identify early signs of sepsis, nurses look for abnormal vital signs, cold ex- tremities, confusion, weak pulses and abnormal rashes. If a patient has a positive score on the screening, which in- dicates they are at risk of having sepsis, nurses notify phy- sicians. Physicians immediately treat patients suspected of having sepsis in what Jonathan Silverman, MD, emergency medicine specialist at CHoR, calls the "golden hour," where care providers administer IV antibiotics and fluids. CHoR reported no missed cases of sepsis in the first six months after introducing the screenings, Dr. Silverman said. During the last two years, the hospital reported only a few cases of children who did not have positive scores on the screening and developed sepsis. Dr. Silverman and the CHoR team are continuing to highlight the benefits of rapid screenings and treatment and promoting sepsis education for families. n Akron Children's Hospital names first chief quality officer: 4 things to know By Leo Vartorella A kron (Ohio) Children's Hospital appointed Michael Bigham, MD, as the system's first chief quality offi- cer Feb. 23. Here are four things to know about the appointment. 1. As chief quality officer, Dr. Bigham will be responsible for overseeing all quality, safety and patient experience measures at the hospital. 2. Dr. Bigham spent the last 10 years as a pediatric inten- sivist at the hospital's pediatric intensive care unit, and also served as the medical director of transport services and chair of medical performance improvement. 3. While medical director of transport services, Dr. Bigham founded the Akron Children's Ground and Air Medical Quality Transport Database, the largest international col- lection of performance data on patient transportation. 4. "The new structure is a wonderful step forward to align quality, safety and patient experience under a single um- brella in our organization," said Grace Wakulchik, MSN, president of Akron Children's. "While all of our staff is re- sponsible for quality, it is important to our patients and families that we have a consistent voice at the executive table to advocate for quality, safety and patient experi- ence in all of our hospital's initiatives. We will now have that voice." n

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