Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

INSIDE

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Volume 23 Number 13 June 29, 2012

50 Years at Penn Medicine: Jeanne Esposito .......................2

Speaking with HUP’s Leaders ...........................3

Reprocessing Initiatives Save $1 Million!........................3

PM&R Moves to Rittenhouse ...............................4

The last thing a patient wants to do after being discharged from outpatient surgery is to try to find an open pharmacy and then wait — in pain — while a pharmacist fills a prescription. An innovative program in the SurgiCentre at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine ensures that this is not a problem for its patients. Their filled prescriptions are ready to go when they leave — they’re even delivered straight to patients in the Recovery unit.

The Prescription Drug Program began through a collaboration among SurgiCentre nurses, surgeons and pharmacists. Led by Ann Marie Morris, MSN, RN, CNOR, the Centre’s nurse manager at the time, the group used patient feedback from focus groups to home in on the real needs of same-day surgery patients. “Our goals were patient satisfaction and patient safety,” said Joyce Stengel, MSN, RN, CNOR, SurgiCentre nurse manager.

How does the program work? Nurses discuss the option of filling the prescription while the patient is in pre-op. “When we tell patients that the cost for most meds is only a five dollar co-pay, many ask, ‘What’s the catch?!’ ” said Kate Farrell, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, a professional development specialist. The prescriptions are typically generic antibiotics and pain meds as well as commonly prescribed medications for nausea and vertigo.

A bright orange form in a patient’s chart as well as an advisory in Navicare alert the staff when a patient wants to take advantage of the program. The prescription is filled in the SurgiCentre satellite pharmacy, the pharmacist making sure it has no adverse reaction to any of the other medications a patient takes. The pharmacist then delivers it directly to Recovery, educating the patient and answering any questions about how to take the drug or what side effects it might have.

No More

Waitingfor Post-op Prescriptions

Having a prescription filled . . . and handed to you before

you leave is wonderful. My visit here was the best

I’ve ever had in any health-care facility.

` (L. to r.) Joe Holton, Kate Farrell, and Eric Wertman with the Victoria Rich Award for the SurgiCentre’s prescription program, which allows patients to receive their filled post-surgical prescriptions before going home.

(continued on page 2)

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Personal computers are a common sight in today’s offices, but that wasn’t the case when Jeanne Esposito of Human Relations started working at HUP in 1962. As a senior secretary for Path and Lab Medicine — for which she was paid $11.50 a day — she used manual typewriters for the many research papers she typed … and in many cases retyped as a result of edits. When the department changed over to IBM Selectrics, “I thought it was the greatest!”

In the early 1980’s, the office manager introduced computers to the department but “they were huge floor models,” she said. “You sat at them and typed.”

In addition to secretarial duties, Jeanne also recruited and did orientation for the students in the lab tech school that the department ran at the time. As the years passed, she took on more and more of the department’s HR responsi-bilities. “I learned it all by just doing it.”

In April 1988, she was asked to become a bona fide member of the hospital’s HR team. She and three other people developed what would become the HR generalist job, which included handling staffing, benefits, and employment policy. She was also responsible for running two major events each year: the 25-year celebration and the United Way cam-paign. And there were no computers to help!

Jeanne is now celebrating 50 years at HUP. Over the years, she completed a BA at St. Joseph’s University and then a master’s degree at Drexel. She’s proud of the increased role HR now takes in helping management and employees become more successful in

their jobs and provide better patient care. Her position has evolved as well. As a senior employee relations and retention specialist, she supports management, employees and administration with policy interpretation, performance management and education with regard to all Human Resource functions.

“I’ve stayed because the job is extremely interesting. You never know what you’ll be doing next!” she said. “And I work with so many wonderful people.”

To view more photos of Jeanne’s 50-year anniversary celebration, go to http://news.pennmedicine.org/inside/hupdate/.

` Members of HR helping Jeanne Esposito (c.) celebrate 50 years at HUP included (l. to r.) Andrea Mathis, Domenic Sanginiti, Pat Robinson, Judy James, Sharon McCrae and Pat Wren.

5O YEARSA N D C O U N T I N G

I’ve stayed because the job is extremely interesting. You never know what you’ll be doing next! And I work with so many wonderful people.

Not surprisingly, the program is a hit with patients. “Numbers show that they love it,” said Eric Wertman, BSN, RN, CNOR, an OR nurse. Indeed, more than 3,500 — almost 80 percent — of SurgiCentre patients took advantage of the program between July 2011 and February 2012. Kudos provided in both post-op phone calls and patient satisfaction surveys clearly show their enthusiasm:

• “The prescription program is outstanding. Having it right there saves time when driving home and avoids inconveniencing my family to have to go to the drugstore.”

• “An excellent idea! Very convenient.”

• “Having a prescription filled for $5 and handed to you before you leave is wonderful. My visit here was the best I’ve ever had in any health-care facility.”

“It’s just one additional way we can focus on patient-centered care,” Stengel said.

Patients aren’t the only ones giving the Prescription Drug Program a “thumbs up.” It also was named this year’s Victoria Rich Award winner for Innovation in Patient-Centered Nursing Care. This recognition is given annually to a nursing unit for creating new measures that improve patient and family satisfaction.

(continued from page 1)No More Waiting for Post-op Prescriptions

Thanks to reprocessing initiatives, HUP saved $1,257,302 last year and prevented 14,683 pounds of medical waste from being added to local landfills. Reprocessed instruments are cleaned, tested to make sure they work, and resterilized. They work as well as new but can be purchased for about half the price.

In a major academic medical center such as HUP, the savings add up. Indeed, since January alone, HUP has reprocessed more than 17,500 pulse oxymeters (sensors that measure oxygen level), 1,200 EP diagnostic catheters, and 100 ultrasound scalpels, which comprise the majority of the money saved.

In addition to the significant savings and reduction in medical waste, HUP also received the Healthy Hospital Award from Stryker Sustainability Solutions. This designation is reserved for hospitals that demonstrate exceptional commitment to health-care sustainability and quality through the employment of medical device manufacturing and reprocessing programs.

` Accepting the Healthy Hospital Award are members of HUP’s Stewardship Core Council, which is part of the Shared Governance Core Council. Its role is to analyze the resources used in Nursing and make recommendations that support safe, cost-effective, and high-quality patient care.

Much of the discussion in this month’s Meal with an Administrator focused on projects to help make the latest upgrade to SCM

(Sunrise Clinical Manager), the Health System’s electronic medical records system for inpatients, more user friendly. “We’re looking at things that we can change to make the process easier. It will take some time but we are making headway,” said Al Black, COO of the hospital.

For example, last month, IS brought Clinical Data Viewer onboard. This tool provides a single screen view of a patient’s summary data, such as vital signs and I and O flow sheets, as opposed to needing to view multiple screens. It will also help with the transition of the ICU’s paper documentation onto SCM. That project is planned for this summer.

Terese Kornet, MSN, RN, clinical director of Clinical Nursing Systems, said that upcoming IS projects this year include integrating allergy information documented on EPIC into SCM and transitioning physician documentation and orders/medication reconciliation onto SCM.

This gives caregivers the ability to do elec-tronic medication reconciliation, instead of using a paper form.

The upgrade to SCM 5.5 — a certified electronic medical record — enabled the Health System to meet a requirement of Meaningful Use. So far UPHS has received more than $4 million, thanks to its use of electronic health records to improve health-care quality and effectiveness.

One nurse at the Meal said that the changes that came with the 5.5 upgrade brought additional pressure on the units. “Learning it all can be overwhelming.”

“We recognize and appreciate all the efforts of everyone to make the system work,” Black responded. “It’s difficult and complex to make these changes, but it is required to meet challenges of our evolving health-care environment. Looking forward, we will have less money to do what we’ve done in the past.”

Continuing, he noted that many of today’s health-care services are performed on an outpatient basis. The South Pavilion Extension, currently under construction, will allow the Perelman Center for

Advanced Medicine to house nearly all of HUP’s outpatient services, making it more convenient for our patients but also allowing these practices to expand. “Creating this additional ambulatory space will help us meet our long-range goals and objectives.”

One participant asked if there are any plans to convert everything to EPIC rather than use different systems for inpatient and outpatient data. “We want more integration within systems but one system may not meet the needs of all our patient populations,” Kornet said.

“No company today has a single solution to meet all our needs but we are continuing the discussion,” Black said.

In HR news, Judy James, associate chief HR officer, spoke about a professionalism video on the Intranet that discusses protected health information in today’s world of social media and technology. “Where is the line between remaining professional and talking on sites about what has happened in the work place?” she said. “It’s important for all employees to watch this.” The video can be accessed under ‘What’s Hot’ and through Knowledge Link.

Speaking with HUP’S LEADERS

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Reprocessing Initiatives Save $1 Million!

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The inset photo, from a 1982 HUPdate article on OB/Neonatal Nursing, featured HUP nurse Donna Catrino, RNC, with her then newborn baby, Karen. Fast forward 30 years: Donna continues caring for newborns in the NICU, and Karen, who is expecting her first child in August, has followed in her mother’s footsteps, working as an oncology nurse on Rhoads 6. Originally a tourism and hospitality major, Karen decided to transfer to nursing school instead. “I saw how much my mom really loved her job.”

PM&R Moves to RittenhouseThe Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) will move to its new home at Penn Medicine at Rittenhouse, located on 1800 Lombard Street, effective July 2. The outpatient clinics and administrative offices are all moving to this newly renovated location. The PM&R consult teams will remain at HUP to serve the referral and consultative needs of our patients and referring physicians on the main campus.

This move will place PM&R at the same location as the Pennsylvania Insti- tute for Rehabilitation Medicine, the Health System’s inpatient rehabilitation unit, and the Good Shepherd Penn Partners outpatient therapy services. This provides an optimal environment for patients to receive comprehensive and coordinated rehabilitation care at one convenient location.

Time Moves On

For outpatient scheduling, call 215-893-2600. For the clinical support staff, call 215-893-2626. For administrative support, call 215-893-2607.

Lizi Abraham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nursing AdministrationMary Annas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Founders 9David Arcidiacono . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SecurityColleen Avery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Founders 9Elaine Barnett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dulles 6Theresa Bittner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .EDWoodrow Bowie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patient TransportMemuna Daramy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Silverstein 9Alan Dohner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Physical PlantBridget Ferrarie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RadiologyRegina Halligan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Silverstein 12Amirah Harris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Admission CenterMaurice Howerton . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patient Transport

Jamie Kelly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RadiologyFarra Kwiatkowski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Founders 11Joseph Lamb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RadiologyWilliam Martin . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Admission CenterCheryl Mathews . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patient RegistrationHeather Matthew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .EDAntonia Seibert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RadiologyFrank Suplick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PharmacyLinda Tinley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Founders 14Roderick Williams . . . . . . Patient Financial ServicesDominique Williamson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dulles 6Elsie Wright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patient Transport

Helping People ALL THE TIMECongratulations to February’s winners of the Helping People All the Time raffle.

UC’s DINING DAYS are ComingThis year’s University City Dining Days will be held from Thursday, July 12, to Thursday, July 26, with 34 restaurants offering three-course, prix-fixe meals for $15, $25 or $30, depending on the restaurant. Prices are for dinner only and do not include tax, gratuity or alcohol, and reservations should be made directly through the participating restaurant. Visit www.ucdiningdays.com for more information and for downloadable menus.

HUPdateEDITORIAL STAFF Sally Sapega Editor and Photographer

Abby Ernst Designer

ADMINISTRATION Susan E. Phillips Senior Vice President, Public Affairs

CONTACT HUPDATE AT: 3535 Market Street, Mezzanine Philadelphia, PA 19104

phone: 215.662.4488 fax: 215.349.8312 email: sally.sapega@uphs.upenn.edu

HUPdate is published biweekly for HUP employees. Access HUPdate online at http://news.pennmedicine.org/inside/hupdate.