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SHC offers media relations services to physicians

Wachter talk available for viewing on
DVD/VHS

Quality and Patient Safety efforts transcend site visits

PCA order sets streamlined

Contact Compliance if Lumetra or other official agency contacts you

Commencement honorees

COMMUNICATION

Bruce T. ADORNATO

A few years ago, we considered terminating the Medical Staff Update (the newsletter you are now are reading) and changing to an exclusively e-mail transmission. More than 80 percent of polled respondents wanted the hard copy, mailed version to continue. Most of us think of this publication as the primary means of communication between the hospital administration, the medical school and the medical staff. I would agree.

But the Update is published only 11 times a year and input is usually a month old by publication date. I would like to find other ways to keep our diverse staff communicating and I am looking for some new ideas or some old ideas reincarnated. The Medical Staff Update has also expanded, including color illustrations and last-minute news, online at any time at http://med.stanford.edu/shc/update/. Resource constraints have prevented expanding this service, and the Internet version has not been publicized widely enough. The web page, by the way, is interactive. You can offer input directly to me, chief of staff Larry Shuer, (lshuer@stanford.edu) the newsletter editor, (goodkind@stanford.edu) and often other individuals directly from the site. A Medical Staff administrative website is also available through the hospital intranet for those who have Stanford IDs. Nevertheless, we need to look at ways to maximize our opportunities.

A good place to start might be to examine how we get our own personal information. For example, in my office we have a "kiosk" or bulletin board for timely written notices. The hospital has a limited bulletin board near the gift shop but it is not always current and is mainly limited to medical departmental conferences. I think it would be helpful to have a smart kiosk located on the walkway between the Blake Wilbur parking garage and the cafeteria - or in the cafeteria itself. Perhaps we could also have a "repeater" in the Deans Courtyard, the Blake Wilbur Building, 1101 Welch Road and elsewhere. The kiosk would post clinical meetings, basic science conferences, medical staff meetings, news from the administration, etc. We would need some type of organization and a key person to maintain it. Resource allocation has been a major issue with all communication. A relatively modest budget increase, for example, could allow for real time updates of the current Medical Staff Update website.

One recent issue which has had diverse reception is the reinstitution of a physician lounge. Some people don't see the need for it with the emergence of the hospitalist and the diminishing physician time on site. In an ideal world, I would build a hospital with a physician lounge surrounded by the cafeteria, medical records, the library, and the radiology reading room - all places we end up frequently. And I would include a conference room, internet terminals with lab report access, a printer, newspapers, and maybe a barista to go with breakfast. It may sound excessive but we already have most of these necessities and conveniences already but not in one place.

A centralized gathering place for doctors might facilitate internal communication and is a good place for informal consultation. I would like some input from you about whether or not this is a worthwhile project.

In any case, when we are offsite, which is most of the time, we need other communication tools beyond a gathering place. E-mail, indispensable for most of us, is certainly a key place to start the process. I receive daily bulletins from the hospital about meetings, news, etc. But many of you do not receive e-mail because we don't have your email address.

I noticed that both my daughters have lifetime free e-mail privileges from colleges. Why? Because their universities think it is an inexpensive way to keep track of them. We should have stanfordmed.org email addresses for all medical staff physicians so we can communicate easily with you. Would you switch from your current account to a stanfordmed.org address?

Finally, I would ask your opinion about the medical staff meetings.

In bygone days at Stanford, and in many hospitals today, the medical staff meetings are held in the morning. These are working meetings with substantive issues discussed and then voted upon. The problem at Stanford was that important issues were often given short shrift because of time considerations, and attendance and voting were problematic. Now, our staff meetings are only twice a year, optional, mainly informational, and good for entertainment, socializing and excellent cuisine. I have made some effort to add interesting speakers to attract attendance, but overall the headcount is less than 10 percent of the medical staff.

I would like to:

Change the locus from Fairchild Auditorium to a more friendly environment.
Perhaps a sit-down food event during the meeting would be more attractive.
Would nonmedical speakers be more interesting?
Should we change the time from evening to morning and have breakfast?
Should we have more or fewer meetings?
Should we have an annual staff picnic at Frost Amphitheater in the fall?

Give me some input. I like the thought that Martha Marsh, CEO, passed along when she arrived here - "We want this to be a place you want to be happy to go to." That's a good motto for the nurses, the staff and for the doctors here at Stanford Hospital and Clinics.

Let me hear from you at badornato@stanfordmed.org