Volume 23
Number 4
April 1999
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Volume 23 |
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CAREGIVERS COLLABORATE
Bedside doctors and nurses who work on the D-3 transplant and general surgery unit have begun meeting formally every other month as part of a collaborative program launched by the unit's nurse manager with the help of faculty members who practice there. The goal of the program is to address patient care problems in the context of ongoing issues, including coping with new technologies and tight staffing, said Leitha Springmeyer, D-3's nurse manager. Unlike rounds, the meetings include the active participation of nurses and focus on direct caregivers - attendings, housestaff, transplant fellows and nurses - and the individual patients they serve. "Even with concerns about the budget, we really did focus on practice issues," said Springmeyer following the unit's first such meeting in March. Topics included D-3's discharge process, ideas for streamlining the volume of orders, and issues related to cardiac monitors and IV blood pressure medication. About 10 to 12 residents, two attending physicians and eight nurses attended the meeting, she said. (See Story) |
| Bedside caregivers in the D-3 transplant and general surgery unit, from left, Amy D. Lu, kidney transplant fellow; Cindi Branscum, staff nurse; Edward Alfrey, assistant professor of surgery; and Leitha Springmeyer, nurse manager. |
 COLUMNS
President of the Medical Staff NEWS UCSF Stanford Announces $170 Million Reduction Plan to Balance its Budget Physicians Essential in Driving Cost and Quality Decisions Publication Highlights Clinical Labs Nursing Staff Remains Highly Effective Despite Challenges |
UCSF Stanford Announces $170 Million Reduction Plan to Balance its Budget UCSF Stanford Health Care officials recently announced a performance improvement plan to cut organizational costs by 11 percent over the next 17 months. The cuts are necessary to offset shortfalls in government reimbursements for the care of Medi-Cal and Medicare recipients and to offset skyrocketing increases in the costs of drugs and other medical supplies, officials said at a March 29 management meeting held at Stanford. Payments from private insurers and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) are
not keeping pace with rising costs, and this shortfall is also contributing to UCSF
Stanford's financial problems that resulted in a first quarter operating loss of $10.7
million. If uncorrected, the loss would grow substantially by the year 2000, according to
UCSF Stanford officials.
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