Page 14 February 16, 2017 EL SEGUNDO HERALD Greater Professionalism Could Be The Key To Better Hospital Care (BPT) - Healthcare reform has been in the headlines for years, and it seems like the only point everyone agrees on is that something needs to be done to improve the system. While politicians debate who should pay for healthcare and how, a group of healthcare professionals, patients and community advocates have set forth new guidelines to help healthcare organizations take better care of patients and communities. At the heart of their proposal is the idea of improving professionalism in healthcare organizations. Funded by the Commonwealth Fund, the ABIM Foundation, The American Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals, and Northwell Health, and published in the Jan. 11 issue of Academic Medicine, the “Charter on Professionalism for Healthcare Organizations” aims to encourage hospitals and healthcare organizations to radically change the way they operate. The authors acknowledge that the kind of sweeping changes they advocate won’t be easy. No single healthcare organization can fully embody all of the described behaviors. Rather the Charter is aspirational. “Transitioning to the model hospital described by the Charter will challenge historical roles and assumptions of both leadership and staff,” the authors write. Still, they say, making these changes can benefit patients, healthcare providers and organizations. The emphasis on professionalism In the Academic Medicine article, the authors acknowledge that both health care professionals and patients are caught up in a vast, difficult, rapidly changing and ethically challenging system. Professionalism can help providers and organizations with decision-making in such a fluid and challenging system, they say. “Professionalism is based on a specific set of principles and commitments that provide an orientation to the thoughts and actions of a given profession,” the authors write. In 2002, a physician charter was published, establishing professionalism ideals for doctors. While physicians largely embraced the charter, they also reported that policies and organizational structures of the healthcare organizations they worked for and with were standing in the way of fully implementing the guidelines. Incorporating professionalism guidelines into organizational structures could help foster more professional, successful and patient-centric care for everyone, the authors say. Five key areas of focus The charter outlines five areas of focus for healthcare organizations: • Greater involvement and partnership between healthcare organizations and the patients they serve. • Stronger partnerships between healthcare organizations and the communities in which they are located. • Greater attention to the well-being of healthcare workers to help reduce burnout, and make them better equipped to provide superior care for patients. • More collaboration between hospitals, government and community groups to positively affect the social factors that determine health. • Greater emphasis on ethical business practices that will improve patients’ access to care, quality of care and hospitals’ financial performance. Realigning priorities to patients Movement toward more ethical business practices may require the greatest shift in thinking, the authors admit. While the essential objective of healthcare should be to take care of people, the reality is “opportunities (exist) for healthcare providers and organizations to engage in activities that are not in concordance with the principles of medical professionalism,” the Charter authors note. The Charter advocates that when a healthcare organization faces a choice between actions that benefit the organization or those that benefit the patient, the patient’s interests should be the priority. “When ethical dilemmas arise from conflicts between an organization’s self-interest and those of the community or patient, the community or patient interest takes precedence,” the authors write. “While this premise of the Charter may seem controversial, it is central to its content, consistent with the seminal Physician Charter on Medical Professionalism, and the source of its greatest potential social benefit.” Hospitals and healthcare organizations should take patient-centric steps to: • Protect patient privacy and health information, especially when using electronic health records. • Establish systems to identify and address conflicts of interest and, when they affect a patient, put the patient’s welfare before that of the organization. • Be transparent about the cost of procedures and care. • Make bill adjustments for uninsured patients so that they don’t have to pay substantially more than those with insurance. • Fairly grant “charity status” to patients who can’t pay for treatment. • Be flexible in settling patient balances that exceed a patient’s ability to pay. To review the full Charter, visit the website of the Foundation for Medical Excellence at www.tfme.org. • Seniors Looking Up Close Views Show Saturn’s Rings in Unprecedented Detail Based on Press Release from JPL and Space Science Institute, Provided by Bob Eklund Newly released images showcase the incredible closeness with which NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, now in its “ring-grazing” orbits phase, is observing Saturn’s dazzling rings of icy debris. The views are some of the closest-ever images of the outer parts of the main rings, giving scientists an eagerly awaited opportunity to observe features with names like “straw” and “propellers.” Although Cassini saw these features earlier in the mission, the spacecraft’s current, special orbits are now providing opportunities to see them in greater detail. The new images resolve details as small as 0.3 mile, which is on the scale of Earth’s tallest buildings. Cassini is now about halfway through its penultimate mission phase—20 orbits that dive past the outer edge of the main ring system. The ring-grazing orbits began last November and will continue until late April, when Cassini begins its grand finale. During the 22 finale orbits, Cassini will repeatedly plunge through the gap between the rings and Saturn. The first finale plunge is scheduled for April 26. For now, the veteran spacecraft is shooting past the outer edges of the rings every week, gathering some of its best images of the rings and moons. Already Cassini has sent back the closest-ever views of small moons Daphnis and Pandora. Some of the structures seen in recent Cassini images have not been visible at this level of detail since the spacecraft arrived at Saturn in mid-2004. At that time, fine details like straw and propellers—which are caused by clumping ring particles and small, embedded moonlets, respectively—had never been seen before. Although propellers were present in Cassini’s arrival images, they were actually discovered in later analysis, the following year; Cassini came a bit closer to the rings during its arrival at Saturn, but the quality of those arrival images was not as high as in the new views. Those precious few observations only looked out on the backlit side of the rings, and the team chose short exposure times to minimize smearing due to Cassini’s fast motion as it vaulted over the ring plane. This resulted in images that were scientifically stunning, but somewhat dark and noisy. In contrast, the close views Cassini has begun capturing in its ring-grazing orbits (and soon will capture in its Grand Finale phase) are taking in both the backlit and sunlit side of the rings. Instead of just one brief pass lasting a few hours, Cassini is making several dozen passes during these final months. “As the person who planned those initial orbit-insertion ring images—which remained our most detailed views of the rings for the past 13 years—I am taken aback by how vastly improved are the details in this new collection,” said Cassini Imaging Team Lead Carolyn Porco, of Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado. “How fitting it is that we should go out with the best views of Saturn’s rings we’ve ever collected.” After nearly 13 years studying Saturn’s rings from orbit, the Cassini team has a deeper, richer understanding of what they’re seeing, but they still anticipate new surprises. “These close views represent the opening of an entirely new window onto Saturn’s rings, and over the next few months we look forward to even more exciting data as we train our cameras on other parts of the rings closer to the planet,” said Matthew Tiscareno, a Cassini scientist who studies Saturn’s rings at the SETI Institute, Mountain View, California. Tiscareno planned the new images for the camera team. • Finance Resolutions on the Road: Cruising Into 2017 With Plans for Better Car Care (BPT) - Every new year brings a flurry of resolutions, and Hankook Tire checked out the road-related improvements Americans resolve to make happen in 2017. Whether you’re looking to save money or are determined to make that cross-country road trip a reality, the Hankook Tire Gauge Index found Americans are looking to take the well-oiled wheel of 2017 with better car care. Under pressure According to the Hankook Tire Gauge Index, over half (57 percent) of Americans are determined to keep their car cleaner in 2017. Additionally, 35 percent resolve to check the air in their tires more frequently, and doing so can have a significant effect on overall driver safety. Did you know it is recommended to check the air in your tires once a month? Be sure to check your vehicle’s owner’s manual for the recommended tire pressure for your car, truck or SUV. Resolve to rotate When the snow just won’t stop falling and the trees look a little too bare, sometimes it’s all too easy to daydream about escaping to a tropical island for a while. Most Americans agree, as 84 percent would rather drive to a sunny beach than to a ski resort in the winter months. For those who can’t escape the elements, it is more important than ever to make sure your tires are rotated as you navigate the winter roads. A good tip is to rotate your tires when you check your oil - and since nearly a quarter of drivers (22 percent) resolve to change the oil more frequently in 2017, it looks like America is already on the road to good car maintenance. Keep on commuting We might all begrudge our daily commute, but considering 61 percent of Americans drive every day, it doesn’t look like many of us are resolving to change it. However, there better be light on the roads during the daily drive. Whether drivers are scared of the dark or not, 48 percent of Americans adjust their commute to avoid driving once the sun sets. New year, new tires Nearly one in four Americans (24 percent) will resolve to get new tires in 2017. While shopping for those, 73 percent note they look for tires with good traction or grip. An all-season, high performance tire like the Ventus s1 noble 2 from Hankook offers solid handling throughout the year. Whether you’re already hunting for new tires for the new year, it might be a good idea to do “the penny test” and check your tread. Take a penny and insert it between the tread of the tire, with Lincoln’s head facing down. If you can see the top of Lincoln’s head, it’s time for new tires. After all, you don’t want to end up stuck by side of the road, but if you do, there’s a good chance someone will pull over and help you. More than half (56 percent) of those surveyed said they have helped someone who was pulled over with car trouble. That’s definitely one way to get some good karma heading into the new year. • Visit us online: www.heraldpublications.com
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