Hello,
Perhaps my profile is that I am an advocate for the eradication of HAI in all medical facilities in the U.S.A. My original advocacy was deeply rooted in the article published by the Los Angeles Times,
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/23/business/la-fi-hospital-infections-20110823
I have included my first attempt to articulate my advocacy. Our company has been making ventilator parts for the past decade and as a veteran, taxpayer a rate payer and business owner, "why not"!
It is back to the "Great State of California", my observation, the National V.A. is taking direction from the D.H.H.S. who is watching for the "best practices" developed at the state level and all of the regional V.A. are doing their own thing although they are advised to watch the developments in the state activities. How somebody could have figured out this process without the assistance of a blow to the head is way beyond me. I do reference Deming, this is about the point where he would be buying his ticket to Japan.http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/23/business/la-fi-hospital-infections-20110823
I have included my first attempt to articulate my advocacy. Our company has been making ventilator parts for the past decade and as a veteran, taxpayer a rate payer and business owner, "why not"!
Fortunately for me Ms. Pam Kehaly, President, Anthem Blue Cross allowed my wife and I to do a lunch with her staff in Thousand Oaks, CA. With virtually no discussion the consensus was that I needed to head back to California. Much like Ms. Kehaly's statement about the relationship of quality medical care and cost, just the change in direction took at least a couple of months off my efforts.
My first interest is VAP, ventilator acquired phenomena, there is a medical facility in Daily City, S.F. bay area, that has not had a VAP in four years according to the Department of H.H.S., enough of the studies, it is time for action on this one in my opinion, what is your “acceptable level”? In my opinion the money is there, how about a VAP free rated hospital, “would you pay more to go there”, that is the puzzle, they should have lower operating costs according to everything I have been reading over the past few months!
My interests now lie in the California State Assembly, Committee on Health
Chair, Honorable California State Assemblyperson William W. Monning
P.o. Box 942849, Room 6005
Sacramento, CA, 94249-0027 Tel 916-319-2027
And
California Senate Health Committee
Chair, Honorable California State Senator Ed Hernandez
State Capitol
Room 4085
Sacramento, CA 95814 Tel 916-651-4024
In my opinion, these are not statistics or automotive parts; these are Veterans, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters and loved ones! Before I get everybody too depressed, our local public school district is nearly insolvent and may soon be taken over by the State of California, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune ninety five percent of their budget is payroll and benefits! Point of sale price control did not reduce the cost of health care in my opinion and it did little to improve patient safety in our hospitals.
Thank you for your interest!
To: General Eric Ken Shinseki
United States
Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs
Following the
teachings of W. Edwards Demming,
“quality must start from the top”, the reason for my request to your office and
my enthusiasm for the effort.
The L.A. Times did
an outstanding job of identifying all of the stake holders and the benefits to
society, identifying the entrepreneurial spirit from the “top”, Ms. Pam Kehaly,
President, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield. The L.A. Times has also in the recent past highlighted the great strides the Veterans hospitals have made in inpatient care, giving me the confidence that the Veteran’s hospitals are either ahead of the curve or open to improvement.
This program would fit well within the parameters of President Barack Obama’s current cost cutting efforts, one of his current "key initiatives"!
Although not involved in the medical field, A.S.Q. allowed me to have some insight into the complexities of the workings of hospitals, in the 90’s several nurses gave our local chapter presentations on how to implement quality programs from the “middle down” and the less than desirable results. Dissecting the space shuttle disaster was the work of the decade, keeping a few people alive for a week in space was far less complicated than running a hospital. Personally, I struggled to figure out what motivated these nurses to go to work every day during that period for the consensus was that it was far safer in the space shuttle than it was in our local hospitals. Recently a nurse auditor at Anthem Blue Cross helped me resolve the issue, “ I strive to help at least one person every day”, our veterans deserve nothing less, even in these challenging times, in my opinion.
Commandant of the United States Marine Corps
President, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield
Publisher and Chief Executive Officer, Los Angeles Times
President and Chief Executive Officer, Tribune Company
Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield
Thank you for your interest!
No comments:
Post a Comment