"Humanity" in the Court System

Check out this interesting article about a judge in New York - a recipient of one of the Obama administration's healthcare reform grants - looking to inject a bit of humanity into the malpractice system.

What We've Been Up To...

Yikes, it has been some time since our last blog post! We have committed one of the cardinal sins of social media -- we have allowed our blog to become stale!

In a sincere effort to rectify this unfortunate situation, and in an attempt to "freshen" our blog, we offer the following. Here are highlights of just some of the things MITSS has been working on of late. (With all of these exciting things going on, it's no wonder we've neglected our blog -- if only for a short time.)

-- MITSS has assembled a "blue ribbon" panel of experts from around the country to develop a tool kit for clinician support. We will be working feverishly over the summer and into the fall, and we expect to have something ready for release by the end of the year.

-- MITSS is bringing together nurse leaders from some of the minority communities and will be hosting an educational workshop slated for late August. Our goal is to find new and better ways to reach underserved populations with the MITSS message and our services. Stay tuned for details as they unfold.

-- We are now accepting nominations for our Third Annual HOPE Award. Go to www.mitsshopeaward.org for a description of the award, eligibility criteria, and a nomination form. Help us to recognize someone who is doing great work aligned with the MITSS mission (including yourself)!

-- Of course, we continue to provide educational support groups for patients and their families. We have one group just about wrapping up at the North Shore Hospital in Salem.

You can do your part, too. Let us know what you'd like to see discussed in this space and how we can better serve you. And, don't forget to check us out on Facebook -- become a fan of MITSS and of the MITSS HOPE Award. We'd love to hear from you!

PULSE voices from the heart of medicine

For those of you who haven't heard of this publication, let us tell you a little bit about it. PULSE voices from the heart of medicine was started by a physician who is now Editor in Chief of this publication, his name is Paul Gross. He wanted to know what it would be like to have a publication that told stories of the way medicine really was not the way it is in controlled studies. The stories that have been published thus far from have captured hearts and minds, especially Friday's release.

Babel: The Voices of Medical Trauma is written by a friend and a colleague of MITSS, Tricia Pill, who is a pedetrician who experienced the "real side of medicine", but don't think she got what she expected or wanted.

What do you think of the current state of affairs? Can healthcare do a better job? How? Can we help doctors, nurses, pca's, etc who are both young and old to leave their assumptions at the door with every patient? Can we teach folks to trust that patients and their family members have valuable information about themselves or loved ones? Would love to know how you think we can change things.

You can get your free subscripiton to the magazine by signing up for it on their site.

Warm regards,
Linda Kenney

Feel free to contact me directly at lkenney@mitss.org, if you'd like to discuss off line.

"Medicine Means Sometimes Having to Say You Are Sorry"

They are ideals that have been touted for some time in healthcare, but where are we now with regard to disclosure and apology? How do disclosure and apology programs fit into the new healthcare legislation? Whose programs are working, and what are the barriers that prevent others from being successful? Check out Joanne Kenen's article in the April 2, 2010, edition of Miller-McCune.

Check Out This Month's Issue of "Patient Safety and Quality Healthcare"

The March/April 2010 issue of Patient Safety and Quality Healthcare contains a great article synthesizing the findings of MITSS's 2009 Clinician Support Forum. Click here for a copy of Disclosure and Apology: What's Missing? Advancing Programs that Support Clinicians written by Susan Carr.

Lucian Leape Institute at NPSF Releases New White Paper

The Lucian Leape Institute at the National Patient Safety Foundation released a white paper on March 10th, 2009, arguing that US medical schools fail to prepare future physicians with the skills and knowledge necessasry to ensure safe delivery of patient care. The report, "Unmet Needs: Teaching Physicians to Provide Safe Care," describes the shortcomings of the current medical education system and issues an urgent call for reform.

To read the press release and to download a copy of the report, click here.

Lucian L. Leape, MD, is the Chair of the Lucian Leape Institute and is also a Special Advisor to the MITSS Board of Directors.

The Treatment Trap -- A New Book by Rosemary Gibson

This past Tuesday, Health Care for All sponsored a program featuring Rosemary Gibson, author of The Wall of Silence. Rosemary and co-author Janardan Prasad Singh have just released a new book, The Treatment Trap -- How the Overuse of Medical Care is Wrecking Your Health and What You Can Do to Prevent It. The book explores the overuse, misuse, and underuse of medical care -- including needless surgery and other invasive procedures, out-of-control x-ray imaging, profligate testing, and other wasteful practices that have become routine among too many American doctors.

Click here to check out the book on Amazon.

Look for a profile of the author, Rosemary Gibson, in the upcoming edition of the MITSS newsletter.