Getting Our Patients to the Portal

June 14, 2018

myHealthONEHave you signed up for myHealthONE, our new patient portal, yet? This is a convenient and empowering tool for our patients to manage their health, likely in ways they might not realize, including:

  • Viewing test results faster and easier than ever.
  • Messaging the office and avoiding telephone hold times.

What better way for our patients to learn about the benefits of myHealthONE than from the providers and staff with whom they come into contact every day? As faculty and staff, the more familiar we are with the portal’s features and advantages, the better equipped we are to share them with our patients. And if you already have signed up, please send your questions and feedback to healthoneupdates@uchc.edu; perhaps you’ll help identify ways to improve myHealthONE and make it more useful for everyone. When our patients use myHealthONE, we all win!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k2GQrXwJvA&list=PL6h0A_5kXIiR2BrSFC2uz1R5kGdavO_mx

This was first reported in the June 14 Pulse. Watch for additional HealthONE updates in Lifeline, in the Pulse, at uconnhealthexpress.uchc.edu/HealthONE, and on Twitter @UConnHealthONE.

Looking at Us: Peter Canning, EMS Coordinator

If you’ve had any interaction with emergency medical services or the emergency department, chances are you’ve met Peter Canning. Peter is a registered nurse, a paramedic, and the EMS coordinator for UConn John Dempsey Hospital. Last month the Connecticut Department of Public Health presented Peter with the Public Health Commissioner’s Award in recognition of his impact on pre-hospital care, his leadership, and his promotion of the EMS system. Peter joined UConn Health in 2008 and his position is part time. He lives in West Hartford with his wife and three daughters.

What is an EMS coordinator?

I provide EMS education and quality assurance. My job is to see that area ambulance services bring patients to our hospital and provide them with great care, and that as a hospital, we treat EMS as a valued partner.

Peter Canning, Paramedic, R.N., EMS Coordinator at UConn Health.

Peter Canning

Favorite musician:
Bruce Springsteen

Favorite literary work:
Homer’s The Odyssey

Favorite vacation spot:
Misquamicut, Rhode Island

Favorite delicacy:
Ackee and saltfish with breadfruit (My wife is Jamaican.)

Favorite sports team:
Boston Red Sox

What are the most challenging/rewarding aspects of your job?

Care for many of our patients begins when EMS arrives on scene of a 911 call. When someone is having a heart attack or stroke, EMS can diagnose the problem and provide us with advance alerts that speed the life-saving interventions such as cardiac catheterization and thrombectomy that UConn JDH provides. Every month in our EMS newsletter we highlight these cases where our care partnership has made a difference in our patient’s lives.

What’s something a lot of us don’t realize about EMS?

People are often unaware of the high degree of training and the advanced capabilities of paramedics. They are highly trained professionals who can administer more than 30 different emergency medications and perform skills such as endotracheal intubation, surgical airway and needle decompression. They are also skilled in crisis intervention as nearly every day they deal with people in emotional and psychiatric distress.

How has EMS/emergency medicine evolved since the start of your career?

When I began in EMS in 1989, we were known as ambulance drivers who often had to call the hospital for permission to give medicine. Today, we are valued partners who do most all of our work on standing orders.

Additionally, EMS recognizes UConn John Dempsey as a peer to the two large Hartford hospitals when it comes to our ability to treat critical medical patients. That has not always been the case prior to the expansion of our emergency department.

What was your reaction to being honored with the Public Health Commissioner’s Award?

You never do the work with the intention of winning an award, but to be recognized for almost thirty years of work to improve prehospital care in the state was gratifying. I am also a big fan of Commissioner Pino’s commitment to public health so it was special to get the award from him.

What do you like to do when you’re not at work?

I am still a full-time paramedic in Hartford. I have published two nonfiction books and two novels about EMS. I love playing sports with my daughters and swimming competitively in US Masters meets.

HealthONE and Research

June 13, 2018

In preparation for go-live, we identified 29 clinical trials to be built in to HealthONE. As of early June, we’ve nearly doubled that goal, with 57 already built. What does HealthONE have to do with UConn Health’s research mission?

  • It enables streamlined billing for research trials. Previously there was no widely-used/established method to electronically track what expenses should be billed to the study vs. those that should be filed under the patient’s insurance. This efficiency allows for streamlined generation of revenue!
  • It helps study coordinators track patient status and progress within the trial electronically.
  • It saves time by replacing manual tracking in spreadsheets with a single click.
  • It can generate research statements electronically allowing for easier and quicker payment of ancillary research charges.

HealthONE is indicated for any/all studies that have an order to place in the system or involve an investigational agent, drug or device.

This was first reported in the June 12 HealthONE update. Watch for additional HealthONE updates in Lifeline, in the Pulse, at uconnhealthexpress.uchc.edu/HealthONE, and on Twitter @UConnHealthONE.

Speed Networking for Grad Students and Industry

June 7, 2018

Barry Schweitzer, Elm Street Ventures, meeting with grad student Menghan Du.

By Brittany Knight, graduate student at UConn Health

You’ve heard of speed dating? Well, how about speed networking? An inaugural event was held this spring at UConn Health’s academic rotunda with positive reviews. Graduate students and post-doctoral fellows met one-on-one with industry representatives who included start-up CEOs, venture capitalists, patent agents, technology transfer professionals, and scientists.

“I loved the energy and the curiosity of the students and post-docs I met.  They all seemed excited about their science, but wanted to learn more about the business of biotech,” said Barry Schweitzer Ph.D., partner at Elm Street Ventures and entrepreneur-in-residence at UConn. “Their number one question was ‘How do I get my first job at a biotech company?’ Unfortunately, there is no easy answer – it’s really hard to get that job. Nevertheless, my advice is to network, network, network. Most often, getting a position in industry (like in academia) comes about through personal connections and recommendations. It takes time to build that network, so start now.”

Marcia Fournier, CEO of Bioarray Genetics, meeting with students.

Marcia Fournier, Ph.D., CEO of Bioarray Genetics, said, “It was refreshing talking to UConn Health graduate students and to share my experiences with them.”​

One of the students that attended said, “It was really great to have several professionals together in one room just to talk to us. I really appreciated how friendly and open they all were, and they provided some great career advice.”

In a survey conducted among the student attendees after the event, 71 percent of the respondents found the event informative and 86 percent said they are likely to recommend it to others.

“These types of events are incredibly insightful and productive for students and the business community,” said Carrie White, senior investment associate at Connecticut Innovations. “As the innovation ecosystem continues to grow in Connecticut, we look forward to seeing more of these vibrant events at UConn and at other universities around the state.”

Coordinators Cory Brunson and Robert Pijewski

Biomedical scientists and biotechnology companies have been collaborating since 2003 through the Technology Incubator Program (TIP) at UConn. The program has sponsored 96 independent start-up biotechnology companies.

Robert Pijewski, president of the Graduate Student Organization, and Cory Brunson, Ph.D., president of the UConn Health and Jackson Laboratory Post-Doctoral Association, coordinated the inaugural speed networking event. Robert and Cory received encouragement and mentorship from Vaibhav Saini, Ph.D., who is the licensing director for Life Sciences, Office of the Vice President for Research.

UConn Health Receives Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award

Get With The Guidelines® Gold Plus Achievement Award for Stroke Center at UConn HealthUConn Health/John Dempsey Hospital has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

UConn Health earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.

“UConn Health is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” said Dr. Sanjay Mittal, director of the stroke program. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”

UConn Health additionally received the association’s Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.

“We are pleased to recognize UConn Health for their commitment to stroke care,” said Eric E. Smith, M.D., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and an associate professor of neurology at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. “Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The Guidelines quality improvement initiative can often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates.”

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.