Good Morning, Children's Mercy!

Drs. Karen Cox and Charlie Roberts discuss competition, Children's Mercy improvements

The Oct. 1 implementation of ICD-10 is fast approaching. In this video podcast, Dr. Charles Roberts, EVP/Executive Medical Director and Jill Harrelson, Director-Health Information Management (HIM), talk with host Jason Newland, MD, about why Children’s Mercy must be ready to transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 by that date. ICD-10 refers to the codes the health-care industry uses to describe diagnoses and treatment and, ultimately, who gets paid for doing what. As Dr. Roberts succinctly summarizes the in the podcast: “No money, no mission.”But compensation isn’t the only important issue involved in ICD-10. The increased specificity that will be required in the updated medical coding will lead to improved quality of research and ultimately improve the clinical care we provide. The current system is ICD-9, which has about 14,000 codes. ICD-10, which is much more descriptive and accommodates new diseases and procedures, has about 68,000 codes. Collaboration between clinicians and medical coders will be essential to a successful transition.

Big changes are coming to enhance safety with enteral tubing and medication syringes. In this podcast, host Jason Newland, MD, talks with Sarah Bledsoe, PharmD, Pharmacy Operations Manager, about the coming changes and what providers, pharmacy staff members and nurses can expect from this initiative, which is designed to eliminate harm to patients by avoiding medical device tubing misconnections. Children’s Mercy is scheduled to begin using ENFit safe enteral feeding tube connectors in 2016, but an exact date has not yet been determined. Enteral tubing delivers nutrition and medications to the digestive tract. The ENFit system has been designed to prevent medical devices from being connected to the wrong tubing. (For example, care providers can inadvertently connect the wrong tubing and deliver enteral formula into an IV line, which may cause injury.) The Children’s Mercy Pharmacy has been working with the Enteral Access team to ensure a smooth, safe transition to the standardized ENFit tube feeding devices. Watch this video podcast to learn details, and to see samples of the new ENFit enteral devices.

David Westbrook, Children's Mercy Senior Vice President for Strategy and Innovation, recently completed signing of a contract to give a million dollars to Children's Mercy − $200,000 in cash over a few years and $800K from his estate. Following a successful 30-year career as a business owner and well-known strategic communications consultant, David joined the Children's Mercy family in 2008. In the decades prior, David says he was fortunate to be successful enough in his business to establish some personal wealth. Now as a Children's Mercy employee, he is happy to share it. Working with members of the Department of Philanthropy, David was able to come up with a giving plan that allows him to make a difference today and into the future. In this video podcast, David sat down with host Jason Newland to talk about his $1 million gift to Children's Mercy. Listen in on their conversation to find out more about David's giving philosophy and why he chooses to give where he lives.

In a special edition of "Good Morning, Children's Mercy," Jason talks with Keith Mann, MD, MEd, Interim Division Director of General Pediatrics, Associate Executive Medical Director and Chief Medical Quality and Safety Officer, discuss the error prevention technique of "Stop and Resolve."

Ahead of the upcoming Employee Giving Campaign, Jan. 23-Feb. 2, Dr. Jason Newland sat down with Employee Campaign co-chair Curtis Weber to discuss employee philanthropy at Children's Mercy. Watch their conversation below to learn how employees are making a difference in the lives of children and families in the community through giving. Also, find out more about this year's campaign and the variety of ways employees can participate -- and even win cool prizes!

The numbers are sobering: Each year in the U.S., at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics; at least 23,000 people die as a result of these infections annually; one in every five pediatric clinic visits results in an antibiotic prescription; and over 150,000 Emergency Department visits occur every year because of adverse drug reactions associated with antibiotics. In this podcast, host Jason Newland talks with Jennifer Goldman, MD, Medical Director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program, about efforts to address the overuse of antibiotics, including the Nov. 17-23 observance of "Get Smart About Antibiotics Week," sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Learn more about what prescribers, patients and parents can do to promote the judicious use of antibiotics.

Ebola: What is the history of this virus? How is it transmitted? What misconceptions should we be aware of? What is Children’s Mercy doing to prepare for the possibility of Ebola cases at our institution? Listen to the latest "Good Morning, Children's Mercy" podcast with Mary Anne Jackson, MD, Division Director-Infectious Diseases, and Jason Newland, MD, as they discuss Ebola and preparations the hospital has made to ensure the safety and protection of patients, families and staff members. "Identify, Isolate, Notify" are the key messages emphasized by Drs. Jackson and Newland. For details, listen to this important podcast.

Enterovirus 68 (EV-68) is hanging on, but hopes are that the end is near for the nasty bug. We’re still in the midst of a national respiratory outbreak of EV-68, the largest every reported in history. However, most enteroviruses leave the community in October, so relief may be on the way. Listen to today’s “Good Morning Children’s Mercy” podcast as Drs. Mary Anne Jackson and Jason Newland provide an update on the EV-68 outbreak.

The community’s generosity was especially notable in 2014 ─ a record-breaking year for philanthropy at Children’s Mercy. The hospital received $32.5 million in pledged and outright gifts and volunteers logged 55,226 hours ($1.2 million value) to support our work to transform pediatric medicine for all children regardless of their ability to pay. In this podcast, Jenea Oliver, PhD, Vice President of Philanthropy, talks with Jason about this great news, and what we can do to continue the momentum.