MedStaff Update August 2012

FDA-approved Transcatheter Approach Offers Life-extending Valve Replacement for Inoperable Patients

Stanford cardiologists and cardiac surgeons have been working together to replace aortic valves less invasively via catheter rather than open surgery. This procedure not only eliminates the need for sternotomy and cardiopulmonary bypass, but gives new hope to inoperable patients with aortic stenosis.

Palliative Care Puts Patients' and Families' Needs First

Palliative care is more than end of life care. It complements the disease-directed and curative treatments patients receive by helping patients and their families cope with difficult treatments, chronic pain, emotional stress and the often confusing treatment decisions that are tantamount to medical care today

Affordable Care Act: What Does it Mean for Physicians?

A conversation with health care improvement expert Arnold Milstein, MD, MPH, sheds light on how the new law will affect physicians and hospitals over the next five years. Milstein directs Stanford's Clinical Excellence Research Center (CERC)

Interdisciplinary Teamwork: An Essential Ingredient for Improving Outcomes

During a hospital training exercise, a simulated patient developed severe sepsis on a medicine ward. Read about how effective teamwork between the nurse and intern could have influenced the patient's outcome

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Stanford to Implement a Late Career Practitioner Policy

By Ann Weinacker, MD, Chief of Staff

In April of last year, a task force appointed by Dean Philip Pizzo began working to develop a policy for late career practitioners at Stanford. After first seriously considering whether Stanford should have such a policy and why, the task force developed a Late Career Practitioner Policy that has been approved by the Medical Executive Committee and will be implemented in September. The complete policy and some frequently asked questions are posted on the Medical Staff website. Let me tell you a little bit about why the policy was developed, and what it entails.