MedStaff Update: December 2016

Remembering Norbert von der Groeben
At 6 feet 4 inches tall and with a large burden of cameras and lenses slung around his neck, Norbert von der Groeben was hard to miss. For nearly 10 years, von der Groeben was a regular presence on the Stanford Medicine campus, taking photos of faculty members, staff, students and patients, chronicling our history and capturing the essence of Stanford Health Care. On Dec. 4, von der Groeben died at his Palo Alto home of an apparent heart attack. He was 59.

Palliative Care Training Expands to More Providers to Improve End of Life Care
While most physicians recognize the importance of end of life discussions and setting care plan goals with their patients, only a fraction actually have these discussions. The Palliative Medicine team at Stanford is trying to change that reality by providing clinicians at all levels with the training they need to give critically ill patients the level of medical care and emotional support they desire.

Ortho-Joint Moves the Needle on Timely Discharge 
A multidisciplinary team from the inpatient and outpatient Ortho-Joint service line redesigned the patient journey from the decision to have surgery to the post-op visit. It moved patient discharge planning to the beginning of the process, scheduled a discharge date and time before surgery, and created a patient plan that outlines the milestones to achieve before discharge. This work increased discharge by noon rates and decreased length of stay.  

Patient Safety: Lessons Learned
New Code Sepsis Protocol Launched in November
Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock (SS/SS) have high rates of mortality. In looking at SHC data for a 23-month period, cases that are present on admission (POA) have a mortality rate of 20 percent, and those that are not present on admission (NPOA) have a mortality rate of 36 percent. Vizient (UHC) data from first quarter 2016 shows that compared to other Vizient participating hospitals across the nation, Stanford ranks 104/137 for Sepsis Observed to Expected (O:E) mortality.