The other day, I was reading a NY Times article that menitoned that only 1 CEO of a Fortune 500 company had a blog. I don't run a Fortune 500 company, but I do run Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a large academic medical center in Boston. I thought it would be fun to share thoughts with people about my experience here and their experiences in the hospital world. This is my first blogging experience, so please excuse if I mess things up . . .
A few rules: I cannot comment on individual and legally confidential patient care issues in this forum -- although I can refer patients of our hospital to the appropriate people if they have problems or complaints. I also cannot comment on individual and legally confidential personnel matters of our employees -- although I can refer people to the appropriate folks in the hospital to help them.
So, that's it. Feel free to open this up with questions about what it is like to run a 600-bed hospital; or to offer your thoughts about the state of medical care in general; or to comment about how wonderful (!) our hospital was during a recent visit; or what it is like to work at our hospital or whereever you work.
My first comment is this: I am new to health care, and I have never worked in a place where people are so consistently caring and devoted to alleviating human suffering caused by disease. It is, in many ways, a beautiful place to work. But many of the forces facing hospitals, doctors, nurses, and others make it really hard to do the job well.
19 comments:
Welcome to the blogosphere!
Thanks!
Why are you outraged?
DearDr.Levy,
My friend, Anil Madan,forwarded your good words and I certainly agree. We used to provide the property insurnace for BI/Deaconess and I enjoyed my interactions with Dick Lee, Ed Kushmreck and others. Earlier this year my wife died from lung cancer after a real struggle; we learned from your example and did the best job we could. Yours, Wallace Savory
Hi Paul, I loved your blog. I look forward to reading it. My mind presents nothing to me about running a major Boston hospital except that it must be awesome and complicated.
I noticed that the Globe had an article the day after you sent your e-mail saying that Cardinal O'Malley had his own blog now. I got a kick out of that. He's following you.
Excellent idea for a blog.
Health Care for All, a very fine organization that has been at the forefront of issues here in Massachusetts, has been kind enough to mention this blog on theirs, http://blog.hcfama.org/. Check it out.
I appreciate the opportunity of getting a glimpse of a hospital CEO’s perspective! My personal experiences with BID have always been VERY positive. I’m sure you are aware of the exceptional service your nursing staff provide.
Several friends have forwarded to me your e-mail announcing your blog running a hospital.
I'll read yours if you'll read mine. You will find it at www.healthcareanew.blogspot.com.
care to read about my experience in your ER?
http://involuntaryslacker.blogspot.com/2006/09/er-adventure.html
Thanks. It can definitely feel like another world when you are a patient in an emergency room in a big city hospital. The range of cases that show up in any given day is huge, from bee stings to cardiac arrests. People with relatively minor problems may find themselves waiting a long time. Also, if the hospital is full, people may have to wait in the emergency department for hours, until a patient is discharged from a floor upstairs.
For folks who live in Boston's western suburbs, our hospital in Needham has a very fine emergency room, with the same doctors you will find downtown, and usually with a much shorter wait.
As a Boston-area resident who has given birth to three kids at the Beth Israel Deaconess, I've long been impressed by the caring and skill of the hospital's staff.
As a marketer working with medical device and diagnostics companies, I'm astounded to see the CEO of a major teaching hospital with a public blog. So much of what one can do or say in the health care space today is limited by business liability concerns. To see the warmth and honesty of your comments is really refreshing. Thank you.
Thanks very much. Borrowing from Garrison Keillor, I offer a guarantee to all of our prospective parents that all babies born at BIDMC are above average! Please call me in several years if their SAT scores fail to confirm that . . .
Oops, should I have run that comment by my lawyers?!
Seriously, there are many liability concerns in running any large organization, but there are also many things we can talk about that are simply matters of opinion -- and if people in the field do not talk about them openly, how can we expect the general public, legislators and other policy makers to be informed?
welcome to the blogosphere! It's great to see yet another hospital CEO joining us! Nick Jacobs (the first hospital CEO to start a blog) is a core blogger over at our blog, hospital impact. Nick's a great guy (also previously a non-hospital person) - you guys should trade notes!
How do I find, him, Tony? Which hospital?
Ok, I found Nick and listed his blog on my front page.
Very enjoyable reading Paul. As a Wisconsin-based Planning/Marketing hospital guy, I appreciate your take(s) on advertising and the misrepresentation therein.
Some of your posts made me thing about about 10 years ago when I did a short stint at a health insurance company. During my interview process, they kept talking about how they were part of the health provider team. I finally had to stop someone during the interview and ask who on the team that I'd be working with actually had hospital work experience. Answer - none.
I look forward to reading about the stories about the staff and patients that demonstrate the intangibles that take place at a hospital.
Ken
Never wanted a "Crackberry" and this confirms my concept!!
Paul,
Just saw you on Emily Rooney show.
Congratulations on the Blackberry!
Why don't all hospitals offer the same discounts to all insurers to create a level playing field for competition? Are you worried that BC/BS is leveraging its power to become the only real player in MA healthcare?
Paul,
I greatly enjoy your blog and read it often. By the way, BIDMC uses RASMAS, the Risk And Safety Management Alert System, that helps hospitals deal with recalled medical products more efficiently. Are you familiar with it?
Regards,
Clay Chase
clay.chase@noblis.org
703-610-2177
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