Southwest Bone and Joint's Blog

BCBS Hip and Knee Blue Distinction

southwestboneandjoint — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:25:48 +0000

We just found out that we are eligible for Blue Cross Blue Shield’s Hip and Knee Blue Distinction. The Blue Distinction “is a designation awarded by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies to medical facilities that have demonstrated expertise in delivering quality healthcare, under objective selection criteria. The designation is based on rigorous, evidence-based selection criteria established in collaboration with expert physicians’ and medical organizations’ recommendations. Its goal is to help consumers find quality specialty care on a consistent basis, while enabling and encouraging health professionals to improve the overall quality and delivery of healthcare nationwide.” (BCBS). We’ll be the first organization in New Mexico to receive this distinction.

We’ve been working with Gila Regional Medical Center, our local hospital, for quite a while on developing metrics that we can both use to measure the quality of services our patients receive. The team happened to stumble upon BCBS’s Blue Distinction program, and while it is exciting that we’re eligible, it is even more exciting that we now have a set of guidelines to help us improve.

For more information about the program, check out the BCBS website.

Jennifer

Community Development

southwestboneandjoint — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:28:08 +0000

One of the organizations that we’re involved with is the Grant County/Silver City Prospectors. They recently held their Annual Legislative Forum, which was facilitated by our CEO, Michael Harris.

We support organizations like the Prospectors because we strongly believe that there is a need for sustainable economic development in our county and others around the state and nation. This is achievable only if our community makes itself desireable, accessible, and accommodating to new businesses. Long term sustainability comes from creating jobs and planning for the future, not by asking the government for easy money because it’s there.

We’re trying to do our part to make this community last because we care about it and the people in it! What are your thoughts on how sustainable economic development can be accomplished?

Key Words at Key Times

southwestboneandjoint — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:07:42 +0000

We’ve talked before about Quint Studer at Studer Group and his development of the rounding for outcomes process. Another concept of his that we are in the process of adapting is the use of key words at key times. When we interact with patients and customers, its important that we say the right things to them at the right times so they know that we care about the experience they have while in our care, and that we have their best interests at heart. Using key words at key times also helps reduce patient anxiety, increases safety, and makes the way we communicate with patients more consistent.

When a patient gets a cast off, or completes therapy, we want to say “Congratulations!” When a patient schedules an appointment, we want to thank them for choosing us when they have the freedom and the ability to choose another orthopedic clinic or therapy provider.

Using key words at key times goes beyond the clinic/patient relationship. We also need to use key words to show fellow co-workers and peers that we appreciate what they do, and to explain to them the meaning behind the things we do.

As Thanksgiving approaches, we remember to be thankful for those around us. Why not start using key words now, and continue all year?

Jennifer

Large Business of the Year

southwestboneandjoint — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:27:32 +0000

We’ve received the honor of being named the Silver City/ Grant County Chamber of Commerce‘s pick for the 2009 Large Business of the Year. It not only is unexpected, but it comes at a time when the encouragement of winning an award like this was much needed. Sometimes you get so caught up in the daily grind that you forget to take a step back and realize what you’ve accomplished. We’re very grateful that we’ve been picked for this award, and thankful to the peers that recognized what we have and are actively trying to accomplish.

Now that we’ve figured out the right things to do, we’re moving forward by refining them and focusing on doing them right.

Jennifer

Motivation

southwestboneandjoint — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:27:44 +0000

In one of the MBA classes that I’m taking we were discussing how to motivate employees. Task significance was at the top of the list. In other words, knowing that their job is important is important to employees.

Those of us in healthcare have an advantage because we get to see people’s lives transformed because of our work. Patients crippled by injury and disease are given a new chance to walk, run, swing dance, play catch, and return to daily living because of us. That’s pretty cool.

Not everyone that works in our organization gets to see first hand how much their job makes a difference to our patients. That’s how it is in most organizations. The people on the ”frontlines” get to see the before and after, experience the patient’s gratitude, and know that they’ve helped to give someone a better quality of life. The people behind the scenes, however, don’t always get to experience this.

It is our job as an organization to make sure that everyone knows how important their job is, whether behind the scenes or not. Using Outcomes-Based Rounding is one way we can do this. It is personal, effective, and it gives employees feedback, which is another motivator.

Whatever your method may be, make sure you communicate to employees the importance of their job to your organization. It’ll make a difference, and you might be surprised to find that when you encourage those around you, you’ll find yourself with a renewed energy and passion for your own job.

Jennifer

10 Ways to Contact Us

southwestboneandjoint — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:28:26 +0000

We want our customers to be able to contact us during any time of the day or night. Here are ten ways you can get ahold of us.

1. Give us a call. Slightly conventional, but still a foolproof way to let us know that you need us. We’ll call you back, we promise! Our Deming, NM number is 575-546-3604, the Silver City, NM number is 575-534-1919, and you can call us toll free from anywhere at 1-866-534-4262.

2. Send us a fax. 575-534-0135.

3. Email us. The address is contact@southwestboneandjoint.com. We know that someway, somehow, you have access to the internet, and with the popularity of PDAs, Blackberries, and wireless cards, you can email us from the road or your house. Either way, we’ll respond the same day.

4. Use the contact form on our website. When you visit our website, you can click on “contact us” and then the email address to fill out a form to send us an email right then and there.

5. Contact us through Twitter. We’re @swboneandjoint. We check our twitter page every day, several times a day. We’ll tweet you back or give you a call!

6. Send us a message on Facebook. With over 200 million active users, we think that Facebook is a valuable place to be. If you are one of those users, send us a message to let us know what we can do for you!

7. Stop by our office. We have two locations, one at 721 East Holly Street, in Deming, NM, and one at 1268 E 32nd Street in Silver City, NM. There are directions to both locations on our website.

8. Leave a comment on this blog. We check the activity daily, and would love to get some feedback on here, or answer any questions you may have!

9. Catch us at a local event. One of us is bound to be at weekend school sports events, and we’re often out and about in the community. Sometimes we’ll be wearing our Southwest Bone and Joint gear, and if you don’t know our faces, our bios and pictures are all on our website.

10. Last but not least, you can use good ol’ snail mail to get ahold of us. Send us a letter and let us know how you feel!

Southwest Bone and Joint
1268 E. 32nd Street
Silver City, NM 88061

Jennifer

Referral or No Referral

southwestboneandjoint — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:45:29 +0000

A question that we are commonly asked is “do I need a referral to see the doctor?” The answer largely depends on how the patient is paying for the services they receive.

Most insurance companies require their customers that are seeking the services of a specialist (like an orthopedic surgeon, etc) to first see their primary care physician and get a referral. A referral is basically a note from one physician to another confirming that the patient needs specialized treatment. The insurance company wants to know that the patient’s need to see a specialist is authentic.

Patients who do not have insurance typically do not need a referral to see a specialist, and some government insurance payors, like Medicare do not require patients to have a referral before they see a specialist.

When in doubt, call your insurance company to find out their requirements. If you do not have insurance, you most likely do not need a referral, but you can call the specialist to find out their policy on seeing cash patients.

Jennifer

Effective Communication

southwestboneandjoint — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:44:41 +0000

I just read a great post by Chris Brogan (www.chrisbrogan.com) on managing email. He described his system for filtering and answering 600+ emails a day, and gave some tips on writing effective emails that save both parties time.

In our organization, we are always trying to find ways to make communication more effective. We’d much rather write two emails instead of four, make one phone call instead of two, make one announcement about an upcoming event instead of thirty.

One of the ways that we have improved effectiveness is by developing an intranet site. The intranet site allows employees to find information in one centralized location. With two different office locations, it facillitates communication and has greatly reduced the number of “balls dropped,” so to speak. The old “oh, well no one told me that…” and “I told so- and- so to tell you” excuses go right out the window. Managers become responsible for putting the information in the right place, and employees become responsible for retrieving the information in a timely manner.

We’re just in the beginning stages of using technology and social media to communicate more effectively with employees, patients and customers. I think the important thing to remember is that social media tools and technology are meant to be a help, not a hindrance. When you find that the time and effort you spend using the tools is greater than the benefit you get out of them, you need to take a step back and evaluate what you are doing and figure our how you can use what you have to become more a more effective communicator.

Jennifer

Joan Rivers and Osteoporosis

southwestboneandjoint — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:54:36 +0000

I recently stumbled across several television spots produced by the AAOS (American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons). One of them features Joan Rivers talking about osteoporosis. While the spot is humorous, the subject matter is serious. Part of our job as healthcare providers is to educate people about preventing injuries and diseases, or at least what they can do to reduce their risk of becoming victim of one or the other, or both.

Two of the easiest ways to prevent injuries and bone diseases are exercise and eating right. This doesn’t mean that you have to compete with Lance Armstrong or participate in a triathlon. It just means that instead of watching your favorite reality show for an hour after work while devouring a pack of Twizzlers maybe you walk your dog and eat some carrots.

Exercise doesn’t have to be torture, and eating healthily doesn’t mean you’ll miss out on all of the delicious flavors associated with red dye 40. Hopefully, with the right diet and exercise, the only thing you’ll miss out on is osteoporosis. For some more information about staying healthy and the benefits to your bone and muscle health, check out the AAOS’s website www.saveyourknees.org.

Jennifer

Decision Making Authority

southwestboneandjoint — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:31:48 +0000

Decision making authority ought to be driven as close to customers as possible. In other words, a CEO hoarding that authority would work against the interests of an organization. Obviously, there are things that should not be delegated. A wise executive will know the difference. But whenever and wherever possible, it is understood, or should be understood in an organization, that people with the responsibility for a given set of tasks or decisions are also given the authority to direct the resources needed to be successful in those situations. To do otherwise creates some level of neurosis among employees that eventually leads to dissatisfied customers. All companies have failures. It is our hope that we proactively develop processes to prevent failures and failing (yes, I see the pun) – that we identify failures internally before they affect customers. When failures become external (do affect customers) we need mechanisms for understanding whether these were special cause failures or common cause failures and to then address them appropriately.

The point of all of this is to suggest that the further decision making gets on the organizational chart from the customer, the more opportunities there are for external failures to occur. Our goal then is to drive authority (and accountability) toward frontline employees to the most practical possible extent as they are the people in the organization best suited to anticipate and prevent failures in the first place.

Mike