Betsy Ryan is president and CEO of the New Jersey Hospital Association. Her blog, Healthcare Matters, examines the many issues confronting New Jersey's hospitals and their patients. Readers are encouraged to join the discussion, because healthcare matters - to all of us.
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Hospitals and Nurses: Partners in Caring for Our Patients, Our Communities - May 07, 2012
This week is both National Hospital Week and National Nurses Week, which happens to be a “happy coincidence.” As I like to say, nurses put the heart in healthcare, and it’s very often our nurses who are the “face” of hospitals and provide the human connection between New Jersey’s hospitals and the 18 million individuals they serve each year. Read the rest of this Entry
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News Program Reveals Plight of ‘Permanent Patients’ and the Hospitals That Care For Them - April 26, 2012
There’s been a lot of buzz this week about a news segment on the NBC program Rock Center about “permanent patients” – that is, patients who in essence become tenants at acute care hospitals because there’s nowhere for them to go once they’re discharged. These patients can stay for months and sometimes years, even if they no longer need an acute level of healthcare services. And because many of these patients lack health insurance, they can rack up overwhelming costs that the hospitals must absorb. Read the rest of this Entry
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5,000 of Our N.J. Neighbors Await an Organ Transplant - April 06, 2012
Guest Blog by Aline Holmes, RN, director of the NJHA Institute for Quality and Patient Safety. I’ve been fortunate to have served as a nurse for more than 40 years. I’ve witnessed a long list of medical advances over the years – not the least of which is the lifesaving possibilities of organ transplants. I’ve seen patients with just days to live transformed into vibrant, healthy individuals, thanks to the tremendous gift of organ donation. Read the rest of this Entry
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Half a Loaf Vs. An Empty Shell - March 28, 2012
Day 3 of oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act brought more food analogies, as the justices and attorneys debated whether the rest of the law should stand even if the individual mandate is held to be unconstitutional. Most of the attorneys argued, and Justices Scalia and Roberts seemed to agree, that the law is so large, with so many components, that it should fall in its entirety if the individual mandate is declared unconstitutional. Read the rest of this Entry
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Take 2 Broccoli and Call Me in the Morning? - March 27, 2012
In day 2 of the Supreme Court arguments on healthcare reform, most legal analysts say the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act is in trouble based on the oral arguments. The good news is that eight justices were very engaged in asking questions (Justice Thomas apparently hasn’t asked a question in over six years). I just heard a snippet of the arguments where Justice Antonin Scalia questioned whether allowing the government to require individuals to buy health insurance could allow them to mandate other purchases. Like broccoli. Read the rest of this Entry
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Healthcare Reform at the SCOTUS: What We’ll be Watching For - March 26, 2012
I’m tuned in to C-SPAN this week and assorted blogs to follow the Supreme Court arguments on the future of the Affordable Care Act (or Obamacare, depending on what side of the political fence you sit on.) I’m disappointed the Supreme Court is not televising the oral arguments. And as an attorney, I will be listening in particular to what Justices Kennedy, Scalia and Roberts are asking. They’re the potential swing votes that could ultimately decide this case. Read the rest of this Entry
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Happy Anniversary to the Girl Scouts - March 21, 2012
They say once a Girl Scout, always a Girl Scout. I was both a Brownie and a Girl Scout growing up, and I read with interest recently that the Girl Scouts are celebrating their 100th Anniversary in 2012. Being a Girl Scout taught me a great deal: the importance of being part of a larger group (which has come in handy leading a 300-plus-member healthcare association); the amazing feeling of accomplishment when you earned a badge (even though I did earn a badge for sewing, I never learned to enjoy sewing them on my sash); how to approach someone with confidence (essential for someone selling their own weight in cookies.) To this day, I can’t go by those cookie vendors without buying a couple of boxes. I also got my first taste of leadership when my troop elected me division leader. I will never forget how proud I was to put on my uniform for every meeting. Read the rest of this Entry
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Patients Are Essential Partners in Making Healthcare Better - March 08, 2012
This week is National Patient Safety Awareness Week – “awareness” being the key word. Because for all the work the healthcare industry has done in the past decade to improve patient safety, it’s you, the individual, who has perhaps the most important role. Read the rest of this Entry
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Congressman Payne: A Trailblazing Leader for New Jersey - March 06, 2012
NJHA sends it condolences to the Payne family over the passing of Congressman Donald Payne. Congressman Payne has served the 10th congressional district of New Jersey for 22 years. He is truly a trailblazer, being the first African American elected to Congress from the State of New Jersey. He also served as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Congressman Payne served his constituents and all the people of New Jersey very ably for over two decades. It is a sad day for our state. We will miss him and the leadership he so often provided on key issues.
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POLST Empowers Patients in End-of-Life Care - February 13, 2012
Gov. Christie recently signed into law a new program called “POLST,” which stands for Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment. This is a new vehicle for patients and their doctors to – voluntarily – spell out for future caregivers and family members the patient’s goals, particularly at the end-of-life. Working closely with a physician or advanced practice nurse, an individual can put into writing the types of care that he or she wants – or does not want – during the end stages of a life-limiting illness or chronic disease. Because the document is signed by a physician or advance practice nurse, the experience of other states has been that POLST is followed by other practitioners of care. And because family members see that mom, or dad, or Aunt Betty signed the form themselves, they are more comfortable with the decision. POLST will empower patients. Its use is voluntary, but we at NJHA think it’s a powerful tool for us to improve the care we provide at the end of life. We urge you to watch for POLST to be rolled out in New Jersey in the coming months and to use it as a catalyst to talk to your clinician and take control of your healthcare wishes. You can learn more at www.POLST.org.
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