Mayo Regional Hospital - Fall 1999 Newsletter

A newsletter of health information from Mayo Regional Hospital * Fall 1999

Employers will offer WellCheck

Major Penquis region businesses and Mayo Regional Hospital will collaboratively offer their employees as innovative community wellness program known as WellCheck -- designed to promote prevention and early detection of medical problems through the use of Problem Knowledge Coupler software.

Hardwood Products Co., Moosehead Manufacturing Co., and Mayo will initially make the program available to an estimated 800 employees and their family members.

WellCheck will be extended to other area businesses and community members in the future.

PKC couplers are information tools used by healthcare providers at the point of care to support clinical decision making. Couplers identify patient problems and risk factors, and record patient findings. That jointly choose the most appropriate information is combined, or "coupled" with knowledge based on medical literature. The PKC software then produces a personalized report for each patient, suggesting a choice of possible diagnoses and management strategies.

Area businesses feel the use of PKC couplers will improve access to the healthcare system for employees and dependants, empower those employees to become actively involved in dealing with their own healthcare issues, and assist area providers in gaining operating efficiencies that will eventually result in reduced costs for medical care.

PKC couplers do not attempt to calculate the "most likely" diagnosis. The resulting report does give medical providers indicators that may be reviewed with the patient, so that they may jointly choose the most appropriate healthcare option.

Under the regional program, a trained WellCheck nurse will meet with participants for an initial wellness screening using PKC couplers and a laptop computer. Answers to detailed questions will be entered into the computer, and the software will search medical literature for information relative to positive indicators.

After a personalized, hard copy report is printed and distributed to participating individuals and their primary care providers, follow-up sessions are scheduled as necessary.

WellCheck will be governed by an advisory committee consisting of industry and medical representatives. It is seen as an initial entry point into the healthcare system, and while individual participation is voluntary, businesses will create incentives for their employees and families.

Problem Knowledge Couplers have existed for nearly 20 years and are gaining widespread acceptance. The Department of Defense has found that wellness and patient history screening couplers are particularly useful in understanding current health status and risk factors, and generating problem lists and recommendations.

The use of this medical information technology in no way diminishes the patient-doctor relationship.

By standardizing the task of data storage and retrieval and relegating it to computers, physicians are not only relieved from making memory-based medical decisions, but can devote more time and attention to patients needs.

Physicians who use PKC couplers say they can result in more effective prevention, earlier detection, improved diagnostic accuracy, more appropriate treatment and better health outcomes.

By using technology to build a data base of known medical information about the local population, the program holds promise for improving the region's long-term health status.

The Emergency Room entrance will have a similar look, but space for emergency services will be greatly enlarged once Mayo Regional Hospital implements its facility master planning project.

Mayo eyes major expansion

The Strategic Planning Committee at Mayo Regional Hospital in December is expected to finalize the scope of a major expansion/renovation project.

The decision will culminate a yearlong facility master planning process undertaken by the committee with the help of Morris/Switzer & Associates, a Vermont healthcare architectural firm.

"Our Existing facility has served Mayo and the community well since it ipened in 1978," said Ralph Gararro, Mayo Chief Executive Officer. "It is now time to look ahead at our space needs to ensure that we can meet changing healthcare demands over the next 20 years."

So far, the facility master plan has identified three areas where new space is needed at Mayo Regional:

An addition on the east end of the hospital to expand emergency services, enlarging existing space by 2.5 times. The Emergency Department now lacks space to efficiently handle the 10,500 patients it serves each year.
An addition on the west end of the hospital for surgical and ambulatory care services.
The construction on the south side of the hospital, extending toward West Main Street, of the Mayo Resource Center. This space would consolidate community education, administration, business office, medical records, medical staff support, and mammography services.

In addition, existing space would be renovated on the hospital's first and second floors. First-floor renovations would include patient registration, and both the Cardiopulmonary and Radiology Departments. Second-floor renovations would involve a complete updating of the Obstetrical Department, and a relocation of the Pharmacy from the basement.

The total estimated cost of the expansion/renovation work is $6 million.

Gabarro said a financial feasibility study must ve completed before any construction starts, and noted the project will also be subjected to state review under the Certificate of Need process.

Assuming state approval is received, construction could start in summer, 2000.

Mayo Regional prepares for Y2K challenge Whether one calls it the Year 2000 problem, Y2K or the millenium bug, Mayo Regional Hospital is aggressively preparing to ensure it is ready to serve its patients when the clock strikes midnight to end 1999.

Mayo Regional has been working since 1998 to become Y2K compliant, and has already spent approximately $900,000 from its capital budget for the replacement of the hospital's computerized information system, personal computers, telephone system, monitors, analyzers and other medical equipment. Another $150,000 is included in the current year's budget to cover Y2K contingency issues, if needed.

Mayo has focused on evaluating and updating medical equipment that is critical for patient care. A team of hospital leaders has formed a Year 2000 Planning Committee that meets regularly to oversee this complex effort.

"Y2K isn't about panic, it's about preparation," said Ralph Gabarro, Mayo's Chief Executive Officer. "Our hospital has been making a concerted effort to identify and scrutinize every piece of equipment to eliminate the risk of malfunction through upgrades, according to manufacturers' standards, or equipment replacement altogether - all in the name of patient safety."

Mayo has devoted considerable resources to inventory, assess and prioritize each of the hundreds of individual pieces of medical equipment used at the hospital to ensure the safety of patient care services. The has contacted its key vendors and suppliers to assess their readiness with Y2K issues, and their ability to continue providing key services and supplies.

Mayo is also developing the necessary contingency plans to minimize any identified operational risk.

Mayo's goal is to be fully Y2K compliant by Dec. 1, a full month before the Year 2000 date rollover. The hospital is also committed to maintaining appropriate staff levels during the New Year's Eve weekend holiday to ensure patient safety.

Since hospitals routinely prepare for emergencies and natural disasters, Mayo Regional already has back-up generators in place to accommodate unexpected power outages, and other disaster preparedness plans to handle all types of emergencies.

Auxiliary contributes $12,000

Mayo Regional Hospital Auxiliary President Grace Leeman, left, accepts a major gift from Clifford Wiley of Kineo Lodge 64, International Order of Odd Fellows. The check adds to the Auxiliary's fundraising efforts on behalf of Mayo's new bone densitometer device.

In the fall of 1998, the Mayo Regional Hospital Auxiliary took on the ambitious goal of raising $26,000 in a multiyear commitment to cover the purchase price of the new bone densitometer in the hospital's Imaging Center for Women.
One year later, by September, 1999, the Auxiliary had already contributed $12,000 of that total.
The Auxiliary's coffers were bolstered this fall by a Leadership level donation from Kineo Lodge 64, International Order of Odd Fellows. Yet most of the funds were raised by Auxiliary members in a series of events scheduled throughout the year: the Christmas tree lighting project, the Surnmerfest, a pie sale, public suppers, raffles, a game night, and the gift cabinet operated in the hospital lobby.
The bone densitometer purchased through the Auxiliary's efforts aids in the diagnosis of osteoporosis, a debilltating disease in which bones become thin and brittle and are subject to fractures. By measuring bone mineral density, the new device can detect osteoporosis at an early stage so that treatment is most effective, and monitor response to that treatment.

BEST FLOAT AWARD

BEST FLOAT AWARD: Mayo Regional Hospital's Float, "Your Partners in Better Health," garnered the Best Float award in the Dover-Foxcroft Homecoming Celebration parade held August 7th. The hospital was also well represented in the parade with floats from its Heartwise program and Mayo volunteers, and Mayo EMS ambulance units.

Hospital to sponsor AmericasDoctor.com Mayo Regional Hospital has agreed to become a local sponsor hospital for AmericasDoctor.com, the first full service medical/health information Internet site to offer private, one-on-one dialogue with primary care physicians and other health care specialists.

AmericasDoctor.com provides consumers with free, 24-hour/7 days a week private chat with primary care doctors. Although these physicians do not diagnose, prescribe or treat over the Internet, they can assist in the consumer's search for health information, resources and products.

The new service can be accessed over the Internet through the company's World Wide Web site -- www.AmericasDoctor.com. There will also be a direct link through Mayo Regional Hospital's Web site at www.mayohospital.com.

AmericasDoctor.com provides a variety of services:

Ask-A-Doc: Consumers' health care questions are answered 24 hours a day. Free, confidential, online interactivity with physicians who communicate in real time.
Events: Regularly scheduled events bring live lectures, interviews and special guest sessions with some of America's leading physicians on a broad range of medical/health topics.
News: The latest health news, updated several times daily.
Medical Shopping Mall: A wide selecrion of established brand name products and services that meet home care, rehabilitative and other health care needs.
Library: Consumers can select and download information from the latest articles and research on health topics of popular and special interest.
FAQs: This section provides insightful answers to frequently asked questions.
Volunteer: Consumers have an opportunity to volunteer for medical studies and clinical trials.
Hospitals:Consumers can learn more about AmericasDoctor.com sponsor hospitals, check Web sites and send e-mail for more information.
My Profiles: Users can create their own confidential, password protected medical file to keep track of pertinent medical information, medications and test results.
Health Issue and Disease Specific Communities: These communities include narrowcast programming, physician-consumer chat, self-help, in-Community bulletin boards and chat. The Communities provide the consumer with health information and products geared specifically toward individual needs.