Watch the newest “I am Texas Children’s” video featuring employee Dana Gonzales in West Campus – Diabetes/Endocrine Care Center. “As a pediatric nurse, I love taking care of children and providing support to their families. There’s always room to grow and learn new things at Texas Children’s.” Check out her video, and find out how you and your coworkers can be featured in the “I Am Texas Children’s” section on Connect.
A lot happened in 1954. Social Security as we know it was signed into law by President Eisenhower, the first mass vaccination of children against polio began and the first organ transplants were done. The first electronic color television came on the market, Elvis Presley cut his first commercial record kicking off his incredible music career, I Love Lucy began airing around the nation, the song White Christmas was first heard and Texas Children’s Hospital admitted our first patient, opening doors to decades of caring for children and women in the community and around the globe.
Six decades is a long time to be around and Texas Children’s young patients think so too. Connect asked the patients what exactly they thought of the age 60. Watch this short video to hear their answers.
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For the second year in a row, Texas Children’s has received the “Most Wired” designation for outstanding health care-based technology from Hospitals & Health Network Magazine – the flagship publication of the American Hospital Association.
“Earning Most Wired designation for two consecutive years is a tribute to the hard work of Information Services and our many partners at Texas Children’s,” said Myra Davis, senior vice president of Information Services (IS). “It also reflects the foresight of the administration to recognize the role innovative technology can play in supporting world-class patient care.”
Now in its 16th year, the Most Wired Survey polls hospitals and health systems nationwide regarding their IT initiatives. Hospitals that lead the way in technological achievement receive Most Wired designation. Surveys completed in 2014 represent more than 30 percent of all U.S. hospitals.
In 2013, Texas Children’s received its first-ever Most Wired recognition, as well as a Most Wired Innovator Award for innovative use of information technology for the Voalte Rapid Communication Project.
New Most Wired standards
Most Wired adopted a new, more-stringent analytic structure for the survey this year. Rather than technology adoption, recognition for IT excellence among hospitals and health systems is now based more on an organization’s meaningful use based on federal requirements for certified electronic health records.
“Hospital leaders should be commended for the hard work they’ve done under an unrealistic time frame,” states Russell P. Branzell, president and CEO of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME).
The Information Services team will receive the award in San Diego later this month at the 2014 Health Forum and AHA Leadership Summit, where senior executives from the nation’s leading hospitals and health systems will discuss the critical issues facing their organizations and network to find the solutions they need to be more successful.
The Center for Children and Women is now dispensing eyeglasses. The addition of this service brings comprehensive optometry care to patients. After completing an eye exam, patients who need eyeglasses can immediately select from the many stylish frames that are available for children of all ages. This new service allows The Center’s patients to have all their optometry needs taken care of without leaving the building.
In addition, The Center’s onsite optometrist makes it easy for Texas Children’s Health Plan members to keep up with eye exams. “I’m so proud to be a part of the Center and the value it provides the community,” says Dr. Brook Komar, The Center optometrist. “And now, in addition to their medical care, the patients can get all their eye care needs met in the same place. This is exciting.”
On May 20, all eyes were on Noel as staff members celebrated the first child receiving glasses at The Center for Children and Women. When Noel’s mom was asked what she thought of the experience, she said, “The process was very easy, and I am happy that The Center is so close to my home. Everyone has been so nice; they have taken good care of us.”
For more about information about The Center for Children and Women, visit JoinTheCenter.org.
With the national and local demand for Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, Texas Children’s and Texas Tech University have entered into a partnership agreement that supports faculty roles for APRNs, Priscila Reid MS, RN, FNP, CPNP-AC and Julie Kuzin, MSN RN CPNP-PC/AC. Students will enter the program this fall and will benefit from the expertise of these two APRNs that are dedicated to patients and families at Texas Children’s through advancing nursing education and training.
AC-PNPs practice in a variety of settings not only in the hospital’s intensive care and subspecialty units, they extend their practice to the community in caring for the technology dependent child and the chronically ill child with special needs. Historically, the hospital has relied on an abundance of residents to staff the 24/7 units. The shortage of residents and the mandate to reduce resident work hours from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has led many hospitals to rely on acute care nurse practitioner to provide quality patient care. With the shift in the model of using more acute care PNPs, the need for education and training has increased.
The partnership between Texas Tech University Health Science Center and Texas Children’s Hospital allows for Reid and Kuzin to have a paid faculty position with the university while still spending half of their time in the patient care setting at the hospital. We believe that this partnership will strengthen the recruitment of AC-PNPs at Texas Children’s.
“We are positioning Texas Children’s to step into the 21st Century to make a difference in patient outcomes by ‘advancing nursing practice through advanced practice nursing,” said Elizabeth “Charley” Elliott, director of advanced practice providers.
The courses will officially begin in the fall.
In our high-tech world, communication should be quick, easy and convenient – and there’s no exception when it comes to accessing your child’s medical records.
Texas Children’s recently improved online patient portal called MyChart provides secure access to your child’s lab results, medications, allergies, immunizations and other pertinent health information. If you need to request a doctor’s appointment, renew prescriptions or email questions to your child’s health care provider, you can do it with a simple click of the mouse.
“When we implemented MyChart in 2010, one of our goals was to enable parents to become active participants in their child’s health care,” said Julie McGuire, assistant director, Enterprise Systems Clinical, at Texas Children’s. “We want to continue to create a positive experience for our patients and their families, while delivering the highest level of care possible.”
MyChart is a free service offered to patients at Texas Children’s Pediatrics, Texas Children’s Hospital and Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. Several recent enhancements were made to improve the site:
“MyChart’s email capabilities help physicians and staff respond more efficiently to a child’s medical needs by providing direct communication between the parent and their child’s health care provider,” said Dr. Joan Shook, chief safety officer and director of Emergency Medicine services at Texas Children’s. “Our digital data storage system helps us preserve patients’ health information for convenient retrieval thereby reducing the potential risk of damage or misplacement.”
Patient safety, efficiency and positive patient experience are what MyChart is all about. If you haven’t signed up, the enrollment process is simple and takes only a few minutes to complete.
Click here to learn more about MyChart.
Watch the newest “I am Texas Children’s” video featuring employee XiaYu Chen in West Campus – Nutrition and GI. “I love working at Texas Children’s because of the high quality of patient care,” XiaYu said. “I am proud to be part of it.”
Check out her video, and find out how you and your coworkers can be featured in the “I Am Texas Children’s” section on Connect.