Each year, about 700,000 new or recurrent strokes occur in the United States, killing about 150,000 people. That’s one stroke every 45 seconds, and one stroke death every three to four minutes. About 15 percent of strokes occur within 90 days of a transient ischemic attack (TIA)—a warning sign of impending stroke. And the incidence of [...]
It is National Nurses Week, and I wanted to take a moment to recognize nurses everywhere for all that they do in so many different roles. Those who know me know that I am a tremendous supporter of nurses, and particularly supportive of Magnet hospitals because of what that designation means concerning the culture of [...]
Two clinical improvement initiatives from St. Luke’s were recognized by Qualis Health, the well-known care management organization that oversees quality for the Medicare program in our region, at the state-wide Quality and Patient Safety Conference held in Boise on April 5. These two projects were selected from numerous submissions and were among four chosen for [...]
Our improved metrics and transparency efforts are proving beneficial in all sorts of ways and all across St. Luke’s Health System. At St. Luke’s Heart, efforts to combine outcomes and other data for a first-ever report on our cardiac, thoracic, and vascular services prove what our talented physicians and staff members in those areas have [...]
In our continuing commitment to transparency, click here to watch a video of my 2013 Spring Forum for our employees, boards, and physicians. I also want our community stakeholders to understand the journey we are on and the progress we have made. I presented this Forum 15 times across our System over a three-week period. [...]
Editor’s note: The article that follows, by St. Luke’s Health System Chief Transformation Officer Tony Tomazic, originally appeared as a column titled “St. Luke’s research gathering creates energy, momentum” in the Idaho Statesman’s Business Insider last month. Tony is a board member for The CORE, which supports research, innovation, and economic development in the health, research and [...]
Since 1995, the first full week in April has been National Public Health Week, providing the American Public Health Association and other organizations the opportunity to bring attention to health improvement. I recently met with Elke Shaw-Tulloch, administrator for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s Division of Public Health. We discussed the fact that [...]
At our annual St. Luke’s Health System Summit in February, we were honored to have Gary S. Kaplan, M.D., chairman and CEO of Virginia Mason Health System in the Seattle area, provide a keynote address regarding the Virginia Mason Production System (VMPS). Read St. Luke’s Health System Vice President of Performance Excellence Mike Reno’s report [...]
St. Luke’s Health System is preparing for a new care model that will deliver better value at a lower cost. To fully drive the changes we seek to implement, we need meaningful, actionable data in new forms. This requires a partnership with a company that is equally innovative, that understands and shares our vision, and that [...]
