The Steel is Going Up!

It’s been quite an exciting (and hot!) summer at the OSU Medical Center. It seems like just yesterday that concrete trucks were making their way into our excavation site, and now the steel for our new James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute is beginning to go up!

I had the chance to tour the Expansion site with OSU President E. Gordon Gee yesterday. It’s pretty incredible even now, and will only be moreso as the steel framework begins to rise on the skyline.

We have also made  exciting progress at the site of our new Chlois G. Ingram Sprit of Women Park on the Medical Center’s concourse. If you were a visitor to the old park, we have captured all the artistic tiles from the original site and reproduced them as glass tiles that will be installed in the reflective fountain that you can see being built here. The tiles rest just under the surface of the flowing water. It will be truly magnificent when it opens next spring.

Concrete Pour

Some pre-dawn (and pre-downpour!) images of concrete pouring yesterday morning at the site of the new James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute and critical care tower that is part of our Medical Center Expansion. There’s plenty more images, from the demolition of Means Hall, to shots from the top of the crane,  at the Medical Center’s facebook page.

The Beginning of a Beautiful (Un)friendship

Haydn Bush wrote a good post over at Hospitals & Health Networks, Tweet To Patients ASAP, But Don’t Let Your Docs ‘Friend’ Them

In many ways, I believe we’ve given ourselves a good head start in social media at OSU Medical Center through early adoption (YouTube, facebook, twitter and the like) and setting up a sensible social media policy. We have been successful in building large, active communities. But, it is certainly an evolving landscape, particularly in terms of distributing medical advice and how healthcare providers can best respond to questions from patients or future patients.

There’s no doubt that our social media presence has benefited our organization. People have moved beyond simply being satisfied with instant access to information; they now have a desire for instant dialogue, and it’s simply good customer service to engage people in the way they seek engagement.

We learn as we go, but must always be mindful of HIPAA and our patients’ right to privacy, regardless of how openly they choose to communicate.

Getting Started

Thank you for joining me. This blog will be both something new and something familiar for me. For several years, I’ve done a weekly video blog for faculty and staff at The Ohio State University Medical Center, which was a good way for me to keep people up to date on the latest events and to acknowledge those who have provided exceptional service to our Medical Center. I’ve made a habit of starting my meetings with stories of good news from around the Medical Center and sharing articles with colleagues about the big health issues on the horizon: the Affordable Care Act, accountable care organizations, health innovation zones, continuity of care, quality and safety, research funding and chronic disease management. I also have a few issues that are close to my heart: Women’s Health, burnout, diabetes and good music.

I would like to bring all of that together and present it here: A blog about what we’re facing in health care today and what we’re anticipating in the future. I hope we can share ideas, opinions, best practices, good news as well as our challenges and opportunities.

Welcome.