PENCIL is a terrific organization that helps Metro Nashville Public School students achieve academic and future success. As a proud PENCIL Partner, SpecialtyCare regularly hosts students from Hillsboro High School’s Academy of Global Health & Science. Our fully equipped simulation operating room, or Sim OR, which is used to train our staff, provides the perfect environment to introduce the students to life as a member of a surgical team. Our Nashville IONM Operational Leadership and the IONM Education Team have designed an elite experience for the students to actively learn about electrophysiology and participate in a virtual surgical procedure that utilizes intraoperative neuromonitoring to assist the surgeon and keep the patient safe during surgery.
In Puerto Rico—more than one month after Hurricane Maria devastated the island—many communities still lack the water, electricity, pharmaceuticals, communications, transportation, and other resources needed to sustain life and care for patients. At Hospital Español Auxilio Mutuo in San Juan, our cardiac perfusion team works under these challenging conditions to provide medical care, which has included a successful aortic dissection repair performed with the patient under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest while the hospital was on generator power.
This weekend is Mother’s Day. The women who nurtured our young selves also inspired us to dream of who we could become. Many of us grew up witnessing these special women diligently pursuing excellence in scientific or health-related careers, and we chose to follow similar paths. Here are a few tributes to the mothers behind our SpecialtyCare family. We encourage you to take a few minutes to remember the women whose love and inspiration made a difference in your life.
In 1982, PENCIL Foundation—an alliance of business leaders and local school administrators—was created to provide new opportunities that promote achievement by young people enrolled in Nashville’s metro public schools. The Foundation’s PENCIL Partners program now includes more than 800 community-school partnerships that serve over 80,000 students. As a proud member of PENCIL Partners, SpecialtyCare regularly hosts students from Hillsboro High School’s Academy of Global Health & Science to introduce them to careers in the healthcare field.
The mission of The Joint Commission (TJC) is “to continuously improve health care for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value.” It’s a lofty goal, and one that has helped thousands of healthcare organizations improve. Unfortunately, the prospect of a TJC review is stressful and overwhelming for many healthcare providers. It doesn’t have to be. Check out these three things we’ve learned by designing and implementing a tested program that ensures that the people of our organization are always prepared to pass a stringent TJC evaluation while also meeting the requirements of our own internal quality programs.
On October 26, 2016, SpecialtyCare acquired Sentient, a highly regarded intraoperative neuromonitoring provider. We’re thrilled to welcome the people of Sentient to our team. We believe we’ll be a great fit together, both clinically and culturally. Combining our talent and experience will enhance our collective strengths and create new opportunities to advance patient care and drive clinical quality, which reduce costs for our patients and customers.
When Richard Lawson talks with young people about their future, he sometimes suggests a stint in the military. Other times he suggests a career in the medical field. And sometimes, he suggests both. These are not just casual recommendations—he speaks from experience. Technical Sergeant Lawson is a military veteran and a member of the Kentucky Air National Guard. He is also a SpecialtyCare perfusionist. His discipline and dedication over the years has resulted in not just one, but two, meaningful and impressive careers.
Estimates vary when calculating the money lost to fraud—it’s difficult to measure that which is undetected—but the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) states that healthcare fraud costs the country tens of billions of dollars each year. Paying for law enforcement, legal resources, and sophisticated technology to combat the problem adds to the price tag. Taxpayers and employers endure the financial brunt of fraud, but illegal schemes can also put patient health at risk. Clearly, healthcare fraud is not a victimless crime.
Building a highly talented clinical workforce is imperative for providing the best possible patient outcomes. We know, however, that the most passionate and effective healthcare professionals offer much more than clinical competence and they look for value in their work that extends beyond excellence in clinical care. They look for the intangibles and meaningful connections that prompted them to choose healthcare as a profession in the first place. Our goal is to sustain a culture where our people can thrive and find satisfaction, both personally and professionally.