Annual Conference and Exhibition

The 2001 ASHRM Annual Conference and Exhibition, at the Hynes Convention Center, Boston, MA, October 29 -November 1, promises to propel ASHRM head long into the new millennium with powerful keynote speakers, state-of-the-art exhibits, and a host of networking opportunities. Boston, a cornerstone in American history and the political focal point during the civil and revolutionary wars, will play host to ASHRM this year as we celebrate our theme, “Revolutionary Ideas in Risk Management.” From the time of the pilgrims, and up to recent history, this great city has played a major role in both political and cultural revolution. From the establishment of the Boston Dispensary, the first permanent medical facility in New England in 1796, to the Boston Insane Asylum, the first American psychiatric hospital in 1839, to the Floating Hospital in 1894 and the world’s first successful laser heart surgery at New England Medical Center in 1983, Boston has clearly played a big part, not only in political revolutions, but also in the evolution of healthcare.

This year’s conference will offer educational opportunities of the highest caliber, including insightful and commanding keynote sessions and notable concurrent sessions, addressing topical risk management dilemmas faced by risk managers in today’s healthcare organization. Discover new risk management solutions. Learn from prominent risk managers from the United States and from as far away as Australia. Benefit from the wealth of experience shared by qualified and knowledgeable presenters, and acquire new risk management tools and techniques to take back to your organization.

The keynote speakers, this year, include Jim Conway, Chief Operations Officer of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston. Mr. Conway is also a board member of the National Patient Safety Foundation and a steering committee member of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Error. Other keynoters include Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author Anna Quindlen.

The 2001 ASHRM Annual Conference and Exhibition also offers a host of networking opportunities throughout the program, from the presidents’ reception, to less formal Special Interest Group sessions. Bring plenty of business cards as you network with high level risk management professionals from your sector of the healthcare arena. Avail of a wealth of formal and informal settings in which risk managers will share ideas, catch up on the latest trends, and find out what are the common solutions to common problems. New initiatives and ideas abound at the 2001 Annual Conference and Exhibition. Participate in roundtable discussions and informal presentations with your peers at this year’s redesigned Special Interest Group session. Prepare for the Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management (CPHRM) exam at the CPHRM exam preparation session. Get involved in the Political Action Committee (PAC) at the PAC reception. Traditional favorites, such as the Case Law Update and the membership appreciation luncheon, are back again this year. Meet local chapter area members at the Chapter lunch. Catch up on e-mail, or some on-site research at the cyber café. Bring home new risk management resources from the conference bookstore. The 2001 exhibition hall is already shaping up to provide a wealth of cutting-edge exhibits, sharing top-notch solutions from over 100 exhibits. Discover the new market trends and services. Research the best service providers for your risk management department. Meet with representatives from all areas of the industry. The 2001 ASHRM Annual Conference and Exhibition is the premier event to share leading-edge knowledge as well as practical, innovative and replicable ideas with risk management professionals from throughout the healthcare industry. Join us as we celebrate and share truly revolutionary ideas in risk management. Conference brochures will be mailed to members in the coming weeks. Watch eNews and the ASHRM Web site for more details.

Organization: Children’s Hospital and Health Center located in San Diego, California, is a full-service pediatric health center dedicated to caring for children. Our commitment extends from treating the most seriously ill and hurt children, to keeping them healthy by preventing injuries and disease. Children’s now has 227 in-hospital beds and 38 outpatient exam rooms. The Sam and Rose Stein Emergency Care Center treats nearly 100 trauma cases each month. Other specialty services and programs at Children’s include: The Children’s Heart Institute (including cardiovascular surgery); The Jane and Norman Neely Rehabilitation Institute; The Children’s Institute of Behavioral Health; The Cancer Care Center; complete orthopedic services (including motion analysis); a 32-bed Level III NICU; The Ernest Hahn Critical Care Unit; a 59-bed Convalescent Hospital; and The Center for Child Protection. Children’s Hospital and Health Center was recently selected by Child Magazine as one of the 10 best children’s hospitals in the country.

Highlights of my career: After flipping many burgers and tossing way too many pizzas, I got my first healthcare job at an inner-city hospital in Cleveland, Ohio as an orderly in the float pool. Little did I know that this job would lead me to a career filled with personal dedication and reward. I really enjoyed working with the trauma team in the E.R., but I will never forget the event that ultimately led me into risk management. One hot and humid summer night, I was floated to the “stroke-floor”, where elderly patients that had suffered cardiovascular accidents were given respite care or rehabilitated. On this particular night, however, a young boy was brought to the division with what was thought to be a diagnosis of croup (the hospital did not have a pediatric division). Within minutes and quite suddenly, the boy’s airway closed off due to undiagnosed epiglottitis. When the code-team arrived, the crash cart was opened, but the proper pediatric equipment was not present. The mad scramble to find an appropriate-sized endotrachial tube and laryngoscope was hopelessly delayed as an anesthesiologist tried in vain to intubate and ventilate the boy. The child turned pale and then blue, his heart slowed and then stopped, and his life ultimately slipped away before our eyes. I remember the event as if it occurred yesterday. From this tragedy, I decided I would do everything -- I must do everything that I possibly could to prevent this sort of loss from occurring. This personal mission has been and will always be at the heart of my career’s work.

Shortly thereafter, I attended and graduated from The Ohio State University with bachelor-level training as a pediatric respiratory therapist. For several years, I worked in adult, pediatric, and neonatal intensive care units and on the pediatric transport team in several highly respected hospitals. Yet, I continued to witness events that led to unexpected and often tragic outcomes. Therefore, I decided to leave clinical practice and search for a healthcare career where I could perhaps have a greater impact on patient safety. For a short time, I was a Patient Advocate where I quickly found several risk management mentors. I began assisting with claim investigations and went back to night school at Cleveland State University to get my M.B.A. After graduation, I was recruited to my first risk management position and then
several years later to Children’s Hospital in San Diego.

I have had a wonderful experience at San Diego’s Children’s Hospital where every employee and physician is dedicated to the safety, as well as the health and developmental potential of children. Everyone thinks safety—every day, every minute. Several years ago, I led the effort to form a subsidiary insurance company to cover professional, general, and employment practices liability losses and self-administer claims. I have been given the opportunity to participate with a team of internal experts while being given the flexibility to fully collaborate and volunteer with ASHRM and my many risk management colleagues across the country. Recently, I graduated from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego and passed the California Bar examination. Now, after seven and a half years with Children’s, I look forward to new horizons. On the second of July, I will continue my risk management career as the Chief Risk Officer and Director of Regulatory Advocacy at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. In addition, I will provide training to medical students on important and timely risk management issues and patient safety principals as a Lecturer of the Harvard Medical School.

Personal Philosophy and Interests: I guess if I have a philosophy, it must be to maintain “balance” in work and life. While my family ancestry and heritage promotes a strong work ethic that is rewarding in every way, my kids, Kristin (14) and Joshua (12), round out and complete my world. Kris is an academic, musician, and justice seeker, while Josh is a talented baseball player, sports statistician, and all around cool and likeable dude. My idea of really getting away is to travel to remote locations and scuba dive the under-world in total silence up to 100 feet below the water’s surface. In June, I will be running my first marathon in San Diego.

Stephen Murphy joined ASHRM as Project Specialist on March 15, 2000. Originally brought on board to assist in the development of professional and technical services, Stephen’s responsibilities and interest areas have covered a broad range of activities, including product development, audio conference program development, chapter relations, member services, and Web site coordination. Stephen is also an avid writer and produces ASHRM’s popular weekly eNews: This week at ASHRM, a timely overview of society and risk management news, as well as education and legislative features. Stephen also writes Forum, a bi-monthly print newsletter which covers news about the society and its affiliated chapters, and many other promotional and marketing pieces.

Stephen hails from County Wicklow, Ireland; a long, long way from the Chicago offices of ASHRM. Stephen was educated in his home town of Bray, County Wicklow and earned a bachelors’ degree in economics and Spanish from University College Dublin (UCD) in 1996. UCD awarded Stephen the Distinguished Student Prize for Economics in 1995, and in 1996 he graduated with first class honors in economics.

While at UCD, Stephen availed of the opportunity to travel to Spain, where he studied at the Escuela Oficial de Idiomas in Madrid. His love of travel, however, originates in secondary school, with a summer spent in Lyon, France. Stephen has traveled extensively in Europe and, in 1996, while still a student, he traveled to an exciting sounding city in America’s Midwest, called Chicago. “I really had no idea what to expect,” explains Stephen. “I came to Chicago as a student with some college buddies and had a lot of fun,” he says. The following year Stephen moved, “bag and baggage,” to the United States.

Prior to working at ASHRM, Stephen worked in the for-profit sector, as a language coordinator for a translation company. “Speaking Spanish in an ethnically diverse city such as Chicago is a real asset,” explains Stephen. From the for-profit sector, Stephen made a determined move to the not-for-profit world. “I made a definite decision to move to the association industry and, in particular, a healthcare association,” says Stephen. In April 2001, an article authored by Stephen on association management issues was published in the Forum Magazine of the Association Forum of Chicagoland, the local chapter of the American Society for Association Executives. He is an active member of the Association Forum, and is a member of its Education Shared Interest Group (SIG).

Stephen’s interests include rollerblading, running and reading. He participates in a bowling league (at the bottom of the league!) and also enjoys making dinner at a local homeless shelter. Stephen’s passion for travel has not diminished since moving to America. He has traveled throughout the U.S. and, in 2000, was fortunate enough to visit Argentina.

ASHRM has announced that medical correspondent, professor andpracticing physician, Dr. Peter Salgo, will moderate a panel discussion on the issue of disclosure, to be broadcast live, via satellite, June 20, 2001. This fast-paced interactive production, broadcasting live from Chicago, has been scheduled to coincide with National Healthcare Risk Management Week, June 18-22, 2001.

Dr. Salgo, an experienced lecturer, is also known for his
professional television work. His broadcast lectures have been
aired on the CBS Television Network and its affiliated stations, as
well as the CNBC Television Network and its affiliated stations.
Most recently, Dr. Salgo wrote, produced, and anchored four
broadcasts per week for CNBC’s America’s Vital Signs. For the
past ten years, he has served as a correspondent with WCBS-TV
News-writing, producing, editing and directing, and
commenting on medical news and education issues. He is the
recipient of numerous awards, including an Emmy Award for
Outstanding Coverage of a Continuing News Story.

Dr. Salgo will be joined by a panel representing a spectrum of
risk management stake-holders, including Terril Hart, Larraine
Gerelick, Susan Schwartz and Doni Haas. This fast-paced, live
event, will feature audience participation, and a live phone-in
questions-and-answers section. The program will also feature a
live interview with ASHRM President Geri Amori PhD,
CPHRM, ARM, FASHRM.

For more details on this interactive tele-cast, and
National Healthcare Risk Management Week, go to the
ASHRM Web site.

One of ASHRM’s newest affiliated chapters is also one of the busiest. The Australian Society for Healthcare Risk Management (AuSHRM), affiliated with ASHRM officially on April 20, 2000, has been involved in the Australian launch of a major risk management training program, the Advance Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO), in re-writing Module I for Australia, in heading the International Special Interest Group, in frontline risk management practice, and in developing a presentation for the ASHRM Annual Conference and Exhibition 2001, which the AuSHRM president will present in Boston, MA.

AuSHRM president, Rex M. Spinley, Managing Principal, (South Australia), Marsh Risk Management, Modbury North, South Australia is a seasoned risk manager who was involved in several years of pre-negotiation with the American Academy of Family Physicians to obtain the license as the accredited provider of ALSO training in Australia, New Zealand and the Southern Pacific. The group’s achievements include obtaining government grants to support the program, and, through a multi-level training initiative, they have created a pool of 30 ALSO trainers in Australia and New Zealand.

ASHRM looks forward to welcoming AuSHRM members to the ASHRM Annual Conference and Exhibition, Boston, MA, October 29-Nov 1, 2001. During their visit, AuSHRM president Rex Spinley will present Risk Managing the New Service, Process or Project - Building the Risk Matrix, looking at the development of a risk management matrix to evaluate new projects. AuSHRM president, Rex Spinley, can be reached at rspinley@camtech.net.au.

CHICAGOLAND
The Chicagoland Healthcare Risk Management Society (CHRMS) elected its new officers for the year at our annual
meeting April 6, 2001. The new officers are Dan Nash - President-Elect, Henry Barkhausen - Treasurer, board members Christine Clark, Pauline Jakubiec, Laura Lingl, Bill McVisk and Candice Moore.

Achievement Awards were presented by the outgoing President, Michele Kuhn, for Rookie of the Year, Greatest Contribution of the Year and the President’s Award for Lifetime Achievement. The winners of this year’s awards were Nancy Spector, Dan Nash and Joyce McComb, respectively. This annual meeting marked the 20th Year Anniversary for CHRMS, and we had several past presidents on hand to celebrate the occasion. Finally, we had in-depth discussions on Patient Safety issues, real-life views on reporting Sentinel Events and dealing with the Root Cause Analysis, as well as a panel discussion on handling the IOM Report.

For more information, call Dan Nash, at (312) 621-4880.

PHILADELPHIA
An important note: It’s very easy to confuse the Philadelphia Area Society for Healthcare Risk Management (PASHRM) with the Pennsylvania Association for Health Care Risk Management (PAHCRM), as did the editor in the January/February issue of the Forum. PASHRM is the local Philadelphia area association, and PAHCRM is the statewide association. Sheila Stieritz is the PASHRM President for this calendar year and Tom White is the recording secretary. Marie Conti is the PAHCRM Coordinating Council Chairperson. The editor apologizes for the confusion
caused.

The PASHRM group has been continuing with plans to present the following educational offerings:

In addition, we pledged to enhance communication with ASHRM, the Hospital Association of Pennsylvania (HAP), and the Pennsylvania Association of Healthcare Risk Managers (PAHCRM). We also committed ourselves to utilizing E-mail as our standard means for communicating minutes, announcements, etc. For more information, contact Tom White, at twhite@dh.org.

PENNSYLVANIA
Pennsylvania Association for Health Care Risk Management
The Coalition of Concerned Healthcare Professionals, a group
spearheaded by Ben Post, Esq. and consisting of representatives
from hospitals, insurance companies, PMS, DVHC and HAP, has
been meeting to address the alarming proliferation of multi-million
dollar malpractice awards.

A survey to address the educational needs of our members will
be going out within the next few weeks. Please take time to
respond, since your input will determine the direction of our
educational efforts. Speakers for the November open meeting are
being scheduled for a presentation on the State and Federal
implications of HIPAA.

Chapter Updates - Western has had sessions on OSHA’s
ergonomic standards (overturned), and HIPAA, and will be
holding a June session on OSHA’s record-keeping requirements.
They have also gone from a luncheon meeting to a breakfast time.
Central showed the ASHRM video on Patient Safety (which is
available to be borrowed by calling Peggy), and a June 15 meeting
on Guardianship will be held at HAP and is open to all members.
PASHRM showed the ASHRM video in January, a presentation
by a Nurse/Attorney on Malpractice Awards Against Nurses in
February, ECRI/ISMP Patient Safety Initiative in May, a
presentation by Gift of Life on Non-heartbeating Donors in June,
and An Anatomy of Event in July.

Patient Safety Tool Kit -PAHCRM is developing a
comprehensive Patient Safety Manual that will be available to all
members to personalize with their hospitals’ names, committees
responsible for patient safety, quality, etc.
If you would like to receive any of the items already developed,
please contact Jeannette Bortner at (717) 564-9200 Ext. 628 or
jbortner@haponline.org.

As you can see, we’ve been pretty busy! If you have any
comments, concerns or questions, please feel free to contact Mari
Conti at (215)787-2423 or mconti@nphs.com.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
February and March saw exciting presentations at the monthly
membership meetings. Mark Kadzielski, Esq., discussed the
expanded scope of EMTALA, with emphasis on the major recent
changes, risk management concerns and risk reduction strategies.
In March, attorneys Martin Stein and Laura Boudreau presented
“Legal Changes in MICRA 2000,” including recently decided
opinions and the anticipated impact on malpractice actions,
including elder abuse.

“Survivor: Risk Management in the Healthcare Outback” was
the theme for SCAHRM’s 21 st annual education conference, held
again at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort in Rancho Mirage,
May 9 - 11, 2001. Conference sessions included survival skills in:
communication, medical errors and muckraking, HIPAA,
CPHRM exam review and, back by popular demand, the
SCAHRM PLAYERS to present “Surviving an Adverse Event—
Part II.” Following the conference, a paper and pencil version of
the CPHRM examination was offered.

The long awaited Risk Management Program Development
Tool Kit will soon be available for purchase. This comprehensive
resource was developed by an ASHRM task force over a twelve-month period, and incorporates a broad spectrum of risk
management program areas such as policies and procedures,
education and reports. The Risk Management Program
Development Tool Kit also incorporates guidelines on how to
conduct a risk management assessment and sample job
descriptions.

The tool kit has been designed to provide an educational
resource for risk managers. It includes prepared, concise
powerpoint presentations on issues such as documentation and
incidents and occurrence reporting. These powerpoints, together
with this 290-page resource, provide tools and techniques for the
novice risk manager, as well as providing updates for the
experienced risk management professional.

Learn about the integration of risk management and quality
improvement and avail of a wealth of sample policies and
procedures covering issues from regulatory compliance to
interpreters for deaf and hearing impaired patients. Acquire a
wealth of samples, including event evaluations, patient complaint
forms, and employee injury report forms.

This comprehensive tool kit has been designed by dedicated
practicing risk managers. The task force has included practical
sample test questions, a detailed bibliography and an alphabetized
resource section.

The Risk Management Program Development Tool Kit will be
available shortly from the AHA Online Store, at
www.ahaonlinestore.com and by calling 1 (800) 242-2626. For
further information, contact Stephen Murphy, Project Specialist,
at (312) 422-3988.