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Show 4 WEDNESDAY, THE SUMMER UTAH CHRONICLE JUNE 20, 2001 POLICE AZTEC continued from page continued from page 3 landmarks in southern Utah have the word Montezuma in them. Modern archaeologists say the word Montezuma appears because ijlh century American archaeologists were enamored with the Aztecs. However, the couple's maps Montezuma the name show appeared nearly 400 years before the founding of the United States. The maps could also help answer many questions surrounding the sudden disappearance of the Anasazi Indians in Utah. It is possible the Anasazi were actually Aztecs who stayed in Utah for a period of time during their migration, Rodriguez said. Throughout the presentation, Rodriguez said the research was not meant to prove anything or anger anyone, but rather to set the Aztecs' migratory history straight. "We did not go after this work; it aine to us. Our work is our prayer, and we hope people use it in a way that is beneficial to everyone," Rodriguez said. srncl or land'chronic le.utah.edu 1 vice president for facilities management. veteran of the "Lcmmon, 3 U's Public Safety Department, has gained valuable experience serving in various capacities, most recently as the commander of investigations." said direcCoralie Alder, U 27-ye- ar If ' 14 i A .if . public-relatio- tor. .V"-'- Lcmmon will be interim chief through the 2002 Olympic and Winter Games, at which time U will conduct a formal, nationthe wide search for a permanent chief. "We feel very good about Chief Lemmon's qualifications, and wc have complete confidence in his ability to lead our Public Safety Team during the Olympics period," Turpin said. The UUPD will work closely with state and federal agencies during the Olympics to ensure that the experience runs as smoothly as possible. "The challenges for us during the Olympics will be great, but challenges are opportunities to grow," Lcmmon ': .' ''vA I Para-lymp- ic 3 fr-- ; - said. " cca vin&Khronicle. utah.edu " QUIZ: How can you travel overseas, acquire valuable skills, contribute to world peace AND get paid ? j - ERRORS ANSWER: Join the Peace Corps! I Now taking applications. ! Visit your Peace Corps Representative j I I continued from page j J at the Bennion Center j Union Building Room 101 I or Call I 587-763- 5 Vifww.peacecorps.qov 1 1 iraoim ift&s! $ zzxzxz-nni- m continued from page a; 1 brought this issue to the forefront." The Department of Health drafted new rules to mandate error reporting as a result of the study's recognition that the department only has a portion of the data some errors are never reported. Moreen Mulligan, director of performance monitoring and improvement at U Hospital, looks forward to other studies she believes will be more accurate. The Department of Health is "trying to make clinical judgments on financial data," said Mulligan. "It's a difficult correlation to make...I want good data, data that I can utilize to change the system and help the patient." The organization of information seems to be a troubled aspect of the health industry. Based on the tremendous information available, healthcare professionals can turn a fragmented system into a more unified one. "Health care is too fragmented," Jorgenson said. "There are tons of opportunities for improvement. To be effective we need to have both a short-terand long-terplan." U Hospital officials said they have' recognized several areas that need improvement. "Identifying errors and trying to rectify them is what we're trying to do," Kochenour said. The U wants to know the details of an adverse medical event as soon as possible when it happens, which can be hard to gauge, especially when no one wants to admit fault. In moving to a "blameless system," U officials hope to encourage and improve the reporting of medical errors. But to do that, a change in culture must take place, Mulligan said. "The individuals involved are trying to do a good job...It is very rare for a person to do intentional harm. Sometimes, it's the system that prevents them from doing a good job...Is m ' fountain bordering the Marriott library patio COOL WATER: The m is an oasis in the center o? campus. it fair to hold someone accountable when it's the system that's the root of the problem?" Mulligan said, drawing analogies to errors made at Cherand even nobyl, to give U.S. Naval incidents recent difference the perspective on between human errors and system Three-Mile-Isla- flaws. "There is not a symbiotic link between man and machine," she said, noting data entry has a 7 to 20 percent error rate. "Because we cannot retain the vast amount of knowledge that exists in health care, we need to build systems with reminders of information. Slips and mistakes are part of being human," Mulligan said. Studying "human factors" and how they relate to systems can explain why humans make dangerous errors, Mulligan said. Human factors include the propensity to forget system goals or allow fatigue to distract from tasks and the psychological planning of simple to complex tasks. The U does not have a person specializing in human factors. U officials think other improvements can be made by simply enhancing communication between the patient and the health-car- e team an essential element in reducing errors. But with the health-car-e team conof doctors, nurses, pharmasisting cists, medical assistants, laboratory support staff, receptionists and administrators, the challenge to overcome communication problems becomes more complex. "We have medical staff, pharmacy and quality control involved," Jorgenson said. "Together, we've realized that we need to improve our informatics capabilities." One of U Hospital's first steps in reducing medication errors was d machines in 1996, acquiring a secure, compartmentalized and orderly way of dispensing prescription drugs on the hospital floors. It minimizes mistakes as to traditional manual sysopposed tems, like a system. Other proposed changes in U Hos Sure-Me- drug-delive- ry cart-delive- ry 1 -- m mam a k mzwn docs not exist. "It's simply against the law for us to do that," she said. "Because of the numbers, there are always going to be disappointed candidates," said state Sen. Millie Peterson, Valley City, who was director of admissions at the School of Medicine for 19 years. pital communications include a major in consolidation computing resources. Electronic charting, also would connect all known as one database. into services hospital Prescriber order entry is part of the program and would allow physicians to enter their prescription information directly into a computer. The information would then pop up as an order in the pharmacy's computer system. It would bypass illegible or misread handwriting. Only a few hospitals nationwide have made the move to a consolidated database. The University of Virginia is one of the first, but "there's not really a blueprint out there to follow," Jorgenson said. 'There's just not a clear market leader out there." One of the problems with implementing the consolidation is what Jorgenson calls "the customization of a new system to fit our specific needs." He explained that the U Health Sciences Center would not only have to link all the health-car- e facilities, but would need to network all of the U Health Network as well. U officials lament that even though there are ways to improve their system to prevent errors, there's only so much they can do. The other side of the information chasm lies with patients, who are sometimes misinformed, if informed at all. "The system has taught the patients to be dependent, and what we need to do is encourage them to be independent," Mulligan said. Jorgenson agrees. "We need to engage everybody in the system...We stress the patients play an active role," he said. The way to do that is for the patient to ask questions, get family members involved and not assume us everything is right. "In implementing a blameless culture, we don't want people to be afraid they're going to make a mistake," he said. "If it's a near miss, tell somebody, so that next time, it's not a hit." mgroesbeckchronicle.utah.edu Peterson said she heard about the investigation when she was in Washington, D.C., last May. "They are not trying to hide the process," she said. "I don't think the legislature has a part in changing the admission process. I think it is already extremely fair." Peterson said, however, that she doesn't think it's unhealthy to conduct the audit. "They will look at the process," Peterson said, "but I don't think they'll find anything." mgroesbeckchronicle.utah.edu |