Bethany Nock's Recent Posts

Bethany Nock | Gebauer

How EHR Incentives and Meaningful Use Will Change in 2016

By: Bethany Nock | On: June 15, 2016

The Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) incentive program and Meaningful Use have been controversial since their establishment in 2010. The popular opinion was they placed too much importance on patient data and not enough on the actual patients.

The good news is the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recognized the flaws in the system and announced in January 2016 that Meaningful Use as it currently existed would be discontinued.

Read on to learn what brought about this reform and how it could impact your practice.

What is a Product Pre-trial and Should I Conduct One?

By: Bethany Nock | On: May 26, 2016

As a hospital administrator, you’re always looking for ways to improve workflow and increase patient comfort. For example, you may decide to revise the process for patient admission or perhaps add a new product to your hospital’s standard treatment regimen. However, sometimes products that look good on paper don’t always deliver the results you expect.

How can you avoid investing money in a product that may not be a good fit for your institution? Conduct a product pre-trial. These can also be called product evaluations, product assessments, product reviews, etc.

This post will cover why to conduct a product pre-trial, how to start the process and the steps involved in the trial.

Training Your Staff: Comfort Solutions for Geriatric Patients

By: Bethany Nock | On: April 26, 2016

Keeping senior patients comfortable can be challenging, particularly if patients have multiple issues. It is important to both patients and their families that they are kept as comfortable as possible. And, it should be important to your hospital, too, since patient comfort plays a major role in patient satisfaction and HCAHPS scores.

Instituting a comprehensive training program supporting comfort solutions for geriatric patients can help your staff provide an even higher level of care. Whether you use formal training sessions or lunch-and-learns, ongoing training should be a priority. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Maintaining Nursing Inventory Supply: A Nurse Leader’s Guide

By: Bethany Nock | On: March 31, 2016

You know that frustrating feeling when you are looking for a gauze pad, but you can’t find it? And it turns out you can’t find it because it is listed under New Gauze or the manufacturer of the product on your inventory list? (We can almost see you nodding your head right now.) All you want to do is take care of your patient, but inventory management is making it difficult.

Maintaining supplies may be an essential part of your job as a nurse leader, but we understand it can be hard to keep up with inventory management (or influence it when you don’t control it) when you have so many other responsibilities.

Developing a strong relationship with the materials management department, taking advantage of the capabilities of digital inventory control and using a few old-fashioned tips can help you stay on top of this portion of your job, even on the craziest of days.

Here are a few tips to help nursing inventory supply and to ensure your staff is never without the supplies it needs.

Should Your Hospital Start a Pet Therapy Program?

By: Bethany Nock | On: March 16, 2016

With patient satisfaction ratings tied to reimbursement levels, it’s more important than ever to ensure patients have a positive experience at your hospital. A pet therapy program offers a low-cost, low-tech way to improve the patient experience without impacting staffing levels. Not sure if a pet therapy program is right for your hospital? Consider these benefits before you make your decision.