Antibiotic Safety Through Education and Awareness

Denver Health is joining with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to advise patients and their families to use antibiotics only when necessary to further reduce antibiotic resistance, the spread of superbugs and protect from side effects from antibiotics. During U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week and beyond, the CDC promotes "Be Antibiotics Aware," an educational effort to raise awareness about the importance of safe antibiotic use. In 2021, U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week is November 18 – 24.
 

Why These Heroes Still Love Their Jobs Through the COVID-19 Pandemic

Ask any of our amazing frontline workers at Denver Health – from the housekeepers and food service workers, to the doctors, nurses, techs and more – and they will tell you they know the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. While some members of the community are getting "fatigued" with the restrictions to stop its spread – such as mask-wearing, social distancing of six feet or more and limits on the number of people at gatherings – the heroic frontline workers know first-hand what it's like to deal with the virus.

Update April 6, 2020: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends everyone wear a homemade, non-medical grade face mask or cloth face covering to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Original article: As part of Denver Health's commitment to keeping you informed and safe in the face of the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, we wanted to share a list of tips to help prevent the spread of the virus.

We recently asked some of the team members at Denver Health's nine family health centers to give us a list of the most common reasons patients call the clinic. At the top of that list is wanting to speak with their doctor or provider about a health issue or ask follow-up questions from a recent visit.

According to a survey at Denver Health's nine Family Health Centers, one of the biggest questions patients have is how to get their lab and test results.

MyChart makes it easy to manage your health care journey at Denver Health – including getting those test results sent to you, right on your computer or mobile device. Here's how to do it.

A Denver Health Physician's Perspective

More than 700 cases of measles have been recorded across the country since January. But only 89 percent of kindergarten-aged children in Colorado have been vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Low vaccination rates put vulnerable community members, such as infants too young to receive vaccinations, the elderly, or those with compromised immune systems, at risk for vaccine-preventable diseases.

“Thank you very much but I’m afraid I must decline your kind offer.” 

A good long time ago I was frustrated. Frustrated about the myriad of social problems, the endless procession of patients suffering from the ravages of addiction. Imperfect solutions. I was, in retrospect, burned out. So I did what any normal professional would do. I went looking for a new job.

By: Chi Zheng, M.D., Patrick Ryan, M.D. and Marisa Echaniz, M.D.

How Providers Are Working Together to Bridge the Divide

As hospitalists, we build bridges quickly. We build bridges with our patients when they are admitted, with the myriad of nurses they encounter in different departments throughout the hospital, with the emergency department and with our consultants. However, the important relationship bridging hospitalist and primary care providers (PCP’s) can be easily overlooked.

The Role for Structured Debriefing After Adverse Patient Outcomes

Clinical work can take an emotional toll on health care providers. Especially, when despite our best intentions; one of our patients gets sicker unexpectedly or as a result of the care that we have provided.

What Keeps Doctors Happy and Productive

Everybody in medicine is talking about burnout. We all have our favorite hypotheses about what could be to blame: tight schedules, too much computer time, tough administrators, know-it-all politicians, RVU’s (Relative Value Units), difficult patients.  Doctors seek to understand causes so that we can find cures. It’s the diagnose-and-treat paradigm.

This essay is not a referenced journal article.  I’m here to tell you what I have seen keep doctors happy and productive in my 14 years as a hospitalist - including me.