Summer 2001 - Volume 5 Number 3

Clinical Contributions

Reporting Anesthesia-Related Critical Incidents: The KP Northwest Region's Experience
Stephen Bachhuber, MD
Because of the obvious problems and limitations of the usual peer review process, a universal reporting system was instituted. This process has improved patient safety.

Full-text PDF Download 

Kaiser Permanente Medicine 50 Years Ago: A Study of Acute Appendicitis with Perforation with Special Emphasis on Sulfonamide Therapy--A Preliminary Report
RB Henley, MD; NL Haugen, MD
Commentary by John T Igo, MD, FACS
This 1944 study of 427 appendectomies without a single death reported is reprinted with commentary that places into perspective this old disease, the 1944 reported series, and the current status of knowledge about this condition.

Full-text PDF Download 

Health Systems

Patient Safety at Kaiser Permanente
Leslie Francis, MBA, MHA; Jed Weissberg, MD; Patricia B Siegel, MS
If you have heard about the national concern over patient safety and medical errors but have not had the time to really understand the complexities of the issue, then this article on Kaiser Permanente's response is a "must" read.

Full-text PDF Download 

Addressing Patient Safety in an Ambulatory Care Setting: The KP Georgia Region's Experience
Yancy Y Phillips, MD; Thomas M Judd, MS, PE, CCE, CPHQ
In response to the national debate on patient safety, the KP Georgia Region restructured their approach to quality improvement, peer review and risk management.

Full-text PDF Download 

A Collaborative Program for Assessing Outpatient Medication Safety: The KP Mid-Atlantic Region's Experience
Ray Palasik, RPh, MBA; Katherine A Dunn, RN, MSM; Lizabeth Taghavi, BS; Susan Tischler, RN, MSN; Catherine Dischner, RN, MSN, CEN, CAN; and Curtis LaFisca, BS
This paper describes an innovative outpatient medication safety program developed and piloted by the KP Mid-Atlantic States Region.

Full-text PDF Download 

Culture, Systems, and Human Factors -- Two Tales of Patient Safety: The KP Colorado Region's Experience
Michael Leonard, MD; Carol Anne Tarrant, RN, MS, JD

This article highlights both system and cultural issues in two patient safety projectsa cardiac treadmill project and a perioperative beta blockade project.
Full-text PDF Download 

CPC Corner: Do Practitioners in The Southeast Permanente Medical Group Value Participation in Clinician-Patient Communication Programs?
Sandra Gauthier, PHR
This paper highlights the Clinician-Patient Communication programs of The Southeast Permanente Medical Group and underscores the participants' expressed value of their experience.

Full-text PDF Download 

Peer Discussion in a Family Practice
Roger A Forsyth, MD; Sudarmo Winarko, MD
This paper presents a study on the impact of feedback to family physicians through peer discussionsa hallmark of the Permanente cultureinstead of by traditional lectures or simple data feedback.

Full-text PDF Download 

Medical Ethics

Practicing Medicine within the Margins of Human Error
Theresa Drought, RN, PhD; Kate Scannell, MD
Ethics editor Kate Scannell, MD, presents a case study on medical errors, with commentary by the Co-Chair of Northern California's Ethics Committee.

Full-text PDF Download 

Commentary

To Be Or Not To Be... Some Musings About Physician-Assisted Suicide
Mark M Cohen, MD
With literary, historical, and religious perspective this article explores the current status of the debate about physician-assisted suicide.

Full-text PDF Download 

Business Basics for Kaiser Permanente Physician-Managers
Phillip J Tuso, MD, FACP
Dr Tuso prvides a comprehensive overview of the basic business concepts important to physician leaders.

Full-text PDF Download 

Editor's Comments

Patient Safety and Medical Errors - The KP Response!
Lee Jacobs, MD, Associate Editor
Full-text PDF Download 

A Word From the Medical Directors

Patient Safety and the Group Practice Advantage
Jay Crosson, MD
Full-text PDF Download 

External Affairs

Update on Surgeon's Quest to Raise Funds for Cancer Research
Pam King
Having raised $25 million with the "breast cancer stamp," Dr Balazs Bodai is now working with the California Department of Motor Vehicles to develop a license plate to raise funds for breast cancer treatment for low-income women.

Full-text PDF Download 

Permanente Journal Dialogue 03/19/01
The Labor-Management Partnership: An Interview
Key members of the Labor-Management Strategy Group sat down to discuss what is, perhaps, the largest and most complex labor-management partnership effort in the country.

Full-text PDF Download 

Abstracts

Abstracts of articles authored or coauthored by Permanente clinicians
Full-text PDF Download 

A Moment in Time

Remembering Betty Runyen: How Dr Garfield's First Nurse Helped Mold the Principles of Permanente Medicine
Steve Gilford
KP archivist/historian Steve Gilford recounts his conversation with the late Betty Runyen, Dr Sidney Garfield's first nurse at Contractor's General Hospital in the Mojave Desert in the 1930s.

Full-text PDF Download 

Book Reviews

Can Physicians Manage the Quality and Costs of Health Care? The Story of The Permanente Medical Group
John G Smillie, MD
Review by Morris F Collen, MD
Full-text PDF Download 

Personal Journaling: Writing About Your Life
Review by Karen Cangialosi, MFA, MA
Full-text PDF Download 

Low BackProblems, Version 1.0
Dr Barry Miller, Dr David H Levy, and David Wagoner
Review by Albert Ray, MD
Full-text PDF Download 

Soul of the Healer

Anatomy Lab
Robert Hippen, MD
Full-text

"Raindrops on Red Poinsettia"
Roland Tcheng, MD
Art

"Denver Sunset"
Carol Nelson
Art

"High Country September"
Carol Nelson
Art

"Yellow Orchid"
Roland Tcheng, MD
Art