DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The American Hospital Association reports there are 941,995 staffed beds in all U.S. hospitals. The biggest and best known often have 900 or more of those beds and, without a doubt, offer excellent training for medical students, specialized care in many fields and the most expensive technology in the world.
Yet, the American Heart Association says smaller community hospitals are just as safe for most heart surgery patients as their big brother institutions.
Now that EMR (Electronic Medical Records) are mandatory, there has been a surprising twist in both patient attitudes and doctors’ mind-sets. Simply stated, many physicians feel that big hospitals are too controlling of the new technology and are stifling their personal decisions. For example, in several cases records cannot be shared with physicians who are not on the same hospital’s roster.
Not so for the small privately owned hospital. Case in point – 17 bed Miracle Mile Medical Center in Los Angeles and its clinical partner, the Valley Spine Center, both under the leadership of Medical Director and CEO, Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Gil Tepper.
Dr. Tepper’s mission statement challenges tradition by insisting that surgery be avoided whenever possible. At the same time, his own EMR has no strings or restrictions and access is available anywhere and anytime to assist a patient without any loyalty oath to Dr. Tepper’s facilities as long as proper medical standards exist.
Few hospitals of any size can boast of Miracle Mile’s one-to-one staff patient ratio. Even fewer can match their latest official evaluation showing no catheter infections, blood incompatibility, foreign objects retained after surgery, or falls and traumas. Unfortunately, there are thousands of such incidents at hospitals nationally despite every precaution.
“There is a definite connection between our zero infections and other complications and the one-to-one care we provide. Our staff is never exposing another patient to a problem from another bed. At the same time, patients don’t feel lost in an institution’s bureaucracy,” Dr. Tepper said.
Ironically, he is called upon to both lecture and demonstrate the latest spinal surgery techniques at hospitals of all sizes, and at conferences from Washington, DC to Mexico City to Barcelona, Spain.
“It would be foolish to discount the incredible achievements of major institutions like John Hopkins or the Mayo Clinic. But, in a great many situations such as shared electronic records and infection avoidance, I like our approach – small and safe,” he concluded.
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The Small and Medium Business Technology Alliance (SMBTA) is a national organization serving small businesses by providing information regarding technology and environmental sustainability.
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