AHA Responds to ER Crisis With Guidelines
Ravenswood Hospital's image-shattering policy that prevented the ER workers from treating a 15-year old boy who eventually died outside its doors, received national criticism from President Clinton, who threatened to withhold Medicare payments from hospitals with similar policies.
In spite of rescinding its policy shortly after the incident, (see HPRMN's cover story, May 28 issue), the hospital continues to serve as an example of what not to do for patients needing off-site ER care.
Shortly after the news escalated to national levels, the American Hospital Association released guidelines for how hospitals should respond to the media in communicating about hospital ER polices. It suggests hospital communicators:
- Know the hospital's emergency department policy on sending staff outside the ER and off hospital premises to deliver care.
- Educate ER staff about hospital policy, determine when the last ER training session was and consider a "refresher" course.
- Because the Ravenswood situation sent a quality and public perception tremor throughout the industry, consider touching base with local community leaders and the media to reassure them about your policies.
- Reconnect with community emergency response agencies, such as the rescue squad and police and fire departments through meetings. (AHA, Alicia Mitchell, 202/626-2339)
Crisis Software Delivers Customized Plans
When a crisis hits, having immediate access to company strategy is what allows you to react effectively.
The CommCore Consulting Group, an international consulting firm based in New York, is targeting organizations that cannot engage a PR firm each time a crisis occurs. Its new Crisis Plan wRiter (CPR) software package helps communicators write, manage and execute comprehensive crisis plans.
The planning tool helps users create customized plans and sub-plans specific to their organization's needs.
The software package helps crisis planners:
- Choose a crisis team;
- Assign roles and responsibilities to crisis team members;
- Identify key audiences;
- Identify and monitor potential issues; and
- Create a crisis response plan.
CPR is designed to run in a Microsoft Windows environment (3.1, NT or 95) and is available on CD-ROM (diskettes must be requested).
CPR may be purchased as a stand-alone program or as part of a comprehensive crisis consulting package. The software alone costs $1,200. (CommCore Consulting Group, 212/213-7603)
Web Site Birth Kicks Off On-Air Promotion
America's Health Network (AHN) will capture the awesome childbirth experience live on its Web site, allowing its visitors to experience the event via streaming video and educational commentary. AHN provides 24-hour television health coverage that reaches 7.2 million households nationwide, while its Web site, http://www.ahn.com., provides access to a wide range of health topics.
The event, scheduled to start the morning of June 16, supports the network's major on-air promotional launch of "First Day Out," where viewers are invited to send their home videos of their child's first few hours of life.
The network is looking to carve out a niche for providing exclusive programming and Web-based information.
The childbirth event will provide suggestions on how to prevent problems with delivery and show how different choices can make a more successful labor and delivery, says Tod Fetherling, AHN's president.
The birth mother will be induced on June 16 and the delivery will take place at Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando, Dr. Steven Carlin will be the attending physician. (AHN, Ginger Adams, Tod Fetherling, 904/304-4473)