Q&A

Good morning! 

It’s the last Friday of July, so today I’ll respond to some of your submissions to the VC Notes inbox.

Just as a reminder, I read all your questions and comments and enjoy hearing from you. I’m only able to respond to some of them in this space, but I pass the rest along to senior administrators for their review and possible follow up. You can submit your question or comment to the VC Notes inbox here.

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Q: I have noticed that the digital clocks around the hospital are sometimes displaying the wrong time or are broken completely. Is there a plan to fix this?

A: I responded to a similar question in March and I have additional updates to provide.

After working with the vendor to update and fix digital clocks across the institution, we decided to halt the project. We have an old system that is no longer fully supported, and parts to fix some broken clocks are scarce. It’s not worth the effort and cost to fix most of the clocks across campus when everyone is walking around with a watch or cell phone. Cell phones are not accessible in some areas, so we will continue to maintain clocks in those locations using newer technology. Battery-operated analog clocks are not included in this project. We have to keep an eye on those and make sure they are always correct.

Q: Is there a recycling program in place for the hospital and academic buildings? Where can students and employees recycle their plastic and paper items?

A:  The UMMC Sustainability Committee has implemented a recycling program in many of our academic, research and service buildings on campus. Containers for recyclable items, including paper products, aluminum cans and plastic bottles, can be found in the buildings indicated on the map found here, and they are picked up weekly.

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Q: I have attempted to do a self-referral to ortho for a nagging injury through the MyChart app. Once I realized this was not possible, or if so, more complicated than it needed to be, I had my PCP send a referral. It has been some time since, and I have still not heard anything. I'm told by a scheduler from another specialty area that some departments receive electronic referrals but do not make appointments until being called by the referring physician. If this is true, it seems absurd to have a two-step referral process. Patients can be easily lost in this manner, or like me, be prepared to leave the system for outside care in a timelier manner.

A: I am thankful when I receive a comment to the VC Notes inbox that I pass along to a subject-matter expert and an unknown issue/problem is revealed. That’s the case here. 

Open scheduling in MyChart is not active for the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. I’ve mentioned before that we are engaged with The Chartis Group, which is helping us evaluate and improve access to our services and scheduling through MyChart. Areas not currently using it are under review. However, the department does have a publicly available phone number for self-scheduling, 601-984-6525 (option 1).

When checking into other hurdles noted in this submission, staff found a breakdown in a part of their referral process. Several DIS HelpDesk tickets later, progress has been made but without knowing the specifics of the case referenced in the question, it’s hard to know if the improvements plugged that specific hole.

But here’s some of what was improved upon or is in the works:

• An active Epic In Basket pool was found and now the scheduling team has access to some requests that were falling through the cracks
• A streamlined referral process through Merit Health Madison now yields timely appointment options
• Some unnecessary Epic In Baskets are in the process of being taken offline so that requests that may have ended up in one of those folders are more accurately directed to the locations being checked routinely

I’m sorry for the difficulty in getting this referral, but I appreciate your bringing it to our attention.

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Q: Now that the COVID pandemic has ended, has there been any discussion of bringing back in-person hospital orientation? Our current process includes hours of HealthStream assignments that seem like they will never end. When I first started, Hospital Orientation was a two day in-person class that included setup of benefits. It would also be nice and convenient if we could have employees take Communicate with Heart and Team Safety Training during this first week.

A: I checked with our HR team, and they report that shifting to online orientation has been one of the lasting positive changes to come out of the pandemic, and it remains widely popular.

Online orientation allows hire-date flexibility and provides the hiring manager more autonomy to shape the onboarding experience to best meet the unit’s needs. Our orientation processes and content are always being reviewed for needed improvements, but I anticipate that some portion of it will remain virtual.

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Q: Why is the IRB so slow at UMMC? At my previous institution where research was really valued, retrospective studies with no direct patient contact would be approved in days (I even had one protocol approved in 2.5 hours). This led to, on average, seven publications by fellows during their three-year fellowship. When there is obviously no direct harm to the patient, why is the IRB here so stuck on asking questions with the need for specific answers that would not affect the study design or outcome? Just because they can ask questions does not mean they should.

A: Thanks for this submission.

Dr. Lee Bidwell, associate vice chancellor for research, checked with his Human Research Office team on this.

IRB-review requests are on the rise, which is an indicator of a vibrant and growing research enterprise. However, for the majority of the past year, HRO has not operated with full staffing, which has been addressed. Despite this, the IRB response time has been improving year over year and that trend is expected to continue. The addition of a third review board last year instantly reduced the median turnaround time to 22 days, which is in line with institutions similar to us according to data collected by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs. The goal for FY24 is to get the time it takes to receive final review comments on a project submission to 16 days with the ultimate goal of less than 10 days as processes continue to improve.

Researchers are encouraged to reach out to UMMC IRB and request one-to-one training, which could go a long way in ensuring a submission meets all necessary criteria early in the process. The form to request that training can be found here.

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Again, thanks for these and all the submissions to the VC Notes inbox, and I appreciate all that you do to help us create A Healthier Mississippi.