April 2003 A periodic round-up of news from Johns Hopkins Medicine designed to give busy executives easy-to-read reports and useful information from one of the region's largest private employers.
In the articles below you'll read about some of our efforts to make medical services customer-friendly and cost-effective, whether throughout Maryland or overseas, as well as about our plans to go to the bond market for two major clinical buildings. Hopkins researchers, meanwhile, have made significant steps in the search for the causes of bilpolar disorders, and charge that some carriers of cystic fibrosis have received misleading information because of inadequate oversight of genetic testing. University President Bill Brody also offers a fascinating slant on the unfairness of this nation's medical malpractice system. Please let us know if you have questions or comments about any of these topics. We welcome your suggestions. Comments and questions may be sent to: jhmedicine@jhmi.edu
PLUNGING INTO THE BOND MARKET
Hoping to take advantage of low interest rates, Hopkins Hospital will go to the bond market this summer, aiming for $100 million in construction funds for two major clinical buildings and the infrastructure needed to support them. DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE CUTS PATIENTS' LENGTH OF STAY BY 21%
By scheduling Saturday procedures and setting same-day or next-day guidelines for imaging studies, consultations and procedures, the Department of Medicine has cut its average patient length of stay from 6 days to 4.7. HOPKINS ONCE AGAIN NO. 2 AMONG MEDICAL SCHOOLS
For the 13th consecutive year, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine was named one of the top two medical schools in U.S. News & World Report's annual ranking of graduate schools. Medical school deans and senior faculty ranked Hopkins' programs in the top four in geriatrics, drug/alcohol abuse, women's health, internal medicine, pediatrics, AIDS and biomedical engineering. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health was ranked No. 1, and School of Nursing No. 6.
WILMER EYE INSTITUTE OPENS SITE IN FREDERICK
The top-rated eye center in the country opens its 10th Maryland location in Frederick. Other Wilmer satellite offices include Columbia, Lutherville, Odenton, Owings Mills, Rockville, White Marsh and Wyman Park. SUBURBAN HOSPITAL PARTNERS WITH HOPKINS TO WIN OPEN-HEART SURGERY APPROVAL
In partnership with Johns Hopkins Medicine, Suburban Hospital, in Bethesda, Md., has won approval from the Maryland Health Care Commission for a cardiac surgery, research and training program. EXPORTING HOPKINS OVERSEAS
By brokering 50 faculty initiatives ranging from a multidepartmental project in the United Arab Emirates to the just-opened Department of Pathology diagnostic laboratory in Malaysia, Johns Hopkins International has brought the institution more than $100 million in downstream revenue. PEDIATRIC SPECIALTY PRACTICES IN COMMUNITY IMPROVE ACCESS AND EFFICIENCY
Working with local hospitals and physicians, Hopkins now offers specialty services for pediatric patients in Allegheny, Anne Arundel, Carroll, Frederick, Harford, Howard and Washington Counties that provide easy access, prompt care and lower outpatient costs. INPATIENT SPECIALISTS PRODUCE MAJOR CHANGES AT BAYVIEW
Hospitalists - physicians hired to provide medical care exclusively for inpatients - have had a big impact at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, including reducing the time patients wait in the emergency room for treatment or admission from two hours and 27 minutes to just 18 minutes.
RESEARCHERS SEEK CLUES IN FAMILIES WITH BIPOLAR DISORDERS
After years of frustrating searches for genes that contribute to mental illness, Hopkins researchers have pinpointed a region of the genome where the genes that cause such bipolar disorders and schizophrenia are likely to be found.JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER STUDYING STRICTER CONTROLS ON GENETIC TESTING
Inadequate oversight of genetic testing to detect carriers of cystic fibrosis has led The Johns Hopkins University Genetics and Public Policy Center to undertake a detailed assessment with the goal of developing new guidelines. IN VITRO FERTILIZATION MAY BE LINKED TO BLADDER DEFECTS
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center report that a group of rare urological defects, including bladder development outside the body, may be more common in children conceived through in vitro fertilization.
THE MALPRACTICE LOTTERY
The high cost of malpractice insurance isn't the worst injustice in a system that penalizes physicians, nursing homes, hospitals and especially the patients, who rarely receive any compensation at all, writes University President Bill Brody.
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