July 27, 2010
Today’s Program: National Quality Forum “America’s Health Care System”
Today’s Speaker: Dr. Reva Winkler
Reva Winkler, MD, MPH has been a health policy clinical consultant at the National Quality Forum in Washington, DC for the past nine years. She has provided project support and guidance for NQF’s work in endorsing performance measures for public reporting of health care quality information. NQF endorsed performance measures are used on the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ web site www.medicare.gov on Hospital Compare, Nursing Home Compare and other “Compare” platforms. Web sites of other organizations, such as The Joint Commission’s www.qualitycheck.org and California Healthcare Foundation’s www.Calhospitalcompare.org use NQF endorsed measures to report hospital performance information
Dr. Winkler is an obstetrician-gynecologist. Prior to joining the NQF staff she spent more than twenty years in clinical practice with Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles. During her clinical years she served as a Residency Director, Assistant Chief of OB-GYN and President of the Professional staff.
Dr. Winkler received her MD at the UCLA School of Medicine and MPH at the George Washington School of Public Health and Health Services.
The National Quality Forum (NQF) is a nonprofit organization that aims to improve the quality of healthcare for all Americans through fulfillment of its three-part mission:
- Setting national priorities and goals for performance improvement;
- Endorsing national consensus standards for measuring and publicly reporting on performance; and
- Promoting the attainment of national goals through education and outreach programs.
The American healthcare system is fragmented and difficult for many patients to navigate. The average Medicare patient sees seven different doctors, according to the New England Journal of Medicine, and patients with multiple chronic conditions may see up to 16 physicians annually. It is easy for important aspects of a patient’s medical history or personal care preferences to fall through the cracks. A lack of care coordination leads to medical errors, higher costs, and unnecessary pain for patients and their families.
It’s a three step process. The first step toward achieving quality is convening expert members across the healthcare industry, including patients to define quality with uniform standards and measures that apply to the many facets of care patients receive. Second, information gleaned from measuring performance is reported and analyzed to pinpoint where patient care falls short. Third, caregivers examine information about the care they are providing and use it to improve. Measure. Report. Improve.
What’s Happening
Van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse, Nieman, Warhol
Paint like them. Not a chance. But you will have the opportunity to paint your own picture as our social committee hosts a gathering for our club at Marvin Gay’s Painting with a Twist:
Date: Wednesday, August 11
Time: 6:30 – 9 p.m.
Address: 2527 Central Avenue
Cost: $30.00 per person (all painting supplies provided)
BYOB and let’s have some fun!
Check Please
The Boys & Girls Committee chaired by Worth Blackwell and Candace Nyarkoh funded $1,500.00 to the Title One Program of the Pinellas County School System. Member Kathleen Young presented the check to Betsy Blackwell and Mary Conage of the Title One Program.
Fine Masters, Stand up and Be Counted
President Bob is looking for members with a pulse and penchant to raise money to volunteer as fine masters. It is fun and a chance for revenge on those who have fined you.
Last Week at Kiwanis
Kiwanian of the Day, Doug Lampe, introduced Captain Rick Frazier, local fishing guide visiting with us a second time. Rick has fished the waters of Tampa Bay over forty years.
He explained that fishing is cyclical and factors include tide, wind, season, water temperature, available bait, and structure. Additionally, the Solalunar tables indicate peak feeding activity. Also, he told us, look to fish at or near full and new moons as that is when tides are the strongest.
But before you start fishing, the right fishing tackle is a must for maximum results. Rick recommends a 7’ to 7’6” rod for longer casts, therefore enabling the angler to cover more area. He likes braided line at 8-17# test on a long cast spool. The braided line is stronger than monofilament and barnacles do no cut it, although one downside is braided line tends to tangle more than monofilament. Rick can help you with your tackle needs at Mastry’s on Third Street South, where he works when not out on the water.
For those not too familiar with fishing technologies, Rick teaches an eight week long fishing class. As a graduate, let me tell you, it is well worth the time and money invested. Rick has forgotten more about fishing than all of us will ever know. And to further educate the fisherman, Rick is featured in the St. Petersburg Times sports section and on local TV spots.
When asked about the effects of the Gulf oil spill, Rick said the impacts are direct and indirect. The fishing is good but Kingfish are still offshore our beaches when normally they migrate to the northern part of the Gulf by now. From a business side, his out-of-state calls have diminished drastically as potential customers fear that our area is contaminated.
Thanks, Rick for your colorful commentary about fishing. Check out Rick’s website at www.luckydawg.com. And, as Rick says, any time is a good time to fish or as local TV announcer Salty Sol Fleischman used to say, “If you’re too busy to go fishing, you are just too busy!”
Attendance Last Week
We had 45 members and 7 guests.
Maribeth Wetzel, guest of Debbie Deeb
Summer Goldman, guest of Debbie Deeb
John Kelment, guest of Kathy Condon
Betsy Blackwell, guest and wife of Worth Blackwell
Mary Conage, guest of Kathleen Young
John Cartier, guest of Ron Braun
This Week’s Quiz
- What football stadium was Dirty Harry in when he said, “Do you feel lucky?”
- Match these universities to the cities they are located in:
Waco John Hopkins
College Station Gonzales
Omaha University of Maryland
College Park Baylor
Norfolk Texas A & M
Spokane Old Dominion
Baltimore Creighton
State College Penn State
- Maine’s largest grossing business is: Lumbering, Lobstering, Paper, Tourism, or Blueberries
- AirTran Airways is based in what city?
- Who was the MVP in this year’s major league baseball All-Star Game?
Last Week’s Quiz
- The Florida State freshwater fish is the Largemouth Bass.
- The Florida State saltwater fish is the Sailfish.
- The Florida State shell is the Horse Conch shell.
- Florida has many lakes, but of those with over ten acres there are 7,700.
- Lake Okeechobee is divided by five counties: Glades, Okeechobee, Martin, Palm Beach, and Hendry.
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