​ cover story One

Change management: Improving outcomes in health care

By Claire S. Neely, MD, FAAP; and Sarah Horst, MA

In health care, where change management is often viewed with dread rather than enthusiasm, this might seem like a surprising way to begin. Change management is most often defined as the process, tools, and techniques required to achieve a certain business outcome. This includes supporting people to make changes.

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​ cover story two

Evidence synthesis: Improving outcomes, avoiding waste

By Timothy Wilt, MD, MPH; Wei (Denise) Duan-Porter, MD, PhD; and Nancy Greer, PhD

The amount of information available to make health care decisions is enormous and changing rapidly. Clinicians, health systems, policy makers, researchers, and patients often find it difficult to identify the “right information” about the effects of health care interventions. These medical information “end-users” increasingly rely on systematic reviews and corresponding

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​ Technology

Social engineering: Is your practice prepared?

By Ginny Adams, RN, BSN, MPH, CPHRM

The human element is a key factor in cyber and computer network operations, and it is the most unpredictable factor in cybersecurity. Patient records contain a wealth of personal information, and many hackers have learned to trick unsuspecting health care employees into helping them plan and execute their data breaches through

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​ Medicine and the Law

“Stark” legislation and regulation: Updating the updates

By Antonio “Tony” Fricano, JD

On June 20, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that there will be what CMS called a “Regulatory Sprint” to revamp the Physician Self-Referral Law (commonly referred to as the “Stark Law,” named for its original sponsor, California Congressman Pete Stark).

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​ Physician-Patient Communication

Surviving a stroke: Lessons learned from being a patient

By Michelle D. Sherman, PhD, LP, ABPP; and LuAnn Kibira, APRN, NP

Each of us heard these words from an emergency room physician earlier this year, coincidentally about a month apart. Shocking? Life-changing? Perspective-offering? Reminding us of the importance of gratitude? Yes.

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​ Pediatrics

The Minnesota NET-Works program: Addressing pre-school obesity

By Simone A. French, PhD; Nancy E. Sherwood, PhD; and Sara Veblen-Mortenson, MSW, MPH

Approximately 27 percent of children ages two to five are overweight or obese. Overweight children are at high risk for hypertension and other cardiometabolic risk factors and are five times more likely than normal weight children to become overweight adults.

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​ Behavioral Health

Opioid prescribing: A new provider toolkit

By Andrew R. Zinkel, MD, MBA, FACEP, FAAEM, and Patty Graham

Every day, an average of 130 Americans die of an opioid overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2017, 401 Minnesotans died from opioid-related causes, according to preliminary data from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). That’s an 18 percent increase over 2015. So it’s no surprise that state admissions data also show a rise in heroin and opioid addiction across the state.

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