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Since the Brigham and Women’s/ Faulkner Hospitals creation in 1998, patient admissions to Faulkner continue to increase. In fiscal year 2000 alone, BWH staff admitted 250 medical cases to Faulkner. The number is expected to increase as BWH primary care physicians (PCPs) learn more about the ease of the process and receive positive feedback from their patients on their experiences at Faulkner.
As a facilitator for Faulkner ED visits and admissions by BWH PCPs, Laurie Katzman, MD, serves as the BWH/Faulkner Liaison. In addition to practicing internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s at Newton Corner, Katzman works to simplify the Faulkner admission process for BWH PCPs and to educate PCPs on the benefits of admitting to Faulkner.
Aside from providing helpful information to PCPs on the admission process, appropriate contact information and information on the services and specialists based at Faulkner, Katzman is the contact for PCPs should they confront a problem in the admission process or need advice on choosing BWH or Faulkner for the admission, ED visit or specialty care of a particular patient.
“I facilitate the logistical elements of Faulkner admissions. Mostly, I ensure effective communication between the Faulkner’s ED, specialists or hospitalists and BWH PCPs and I address access problems, should they arise,” said Katzman.
Louise Schneider, MD, medical director of Brigham and Women’s Primary Care Associates at Norwood, does not hesitate to call upon Katzman to assist her with Faulkner admissions. Although Schneider does not encounter obstacles, she explains that having Katzman in that role assures that any access problems are quickly rectified.
“Since I started admitting patients to Faulkner, I have grown confident in the care at Faulkner as my patients have received smooth and expeditious care,” said Schneider. “If my patients arrive at Faulkner’s ED, they are in and out quickly and if they are hospitalized at Faulkner, the hospitalists maintain close contact with me to update and consult with me on the patient’s progress,” added Schneider, who appreciates the hospitalists warm demeanor and their willingness to communicate about patients in whatever way is most convenient for the PCP—email, phone or pager.
Frannie Kronenberg, medical director of Brigham and Women’s Physician Group, finds making one call to the hospitalist on-call at Faulkner to be very convenient. Like Schneider, Kronenberg has received positive feedback from patients who have visited the ED, received specialty care or procedures or have been admitted to Faulkner. “Patients’ experiences at Faulkner have been extremely positive,” said Kronenberg, who has been impressed with the communication from the hospitalists, ED staff and specialists at Faulkner.
“I find that the smooth transition of care from our BWH offices to Faulkner Hospital lies in us having equal access to patient data,” said Kronenberg, who explained that BWH PCPs have access to Faulkner’s Meditech system and the hospitalists at Faulkner have access to BICS and BWH’s longitudinal medical record.
“The two-way communication I have experienced since first admitting patients to Faulkner has been vital for effective, coordinated care,” Kronenberg added.
For more information on admitting patients to Faulkner, contact Katzman via email (lkatzman@partners.org). For more contact information related to admissions at Faulkner Hospital, see the telephone numbers listed to the right.