Lily Chen Turns Tables on Long Term Care Management

Only three months after joining Yee-Der Long Term Care Center, Lily Chen had stopped its long-lasting deficit, and enabled the center to reach full capacity and financial breakeven in January 2008. According to Lily Chen, always being determined, committed, and grasping key strategies are her secrets to success.
Lily Chen's excellent performance comes from her wide range of health care management experience, including nursing, insurance, information, accounting, strategic planning, public relations and marketing.
Ms. Chen went on to say that the key strategies used to boost Yee-Der's census were creating better internal communication and teamwork, improving care quality and increasing resident satisfaction, enhancing marketing and expanding customer channels, and building up community interaction. Lily Chen also aptly utilizes resources from the Min-Sheng Healthcare System as sources of backup.

Min-Sheng Welcomes the New Chief Advisor of Cardiac Surgery

The new Chief Advisor of Cardiac Surgery Professor Dr. Chen Yee-Shiung, one of the top surgeons from National Taiwan University Hospital, is experienced and specialized in adult and pediatric cardiac surgery. Professor Chen actively participates in several academic and research medical societies. He is also one of the leaders in his field who combine CPR and ECMO when treating patients. He has accumulated nearly 150 such cases accounting for almost half of the total amount (appr. 300 cases) in the world.

After bringing Professor Chen on board, Min-Sheng is now ready to upgrade its treatment model of integrating cardiologists and cardiac surgeons. Furthermore, Min-sheng will also introduce this model at its branch hospitals, thus providing better care to more patients.

Primary Care Physicians Join Min-Sheng's U-Care Project

Min-Sheng has expanded its operations into the senior tele-care field, and has invited 23 primary care physicians to participate in the "U-Care" home care alliance project. Min-Sheng collaborates with several industrial and academic partners to apply this U-Care project from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Under the U-Care project, primary care physicians play an important role in forming the "Core Center," a senior care service platform, and directly provide care to senior citizens within the community. Through the operation of the Core Center and several electronic devices, physicians can continuously monitor and analyze seniors' physiological data as reference of diagnosis or early intervention. Physicians will also proactively contact seniors if any unusual data is found. Min-Sheng currently runs five "Integrated Delivery System (IDS) Primary Care Physician Groups" including 37 physicians in 34 clinics.

Corporate CEO Dr. Fred Yang was invited to speak on TV show

Corporate CEO Dr. Fred Yang was invited to speak on TV show of how MissionCare developed its mega-chain business model and its successful experience of entering the China healthcare market.

Lily Chen Represented the Min-Sheng Healthcare System at the 2008 SenCARE Show and participated in a Panel Discussion on Senior Care Policies

Taiwan International Senior Lifestyle and Health Care Show (SenCARE) is one of the biggest annual senior care related trade shows in Taiwan. Representatives from Taiwan External Trade Development Council, Taiwan Elderly Service Association, and experts from academic and industry fields gathered together to discuss strategies to address the issues surrounding successful aging. Lily Chen, the Chairperson of Min-Sheng's Long-Term Care Committee, was invited to participate in this event and express her opinions on how to make better senior care polices, including the importance of policy integration, expansion of community resources, increased financial and caregiver labor force support, and establishment of a senior-friendly community through better education and public awareness.

Orthopedic Masters of Taiwan, China and Hong Kong Join Min-Sheng's Int'l Arthroscopy Conference and Sign Unveiling Ceremony

The more open China policy resulting from the 2008 presidential election has boosted communication between Taiwan and China in the electronic, tourism, and medical industries. As part of this increasing interest, the “2008 Int’l Arthroscopy Symposium” held by the Taiwan Arthroscopy and Knee Association has invited more than 100 orthopedic surgeons from Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong and Korea to join this event. Masters included Dr. Lo Hui-Shi, President of the Chinese Orthopedic Interchange Association, Dr. Chen Chi-Min, Professor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Dr. Yang Min-Sheng, Chairman of Min-Sheng Healthcare System, Dr. Po-Quang Chen, President of Asia-Pacific Orthopedic Association, Dr. Fred Yang, Superintendent of Min-Sheng Hospital, and Dr. Lee Hon-Mang, President of the Taiwan Arthroscopy and Knee Association. A sign unveiling ceremony for the “Asia-Pacific Spine Center” was also held to declare Taiwan’s high medical quality to the world.

Being the first Joint Commission International hospital accredited in Taiwan and the closest major hospital to the int’l airport, Min-Sheng Hospital has always been a pioneer in the area of international health care services. The addition of the orthopedic expert Dr. Po-Quan Chen brings Min-Sheng one step closer to becoming the top spine center in the Asia-Pacific area.

Professor Dr. Po-Quang Chen specializes in spine surgery and is a world renowned spine surgeon. To achieve better health care quality, Dr. Chen wanted to establish a dedicated spine center, which would include a team of health care professionals made up of physicians, nurses, therapists and other health professionals to provide a comprehensive approach to patient care. In addition to minimally invasive or regular surgeries, life-style changing rehabilitation therapies and the latest laser treatments will also be included in the scope of service.

Dr. Chi-Ming Chen from Hong Kong said that Taiwan is world renowned for its advancement in orthopedics, and it was his great honor to participate in this event and interact with the orthopedic experts of Taiwan. He fully supported Professor Chen’s Asia-Pacific Spine Center and the idea of technology and service integration. He also believed that the close cooperation among China, Hong Kong and Taiwan will significantly contribute to the development of orthopedics care and research.

Professor Po-Quang Chen was the founder of the Asia-Pacific Orthopedic Association and has been an important figure in introducing Taiwan medicine to the world. He has been earnestly promoting Taiwan’s medical talents domestically and internationally for the past 30 years at the National Taiwan University Hospital. BeginningTC this June or July, he will also accept trainees from overseas countries at Min-Sheng with hope of not only gaining further recognition of Taiwan’s top surgical techniques but also sharing them to contribute to Chinese society all over the world. The sign unveiling of the “Asia-Pacific Spine Center” not only represents Min-Sheng’s determination of going global, but also adds another milestone to Taiwan’s medical diplomacy.

Dr. James Miser speaks on Patient Safety at Min-Sheng General Hospital

On Thursday, March 6, 2008, Dr. James Miser, former CEO and Chief Medical Officer of City of Hope National Medical Center, was invited to speak to Min-Sheng Healthcare administration, physicians and staff on the subject of "Improving Healthcare Quality through Root Cause Analysis." Besides being the CEO and Chief Medical Officer beginning in 2001, Dr Miser is a world renowned pediatric oncologist and father of 10 adopted children.

Dr. Miser stated he has always had an interest in patient safety. The physician oath says first do no harm. "Medicine use to be simple, ineffective and relatively safe. Now it is complex, effective and potentially dangerous," he stated.
According to a 1998 released by the Institute of Medicine, "44,000 to 98,000 people die in the United States health care system each year due to preventable errors made by health care practitioners."

A systems analysis approach can be used to thoroughly evaluate all patient care systems, identify areas of risk, implement changes to mitigate risk and prevent errors before they happen. Dr. Miser shared several examples of how a systems approach identified errors before they occurred and several stories of errors discovered through a systems analysis approach after the errors had been committed.

Dr. Miser also told several stories of errors and potential medical treatment errors that involved his own children, noting that if these situations could happen to his family then it could certainly happen to anyone. Dr. Miser believes that a “no blame” culture is essential if you want to change a hospital system. In a “no blame” culture you accept that an error can occur, but it also provides an opportunity to make the hospital a safer place.

A "safe hospital" in Dr. Miser's words is one where there are excellent physicians, an excellent staff, excellent systems, and excellent patient involvement in care and education. In describing each aspect of a "safe hospital, Dr. Miser pointed out the importance of hospital leadership create a culture of safety by reporting errors without a fear of blame or retaliation is key to accurately implementing system changes. Most medication errors are due to system errors not incompetence. While reporting errors can be a frightening thing for a hospital system, it is necessary to report errors accurately to be able to change the system and make it safer.

Dr. Miser graciously answered questions from the audience and discussed his medical philosophy with other audience members after the presentation was completed. He completed his day with a tour of Min-Sheng General Hospital followed by lunch with Dr. Fred Yang, the CEO and Mrs. Connie Ma, the Chief Quality Officer of Min-Sheng General Hospital.