Attestation statements are a good example. Physicians know that they should talk to their patients about the risks, benefits and alternatives of blood transfusions, but not everyone is aware that the Gann Act requires that physicians must personally document in the record that they have done so. A major component of success in the survey is knowing the terms. They'll use that term knowing that is the agreed-upon term here. In future years, electronic medical records will help streamline this and many other processes around the hospital.
Advance directives is one key phrase.
I'm convinced most or all of the regulations do improve patient care, but even if they don't, they still facilitate hospital operations and need to be done. We've tried to make complying with the regulations as painless as possible for good doctors. And in so doing, we're also trying to provide added value by making the information on the forms useful for patient care. Physicians are fiercely independent. As Larry says, our challenge is to make the need to accept some rigorous understanding and compliance with regulations something we can accept and not rebel against.