By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    bowl of vegetable salad
    Raw Foods: benefits and harms
    November 9, 2021
    pros and cons of the keto diet
    Read This Before You Follow the Keto Diet
    May 18, 2022
    spinal cord injuries
    4 Potential Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries (and How to Seek Compensation)
    May 25, 2022
    Latest News
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    July 31, 2025
    Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
    July 20, 2025
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Effective Healthcare Requires a Social Approach
    June 15, 2015
    CCBHCs
    2016 Excellence in Behavioral Health Program Design
    February 23, 2016
    conducting Clinical Trial
    5 Tips for Conducting a Clinical Trial
    April 21, 2024
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Collaborative Learning: Ebola
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Global Healthcare > Collaborative Learning: Ebola
BusinessGlobal HealthcareHospital AdministrationNewsPublic Health

Collaborative Learning: Ebola

Ken Cohn
Ken Cohn
Share
4 Min Read
emergency room
SHARE

emergency roomI entitled this post Collaborative Learning: Ebola because I empathize with the Presbyterian Hospital ED physician who sent the patient home initially. Unfortunately, this is how we learn to take a better history, do a more complete physical exam, and improve our diagnostic accuracy, by making mistakes, owning up to our shortcomings, and resolving to do better the next time.

emergency roomI entitled this post Collaborative Learning: Ebola because I empathize with the Presbyterian Hospital ED physician who sent the patient home initially. Unfortunately, this is how we learn to take a better history, do a more complete physical exam, and improve our diagnostic accuracy, by making mistakes, owning up to our shortcomings, and resolving to do better the next time.

We all wish that we could get everything we need from guidelines, but the best guidelines are dynamic documents that improve in real time as we gather experience. As Carl Taylor wrote in Disaster Preparedness for Healthcare Professionals:

Disasters are the product of choices that are politically, environmentally, socially, and economically driven. Disasters occur when a natural or man-made event comes into contact with these choices. Thus,we can reduce or avoid the impact of a disaster through our planning, choices, decisions and actions.

More Read

caregivers policy
Reducing Hospital Readmissions: An Interview with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Anne Weiss
Healthcare Landing Pages That Actually Work: The What, Why and How
Two Words That Should Dominate Your Internet Marketing Plan
Healthcare’s Most Disruptive: Next-Gen Genomics, Memory Implants
How Will We Care for Six Million Centenarians by 2050?- Video

Collaborative Learning: Hazard Vulnerability Analysis

One such opportunity comes during the creation of a hazard vulnerability analysis (HVA). HVA is a tool, which allows us to consider our risk exposure and modify our planning and risk management before events occur.

We must overcome the 4 M’s of flawed HVAs:

  • Motive: facilities often create HVAs to check off boxes, not to reduce exposure proactively
  • Myth: Myths lower estimated risk because an event has not happened before or  for many years. Montana was relatively free of tornadoes until 2010, when in the first seven months, over a dozen tornadoes swept the state. Wind, combined with heavy rains pushed a 5-foot wall of water in the direction of Billings Clinic Hospital. The myth that snow was the only natural disaster in Montana is now put to rest.
  • Magnitude: Even if an event is possible, its magnitude is downplayed because of insurance costs, remediation costs, or simply an honest belief that “nothing bad ever happens here”. The earthquake in Haiti was followed by volcanic eruptions in Iceland, and exceeded by the flooding of the Indus river, leaving 15 to 20 million Pakistani people homeless.
  • Management: Although optimism and faith are important, organizations should use the HVA to question planning assumptions.  We need more than engineers and security police to participate in disaster planning, i.e. physicians, nurses, and healthcare administrators all have a vital role. Lives are at stake.

Finally, a plea to the news media and Congress: we need to celebrate learning. Learning is a vital part of disaster planning and thus never failure.

As always, I welcome your input to improve healthcare collaboration where you work.  Please send me your comments and suggestions for improvement.

Kenneth H. Cohn
© 2013, all rights reserved

Disclosure:
I have not received any compensation for writing this content.  I have no material connection to the brands, topics and/or products that are mentioned herein.

© Healthcare Collaboration. All Rights Reserved.

ChameleonsEye / Shutterstock.com

TAGGED:CollaborationEbola
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
Health
July 31, 2025
holistic dental
Holistic Dentist Services Are Natural and Safe
Dental health Specialties
July 28, 2025
botox certification
Help Improve People’s Skin Health Via Botox Certification
Skin Specialties
July 22, 2025
Telemedicine Apps
Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
Health
July 20, 2025

You Might also Like

Hospital Reps “Sell” Doctors on Using Their Services

December 16, 2011

Remote Area Medical Holds Free Clinic in Nashville-1000 or More Patients Expected

February 20, 2011
healthcare.gov health data at risk
eHealthHealth ReformNewsPolicy & LawPublic Health

HealthCare.gov’s Security Issues: Did Government Put ePatients’ Health Data Privacy at Risk?

November 5, 2013
technology for doctors
BusinesseHealthHospital AdministrationMobile Health

Time-Saving Technology for Doctors: 5 Solutions

June 5, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?