Author Archives: Tom Scaletta, M.D.

Dr. Tom Scaletta is board certified in both emergency medicine and clinical informatics. He is the medical director of patient experience and the emergency department chair at Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare (https://healthydriven.com), past president of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine and a national speaker on emergency department operations and patient satisfaction. Tom designed a computerized patient communication system praised by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Urgent Matters (George Washington University).
Effective Communication SKills

Creating a New Standard for Communication: The G.R.E.A.T.™ Service Standard

Editor’s Note: This is Part II of Setting the Standard for Engaging and Activating Patients detailing a new standard for communication Dr. Scaletta and his team created to improve patient engagement at every touch point. My healthcare system closed calendar year 2015 on a high note. We trained 7,000 employees and medical staff across our […]

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Tom Scaletta, M.D. Dr. Tom Scaletta is board certified in both emergency medicine and clinical informatics. He is the medical director of patient experience and the emergency department chair at Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare (https://healthydriven.com), past president of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine and a national speaker on emergency department operations and patient satisfaction. Tom designed a computerized patient communication system praised by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Urgent Matters (George Washington University).

Tom Scaletta, M.D. has 6 post(s) at EngagingPatients.org


The Path to Better Care

Setting the Standard for Engaging and Activating Patients

A few months ago, I was named medical director of a brand new patient experience department for a highly regarded hospital system. I’ve worked there for a dozen years and have always been proud of the medical care we deliver. Staff members across all disciplines pour their hearts into their work. Still, like many others, […]

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Tom Scaletta, M.D. Dr. Tom Scaletta is board certified in both emergency medicine and clinical informatics. He is the medical director of patient experience and the emergency department chair at Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare (https://healthydriven.com), past president of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine and a national speaker on emergency department operations and patient satisfaction. Tom designed a computerized patient communication system praised by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Urgent Matters (George Washington University).

Tom Scaletta, M.D. has 6 post(s) at EngagingPatients.org


Emergency Case Management

Part II – Frequent ED Users: Transitioning from Volume to Value

In December, I discussed the Ever Growing Challenge posed by Frequent ED Users, their prevalence and their characteristics. Here, I’d like to explain why the combination of emergency department (ED) case management, care networks and workflow automation is a pragmatic approach that increases each of the components that encompass value in healthcare – safety, satisfaction […]

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Tom Scaletta, M.D. Dr. Tom Scaletta is board certified in both emergency medicine and clinical informatics. He is the medical director of patient experience and the emergency department chair at Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare (https://healthydriven.com), past president of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine and a national speaker on emergency department operations and patient satisfaction. Tom designed a computerized patient communication system praised by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Urgent Matters (George Washington University).

Tom Scaletta, M.D. has 6 post(s) at EngagingPatients.org


Emergency Medicine

Frequent ED Users: An Ever Growing Challenge

With the rapid rise of accountable care organizations, transitioning from fee-for-service to population-based contracting is the new norm. Population management refocuses providers and administrators from volume to value and is great news for patients. Value is the triad of safety, satisfaction and savings. It can be viewed as a three-legged stool where the span and […]

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Tom Scaletta, M.D. Dr. Tom Scaletta is board certified in both emergency medicine and clinical informatics. He is the medical director of patient experience and the emergency department chair at Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare (https://healthydriven.com), past president of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine and a national speaker on emergency department operations and patient satisfaction. Tom designed a computerized patient communication system praised by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Urgent Matters (George Washington University).

Tom Scaletta, M.D. has 6 post(s) at EngagingPatients.org


Best Practices and Methodologies

Engaging Frequent ED Visitors Seeking Prescription Narcotics

Unintentional overdose deaths due to prescription narcotics have quadrupled since 1999 and now outnumber those involving heroin and cocaine.[i],[ii] As a result, such misuse of medications has been accurately described as a national epidemic by the CDC and consumes over $70 billion in health care costs. [iii],[iv] Controlling patients who frequent the emergency department (ED) […]

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Tom Scaletta, M.D. Dr. Tom Scaletta is board certified in both emergency medicine and clinical informatics. He is the medical director of patient experience and the emergency department chair at Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare (https://healthydriven.com), past president of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine and a national speaker on emergency department operations and patient satisfaction. Tom designed a computerized patient communication system praised by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Urgent Matters (George Washington University).

Tom Scaletta, M.D. has 6 post(s) at EngagingPatients.org


Best Practices

Effective Complaint Management Forges Hospital Loyalty

Feedback always precedes improvement. While praise is a powerful motivator, criticism is more likely to provoke introspection and the discovery of new approaches. In the current era of accountable care, statistically-valid performance measures are being incorporated into value-based purchasing decisions. Like it or not, hospitals and providers are being measured and compared more than ever […]

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Tom Scaletta, M.D. Dr. Tom Scaletta is board certified in both emergency medicine and clinical informatics. He is the medical director of patient experience and the emergency department chair at Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare (https://healthydriven.com), past president of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine and a national speaker on emergency department operations and patient satisfaction. Tom designed a computerized patient communication system praised by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Urgent Matters (George Washington University).

Tom Scaletta, M.D. has 6 post(s) at EngagingPatients.org