Podcast #1

Welcome to Your Health, the new audio program from Aurora Health Care. I'm Neal Linkon, Aurora's manager of Web Communications. Every other week we'll offer you a brief look at key health issues with a focus on how you and your loved ones can stay healthy.

We want to know what's on your mind and what you want to learn more about. So if you have any suggestions or ideas, please drop us a line at Internet@aurora.org. We look forward to hearing from you.

We start edition one of Your Health with a look at your hips. Not the size of them, although we'll talk about healthy eating in a few weeks. But for any of you who might suffer from hip pain, you'll want to know about some new approaches are now available.

Arthroscopy, or the visual examination of the inside of the joint, is the most frequently performed orthopedic procedure in the U.S. But doing one on the hip is not as common because it's harder to get at and there is a lot of muscle and tissue surrounding the joint.

Dr. Anthony Ricci, an orthopedic surgeon working in Burlington and Lake Geneva, ranked 4th in the nation on his orthopedic board exam. And Dr. Ricci has been pioneering some new techniques and instruments specifically designed for the hip.

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To learn more about arthroscopy, to go www.Aurora.org/hipscope. 

Orthopedic surgeons at Aurora Medical Center in Oshkosh are among the first in the country to utilize computer-guided imaging during total knee replacement surgery. The new technology is also called Computer-Assisted Surgery, and helps the surgeon precisely align the artificial joint in the bone. The accuracy of the components' placement may increase the long-term effectiveness of knee replacement, especially in difficult cases.

During computer-assisted surgery, a model of the knee is developed using information taken from instruments that outline the contour of the knee and the alignment of the leg. An infrared camera reads the signal from the instrument and then sends the image to the computer, which develops a model of the knee. This model is projected as an image onto a monitor and helps guide the surgeon's attachment of the artificial joint.

Along with the surgeon's skill and experience, computer assisted surgery provides an internal view of the alignment of the implant, which can contribute to the long-term success of the total knee replacement.  This is available for most total knee replacement surgeries, however, it is best to consult with your physician to determine if you are a viable candidate for CAS. To learn more, go to www.Aurora.org/ortho.

You have a right to expect high quality wherever you go for health care. But how do you define it? At Aurora Health Care, quality is the degree to which we give our patients better results than they can get anywhere else.

That means we need to:

• Update our knowledge through continuous research on “best practices” – that is, how medical and nursing science prove to be the best possible ways to prevent or treat specific problems
• Set goals for ourselves, based on medical science and on what health care systems with the best results in the country are doing
• Keep track of our progress and continually set higher goals

But how do you know who does what well? And with all the many measures of health care quality, what do they all mean and which measures should mean the most to you?

It's an emerging concept, measuring and reporting quality in health care. To help you figure it out and learn how we define health care quality, we've created a new Web site. Please take a look and let us know what you think. Go to www.Aurora.org/quality and give us your feedback.

Care management is a focused approach to planning and giving care to the people we serve. In 1995 we started a project to ensure that people with asthma were being given the best treatment and teaching we could offer. That was the beginning of care management at Aurora, and we've been going strong ever since.

The “care management approach” means that we work together to:

• Define health care needs of the people we serve
• Research the best ways to meet those needs
• Design a plan of action that can be carried out by all of our health professionals
• Measure our results against national standards

In each edition of Your Health, we'll look at a Care Management initiative to give you a better idea of what this is all about. Most importantly, these segments will have real meaningful and useful information to help you and your loved ones.

When you become ill, you have the right to say yes or no to treatment options. But what if you became unable to decide for yourself? Who would speak for you? And would they know what you want and don't want? You may want to take some steps now to make sure your wishes are known.

So where do you start? One way to make your wishes known is to put them in writing through something called an Advance Directive. This is a legal paper that tells your choices about the health care you want or do not want. When you make an Advance Directive, you will think about issues like dying, life-saving measures, and quality of life.

An Advance Directive speaks for you when you are unable to do so. It serves as a guide for your health care team. It also relieves your family of the burden of trying to guess what you would want. Every adult 18 years of age or older should think about having an Advance Directive. It's a good idea to fill one out while your health is good and you can think clearly about your options.

If you cannot speak for yourself and have no Advance Directive, your health care provider will look to your family or close friends to help make decisions about your care. If they are unsure or do not agree about your care, they may ask the court to appoint a guardian who will make the decisions for you.

An Advance Directive can be made free of cost. You can get help and any needed forms by calling your health care provider or a trained advanced care planning facilitator. A lawyer can also help you, but this is not required. There are two forms available:

A Living Will is a form that describes what type of care you would want—or not want—to prolong your life if you were near death or in a persistent vegetative state. It does not give anyone else the right to make health care decisions on your behalf. In some cases, when a health care agent is not named, the courts become involved in making the decisions. A Power of Attorney for Health Care is a form in which you appoint another person as your “health care agent.” This person will work with your health care provider to make sure your wishes are carried out, if you are not able to do this yourself.

If you want more information about Care Management you can go to www.Aurora.org/CM. For more on Advance Directives, go to www.Aurora.org/AD. You also can ask your health care provider or call 888-863-5502 to find out how Aurora's Advance Care Planning Program can help you. The program is designed to:

• Provide a trained facilitator to talk with you about your health care wishes.
• Help you put your choices in a legal Power of Attorney for Health Care document.
• Make sure your Power of Attorney for Health Care is available when needed.

That's it for our first edition of Your Health. We hope it is useful.  If you have any suggestions or comments for us, please let us know at Internet@aurora.org. We look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for listening. I'm Neal Linkon.

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Your Health, Edition 1 (12:33)

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