Last stop on the continuum of care

The Rhode Island medical examiner's office will be subject to a customer satisfaction survey in the coming months, according to an Associated Press story in the Boston Globe. The agency has been criticized for its handling of the Station nightclub fire, organ donations, and turnaround time in completing autopsies. (Some take 6 months or more!)The New England Organ Bank has complained that "dozens of potential donations" could not be harvested due to problems with the office's processes. That's bad news for patients, considering the severe shortage of organs for transplantation.David Gifford, acting director of the Health Department, plans to...

...streamline operations by revamping the office's information technology. An upgraded system is expected to free staffers from hours of pen-and-pad documentation and allow them to more quickly analyze data.

Maybe they can throw out the fax machines while they are at it.