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Mid-South Maternal Fetal Medicine, PC Welcomes Shelia Thomas, FNP to Medical Staff

The physicians of Mid-South Maternal Fetal Medicine have proudly announced the addition of Shelia Thomas, FNP, to their medical staff.

Mid-South Maternal Fetal Medicine is a consultative practice which specializes in the treatment of high-risk pregnancies. Patients of MSMFM are referred by their primary obstetrician due to one or more high risk factors, and are followed for monitoring of both mother and unborn child. Services provided during this process include routine and high-resolution ultrasounds, fetal Doppler flow studies, fetal echocardiography, umbilical blood sampling, and amniocentesis.

Prior to her addition to MSMFM, Thomas worked as a family nurse practitioner at Memphis Primary Care. She received her nurse practitioner training through the University of Memphis, and her Bachelors in Nursing from Union University. She comes to the practice with thirteen years of obstetric nursing experience, having worked as a registered nurse in the Baptist Hospital system before becoming a nurse practitioner.

UT Announces $1 Billion Campaign; Now 70 Percent to Goal

KNOXVILLE – The University of Tennessee recently officially launched its $1 billion fundraising campaign to enhance programs of excellence at all of the university’s campuses and institutes.

The Campaign for Tennessee -- the most ambitious effort in the university’s 214-year history -- places UT among the ranks of the nation’s largest public and private institutions that have sought this level of private support.

According to Hershel P. Wall, MD, chancellor, the UT Health Science Center’s goal within the UT Systemwide Campaign is $180 million. “We are a little more than half-way to our goal, and our faculty and staff have given more than $10 million of the total through the Family Campaign,” he said.

Accompanied by Board of Trustees Vice Chair Andrea Loughry, UT President John Petersen announced that $704,007,696 has been raised at a gathering of campaign volunteers held at Pratt Pavilion on the Knoxville campus.

The campaign seeks support for initiatives that impact student access and success, research, economic development, outreach and goals for globalization.

Jim Haslam, along with his wife, Natalie, and Brenda Lawson of Chattanooga serve as co-chairs of the Campaign for Tennessee.

“We have the distinct honor to be part of a powerful effort that will have an enormous impact on the state and its residents for many years to come,” said Jim Haslam, founder of Pilot Oil Corp. “Each day we have been reminded that the University of Tennessee family is a large one that extends all over the world. We have especially enjoyed meeting with supporters and learning more about the enduring connection that compels them to invest in the university’s future.”

Funds are raised through outright gifts and pledges, planned gifts and private grants for research.

Approximately 80 percent of the money raised to this point is from individuals and families, with 12 percent from corporations and 8 percent from foundations. The more than $700 million total involves gifts and pledges received from about 88,000 donors.

“Partnerships are the key to every strategic effort. Funds raised will enhance and supplement, but in no way supplant support from the state of Tennessee,” said Petersen. “Increasing private support, however, clearly demonstrates how much UT is valued by our citizens. That kind of success will encourage increased investment from all sources.”

Campaign priorities include endowed scholarships and professorships, chairs of excellence, building enhancements and other innovative faculty and student programs.

Traditionally -- and in the case of the university’s $1 billion endowment -- more than 98 percent of all gifts are restricted, meaning they are to be used for a specific scholarship, program or objective relating to the donor’s interest. Therefore, private dollars rarely are designated to cover the university’s operational costs, which rely on state support and tuition.

“In light of the increasing costs of a college education, scholarship gifts provide greater access for qualified students to attend UT. Gifts for faculty support enable the campuses and units to recruit and retain the very best faculty to offer the highest quality of education and student experience,” said Loughry.

Loughry noted that significant leadership gifts have enabled the campaign’s impressive progress, but stressed the need to engage many alumni and friends in the effort.

“Along with a wonderful way to connect to the university in an exciting initiative that will have a transformational impact, this opportunity drives home the point that support comes in many forms and that every gift counts and contributes to the long-term success of the university,” said Loughry.

Current, former and retired employees have contributed more than $48.7 million through the Family Campaign that was held in 2007. The effort involved gifts and pledges from more than 11,000 people. Employee giving has increased with participation rates of between 26 percent and 54 percent at UT’s campuses and units.

The announcement was followed by a celebration held at Thompson Boling Assembly Center and Arena involved 800 invited guests and more than 400 students, faculty and staff. Representing campuses and institutes from across the state, the student programs were spotlighted throughout the evening.

As the flagship statewide academic health system, the UT Health Science Center is focused on a four-tier mission of education, research, clinical care and public service, all in support of a single goal: to improve the health of Tennesseans. Offering a broad range of postgraduate training opportunities, the main campus, which includes six colleges, is located in Memphis. UTHSC has additional College of Medicine and College of Pharmacy campus locations in Knoxville and a College of Medicine campus in Chattanooga. For more information, visit www.utmem.edu.

Drs. Mutter, Reed, Willoughby To Receive TMA Outstanding Physician Awards

Edward W. Reed, MD was honored with the Tennessee Medical Association’s 2008 Outstanding Physician Award during the TMA’s 173rd Annual Meeting at the Nashville Airport Marriott Hotel recently.

After completing college and medical school in Nashville, Dr. Reed moved to Memphis in 1964 and became the first African-American board-certified general surgeon to practice in the city; he was also the first African-American physician to serve on the faculty of UT College of Medicine and have staff privileges at Baptist Memorial Hospital – Memphis.

Currently retired, Dr. Reed recently served as senior vice president and medical director for Omni Care Health Plan of Tennessee until 2007.

Drs. Grobmyer, Puckett To Receive Tma Distinguished Service Award
Albert J. Grobmyer, III, MD was recognized by the Tennessee Medical Association (TMA) with its Distinguished Service Award during MedTenn 2008, the TMA’s 173rd Annual Meeting.

From 2001-2007, Dr. Grobmyer served as chief executive officer of the QSource Center for Healthcare Quality. Qsource, a non-profit healthcare consulting firm, serves as the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for Tennessee, providing a wide range of quality improvement services to healthcare organizations and providers across the state. Currently, he serves as medical director of TennCare External Quality Review for QSource.

A past-president of The Memphis Medical Society, Dr. Grobmyer served over 12 years on the TMA House of Delegates. He has been a clinical assistant professor in the UT Family Medicine residency program for over 25 years and continues to serve the College of Medicine as a member of the Undergraduate Medical Education Committee. He is a former president of Saint Francis Hospital – Memphis, the Memphis Surgical Society, and the UT College of Medicine Alumni Council.

General Medicine Conference Celebrates Decade of Growth

More than 100 physicians from across West Tennessee attended the 10th Annual General Medicine Conference at West Tennessee Healthcare in early March.

This year’s focus was on neurology, but in years past the conference has touched nearly every aspect of medicine.
The annual medical conference is organized by Dr. Jacob Aelion and Dr. Satis Odhav, who practice at the Arthritis Clinic. West Tennessee Healthcare supports the effort by getting financial sponsors, providing a location, marketing the event and doing other work to help make the conference successful.

Speakers at this year’s conference were Dr. Thomas Head, Dr. Karl Misulis and Dr. Sumathira Sathanandan of the Semmes Murphy Clinic in Jackson; Dr. Ronald Pfeiffer, a professor in the neurology department at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center; Dr. Ramon Cuevas, an assistant professor in neurology, pediatric division, at Vanderbilt University; and Dr. Chris Mitchell of the Wesley Neurology Clinic.

Each year, the General Medicine Conference is held on the first Saturday in March. Attendance in recent years has grown to more than 100 with a good number of the physicians and other health care providers from outside of Jackson.

The yearly topics are based on feedback from those who have attended. Conference attendees receive continuing medical education credit. For more information about the conference, call the Arthritis Clinic at 731-664-0002.

Le Bonheur Expands Services to Tupelo

Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center has joined forces with North Mississippi Medical Center to provide pediatric sub-specialty services to children in the Tupelo area, giving local families more specialized healthcare options closer to home.

Located in the former Med Serve Clinic at 410 Council Circle on North Mississippi Medical Center’s campus, the Le Bonheur Outreach Program provides specialty services including neurology, general surgery and cardiology to Tupelo.

“NMMC has a history of providing great care to the Tupelo area. We hope we can enhance that care by bringing Le Bonheur pediatric experts closer to the residents of North Mississippi,” said Meri Armour, Le Bonheur president and CEO.

The physicians who see patients in Tupelo include neurologists Dr. Ahmad Al Hamda and Dr. Robin Morgan; surgeons Dr. Max Langham, Dr. Trey Eubanks and Dr. Eunice Huang; and cardiologists Dr. Courtney Anthony and Dr. Thomas Chin.

The neurologists see patients twice a month. The surgeons and cardiologists travel to Tupelo once a month. Pulmonology services will be available this summer. In the future, other pediatric sub-specialty services may be expanded.

The specialists, who will travel to Tupelo from the Memphis area, will allow families to stay closer to home. The clinics will also be able to serve Tupelo patients who need to see specialists, but can’t travel to Memphis to see them.

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare Showcases Robotic Surgery For Prostate Cancer Live On The Internet

MEMPHIS — Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare will present a live surgical webcast featuring a robotic prostatectomy surgery, a minimally invasive treatment for prostate cancer, Tuesday, May 13, at 2 p.m. Viewers can go to www.methodisthealth.org and click on the surgical webcast icon to watch Ravi D. Chauhan, M.D., a urologist and surgeon with The Conrad/Pearson Clinic, along with Robert A. Donato, M.D., also a urologist and surgeon with The Conrad/Pearson Clinic, perform a prostatectomy. Viewers will learn more about the procedure from Richard M. Pearson, M.D., a urologist and surgeon with The Conrad/Pearson Clinic, as he narrates the procedure.

A robotic prostatectomy involves six tiny incisions about the size of a dime. The robot’s arms are passed through these openings called ports and hold a camera and surgical instruments. The surgeon sits at a console a couple of feet away from the operating table and looks into a viewfinder at a three-dimensional image sent from the camera inside the patient. Using joystick controls just below the screen, the surgeon moves them to manipulate the surgical instruments to perform the surgery.

The live prostatectomy surgery will be performed in the Robotic Surgery Center at Methodist North Hospital. Methodist North Hospital is part of a seven hospital system within Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare.

McDonald Murrmann Center For Skin, Laser And Healthy Aging Offers Fraxel® Laser

MEMPHIS — The McDonald Murrmann Center for Skin, Laser & Healthy Aging is thrilled to be the exclusive provider of the Fraxel® laser in the Mid-South. As seen on the Today Show (clip attached to view), Fraxel® serves as a pre-emptive strike against facelifts and is one of the skincare industry’s biggest breakthroughs in the last five to ten years.

Performed by skincare specialist, Sarah Carpenter, RN, BSN, Fraxel® rejuvenates skin, prevents sagging and wrinkles and drastically improves acne scarring.

Heme-Onc Hotline Provides Answers – Immediately.

Family Cancer Center announces the establishment of our Heme-Onc Hotline — a free service available to physicians, nurse practitioners and other specialists. As the challenges of delivering quality healthcare to patients rise, Family Cancer Center looks for non-traditional ways to deliver higher levels of service.

When physicians need to reach an oncologist in a hurry with any hematology or oncology questions, they can call the Heme-Onc Hotline at 1-866-HOTLINE or 1-866-468-5463. The Family Cancer Center physicians will alternate carrying the phone, so they can provide answers immediately, 24 hours a day. There is no waiting, no answering service and no paging.

TennCare and Shared Health® Partner to Deliver ePrescribing to Rural Physicians

CHATTANOOGA —The Bureau of TennCare and Shared Health, Tennessee’s largest public/private health information exchange (HIE), have launched a pilot program to introduce ePrescribing capabilities to rural physician practices located throughout the state.
The ePrescribing program is a community approach to facilitate efficient health care delivery and enhance patient care. Fifty rural physician practices across 13 Tennessee counties are participating in the TennCare ePrescribing pilot program. Each of the practices were chosen because none currently has access to, or the resources to implement, ePrescription technology within its practice. The purpose of the pilot program is to learn patterns, behaviors, and user satisfaction across different practices, specialties and locations.

The West Clinic Participates in Nationwide Study

MEMPHIS — According to a study of data from the National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR) published online March 24 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), clinicians changed the intended care of more than one in three cancer patients as the result of FDG-PET scan findings.

The West Clinic is one of over 1200 facilities participating in the NOPR that contributed FDG-PET scan data analyzed for the study on nearly 23,000 patients.

The NOPR was launched in May 2006 in response to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) novel “Coverage with Evidence Development” policy to collect data through a clinical registry to inform the center’s FDG-PET coverage determination decisions for currently non-covered cancer indications. Sponsored by the Academy of Molecular Imaging (AMI) and managed by the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the ACR Imaging Network (ACRIN), the NOPR is designed to collect questionnaire data from referring physicians on intended patient management before and after a FDG-PET scan

As an NOPR participating facility, The West Clinic collects from local referring physicians both a pre-PET questionnaire (documenting study indication, cancer type and anticipated stage, and planned management if PET were not available) and one of several post-PET questionnaires that assess the referring physician’s planned management in light of the FDG-PET findings.
Cancer types Medicare currently covers for reimbursement only through the NOPR include those of the ovary, uterus, prostate, pancreas, stomach, kidney and bladder. (For a complete list of NOPR covered cancer types and indications, go to www.cancerpetregistry.org.)

NOPR has formally asked CMS to reconsider the current National Coverage decision on FDG-PET and to end the data collection requirements for diagnosis, staging and restaging. Medicare will review the published data and determine the next steps related to reimbursement for PET scans now only covered through the NOPR.

FDG-PET, also called PET imaging or PET scan, is a test that images the function of cells to show differences between healthy tissue and diseased tissue. It uses a small amount of a radioactive chemical which is combined with sugar. This combination is called FDG, so the test is sometimes called an FDG-PET scan. It is used to evaluate various neurological and cardiac disorders, as well as for diagnosing, staging, and monitoring the treatment of many different cancers.

Mid-South Nursing Chapter Honored

MEMPHIS — The Mid-South Chapter of The American Association of Neuroscience Nurses (AANN) has been awarded outstanding chapter of the year. Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare associates, Kathy Bomar, is president, Connie McCarter and Iva Scroggins, with Le Bonheur, serve as educational liaison. Alisa Moore with Health South is secretary/treasurer.

BCBS and UnitedHealth Plan prevailing bidders for TennCare

NASHVILLE — The TennCare Bureau announced today that BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (BCBST) and UnitedHealth Plan of River Valley, Inc. (United) are the prevailing bidders in both the East and West grand regions of the state for TennCare’s managed care organization (MCO) contracts. TennCare placed the managed care contracts up for competitive bid in January 2008. The Middle region’s competitive bid process was completed last year.

Celebrate Better Hearing And Speech Month This May With The American Speech-language-hearing Association

DYERSBURG — Since 1927, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association celebrates Better Hearing and Speech Month each May.

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is the national professional, scientific and credentialing association for more than 114,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists and speech, language, and hearing scientists.

Jackson-Madison County General Hospital Earns Quality Respiratory Care National Recognition

JACKSON — Jackson-Madison County General Hospital has earned Quality Respiratory Care Recognition (QRCR) under a national program aimed at helping patients and families make informed decisions about the quality of the respiratory care services available in hospitals.

About 700 hospitals or approximately 15 percent of hospitals in the U.S. have applied for and received this award. “We also received this award in 2007,” said Respiratory Care Director Herb Owrey.

The QRCR program was started by the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) in 2003 to help consumers identify those facilities using qualified respiratory therapies to provide respiratory care. Hospitals earning the QRCR designation ensure patient safety by agreeing to adhere to a strict set of criteria governing their respiratory care services.

At General Hospital, there are approximately 76 licensed respiratory therapists. Nine of these therapists have earned specialized credentialing to better meet the hospital’s patient population needs. Three have earned Neonatal/Pediatric Respiratory Care Specialist credentialing. Three are Registered Pulmonary Function Technologists and another three are Certified Pulmonary Function Technologists. For many years, the department staff at General Hospital has been actively involved in leading the Golden Circle Chapter of the Tennessee Society for Respiratory Care and is the clinical teaching site for the Jackson State Community College Respiratory Care program.

PAD Procedure at Regional Hospital of Jackson

Regional Hospital of Jackson is pleased to announce it is the first hospital in the community and all of West Tennessee excluding one Memphis hospital to offer the orbital atherectomy procedure. The entire Cath lab, under the direction of Jorge Delgado, is excited about the life changing opportunities. Dr. Eli Korban, Interventional Cardiologist at Regional Hospital of Jackson, is one of two physicians to offer a new treatment option to people suffering from the debilitating effects of Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD). Dr. Korban has played a pivotal role in demonstrating the potential safety and effectiveness of this new technology and its ability to provide new hope for treating the disease.

Five UT Health Science Center Programs Rank on the U.S. News & World Report List of America’s Best Graduate Schools

MEMPHIS — Five graduate programs within three University of Tennessee Health Science Center colleges ranked in the top 100 in the U.S. News & World Report 2008 listing of America’s Best Graduate Schools.

The College of Pharmacy’s PharmD program ranked 16th in the nation, moving up a notch from last year’s list.

Two College of Nursing programs were listed: the Master of Science in Nursing ranked 32nd and the Master of Science in Nurse Anesthesia placed 52nd.

The College of Allied Health Sciences’ Physical Therapy program ranked 41st and its Occupational Therapy program placed 58th among national programs.

Geriatric Psychiatry Specialist Joins Lakeside

Lakeside Behavioral Health System is pleased to announce that Dr. Paul Hill, a leading specialist in geriatric psychiatry will be joining the medical staff.

Dr. Hill is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, College of Medicine and completed his residency in Psychiatry at John Hopkins Hospital. He is Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in both Geriatric Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine.

Dr. Hill is in private practice; serves on staff at Baptist Memorial Hospital, and serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor with the University of Tennessee Department of Psychiatry and Internal Medicine.

Dr. Robert Kirkpatrick to be Installed as TMA’s 154th President

NASHVILLE ---— Robert D. Kirkpatrick, MD, a family medicine/occupational medicine specialist from Memphis, was installed as the 154th president of the Tennessee Medical Association during the annual TMA House of Delegates meeting on Saturday, April 20, in Nashville. Dr. Kirkpatrick was elected by popular vote by the members of the organization.

Board certified in family and addictive medicine, Dr. Kirkpatrick is also a fellow of the AAFP and the AAOEM. Dr. Kirkpatrick is in solo practice, and serves as associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine and program director of the St. Francis Family Medicine Residency Program at the University of Tennessee, Memphis. He also serves as medical director with the State of Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Division in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Dr. Kirkpatrick graduated with honors with a BS in chemical engineering from Tennessee Technological University, and likewise graduated with honors with an MD from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis.

Drs. Arnold, Kimzey Elected to TMA Board of Trustees

NASHVILLE — Valerie K. Arnold, MD, and Gary W. Kimzey, MD, both of Memphis, have been elected to three-year terms on the Tennessee Medical Association (TMA) Board of Trustees. Drs. Arnold and Kimzey will be confirmed during the TMA’s 173rd annual meeting held in Nashville, April 18-20, 2008.

An immediate past-president of The Memphis Medical Society (MMS), Dr. Arnold has been a delegate from that Society to the TMA House of Delegates. Board certified in psychiatry and neurology, she currently serves as assistant professor of Psychiatry at the University of Tennessee Center for Health Science.

Dr. Kimzey, an anesthesiologist with Medical Anesthesia Group, PA, currently serves as an MMS delegate to the TMA House of Delegates. He serves on the TMA’s Legislative and Medical Liability Reform Steering committees.



May 2008

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