UAMS surgeon Rabii Madi, M.D., recently performed a radical nephrectomy and prostatectomy in a single surgical setting, removing both organs through the same 3 centimeter incision.

 

The surgery, enabled by the da Vinci Surgical System robot, is a first in Arkansas and is believed to be a first in the United States, said Madi, an oncologist with a focus on the kidney and prostate, and fellowship training in minimally invasive and robotic techniques. 

 

The procedure apparently is a first with only one surgeon involved. It was almost duplicated at the Vattikuti Urology Institute at Henry Ford Hospital in Michigan, which is world-renowned for its pioneering successes in robotic surgery. But in that case, two surgeons were involved, with one removing the prostate and another performing a partial nephrectomy (unlike Madi's radical nephrectomy), and both working through the same incision using the robot.

 

The patient, from Oklahoma, was referred to Madi after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. A follow-up CT revealed his 5 centimeter kidney cancer.

 

The patient, selected for the procedure due to his relatively young age – 46 – and overall good health, was under anesthesia for about six hours. The robotic time for the nephrectomy was 1 hour and 40 minutes, and the prostatectomy took 2 hours and 20 minutes. The estimated blood loss was minimal, less than 150 milliliters

 

Susan Roltsch, director of dialysis at St. Bernards, has been appointed to the Quality Improvement Committee and the Medical Review Board for Network 13.

 

Network 13 is one of 18 geographically arranged organizations established by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services to administer end stage renal care. It covers Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

 

The networks were set up to integrate hospitals and other health facilities to provide an effective mechanism for delivery of end state renal disease care. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, developing criteria and standards related to the quality and appropriateness of patient care and Network goals.

 

Roltsch is one of three nurses from the three-state area of Network 13 appointed to the committee.

 

A nurse practitioner, she holds a bachelor's degree in nursing from Arkansas State University and spent the first 14 years of her nursing career at St. Bernards before serving as director of perioperative services for Methodist University Hospital in Memphis and as administrative director of surgery at Methodist Hospital in Jonesboro.

 

As director of dialysis at St. Bernards, she is responsible for all inpatient and outpatient dialysis services at St. Bernards as well as dialysis services for CrossRidge Community Hospital at Wynne.

 

Thomas A. Bruce, MD, of Little Rock has dedicated his career to enriching the lives of others. In honor of his years of service, The Arkansas Medical Society recently named Dr. Wilson as of the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. The award was presented on Friday, April 24, 2009.

 

The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to a physician who has dedicated his life to promoting the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health; and who embodies the values of the medical profession through leadership, service, excellence, integrity and ethical behavior; and enriches patients, colleagues and the community through dedicated medical practice.

Dr. Bruce's faculty career started at Wayne State University, Detroit, where he helped develop an experimental medical curriculum and, as Assistant Dean, initiated planning for a new outpatient teaching facility. He later moved to the University of Oklahoma where for six years he was the head of Cardiology and engaged in clinical practice, teaching, and research. From 1985-1997 he served the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Mich., helping create new grant making initiatives and directing projects in health, international leadership, and rural development.

 

Dr. Bruce is a physician and educator who has served in several capacities as a faculty member and administrator within the University of Arkansas system. From 1974-1985 he was dean of the College of Medicine, with a commitment to improve access to health care in the most rural parts of Arkansas. In 2000-2002 he served as the Inaugural Dean for the College of Public Health, creating a partnership approach that linked the University with the Arkansas Department of Health and communities across the state to promote citizen-based health improvement. Beginning in January 2003, he joined efforts to open the University's new Clinton School of Public Service, first as Dean pro tem, then until July 2007 as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs to Deans David Pryor and Skip Rutherford. The Clinton School is one of the components of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock. Tom now continues as Emeritus Professor in each of the three schools: medicine, public health, and public service.

 

LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has expanded its stroke research efforts with a $100,000 federal grant that focuses on helping stroke survivors avoid future injuries due to falls by studying strength and balance.

 

Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the two-year pilot study is led by UAMS' Mark Mennemeier, Ph.D., an associate professor of neurobiology and developmental sciences.

 

Because alertness appears to play a role in strength and balance perception, Mennemeier will try to identify therapies that can improve alertness. The study will include up to 55 participants - people who have had a stroke affecting one side of the body and people who have not had a stroke but want to participate as a control subject. Potential study participants may call 501-526-7773 to learn more.

 

The pilot study examines how changes in alertness after stroke influence perception of strength and balance. Falls in the hospital and at home are related in part to misperception of strength and balance. Problems can persist months and years after stroke. The long-term goal of the study is to improve stroke rehabilitation and to prevent injury by treating problems of alertness.

 

UAMS' stroke research includes a new telemedicine program that provides life-saving stroke treatment from neurology specialists who can communicate with rural hospitals using real-time two-way video. UAMS also is leading a four-year NIH study that will help determine the best procedure for preventing strokes caused by blocked arteries in the neck: stents or surgical removal of the artery clogging plaque.

 

Mennemeier's research compliments these projects by focusing on rehabilitation and recovery. He is preparing for the start of another NIH-funded study later this year that uses an approved medication to treat problems with alertness after stroke.

 

Stroke affects 700,000 people annually in the United States. As many as half of these patients may have misperception of their arm and leg strength. Up to one third of all stroke patients may fall during or following stroke rehabilitation.

 

MOUNTAIN HOME, ARKANSAS... Baxter Regional Medical Center has recently reached the top fifth percentile ranking for patient satisfaction, in the

 

National Database after a 6-month long improvement project in the Emergency Department. They have also reached number one in Arkansas, number one in Region Seven, and number one in Missouri. Compirion Healthcare Solutions, a hospital process improvement firm from Elm Grove, Wisconsin helped them get there.

 

Baxter Regional Medical Center prides itself on providing big city, state-of-the-art healthcare with a hometown touch. However, before the improvement project, its patient satisfaction ranking of 59%, evidenced that it was struggling.

 

Compirion sent a team to work on site, side by side with hospital staff. The first few weeks were spent in observation of the processes and procedures in the department. Compirion provided mentoring, leadership, coaching, and problem-solving facilitation while encouraging teamwork. They identified problems and helped set up pilot initiatives for testing solutions.

 

LITTLE ROCK — BAPTIST HEALTH has hired Steven Webb to serve as the new administrator for BAPTIST HEALTH Medical Center-Stuttgart and he will begin work in late May. In this position, Webb will be responsible for the overall management and day-to-day operations of the Stuttgart campus, which joined BAPTIST HEALTH officially in January with a long-term lease agreement. Webb takes over for Troy Wells, a vice-president of clinical services, who had overseen hospital operations in the interim and is now moving to head Practice Plus and Arkansas Health Group.

 

Prior to joining BAPTIST HEALTH, Webb was chief executive officer of Good Shepherd Medical Center in Linden, Texas. Webb has a master's degree in health services administration from UALR and a bachelor's degree in business administration from East Texas Baptist University.

 

LITTLE ROCK — Two recently awarded contracts with the state Department of Human Services will expand the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care's services into the area of substance abuse prevention and ensure that its efforts to help improve the state's Medicaid-certified nursing homes will continue.

 

Under the terms of a federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration community grant administered by the DHS Division of Behavioral Services' Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, AFMC will create a centralized, comprehensive database of substance abuse-related statistical information that social services professionals can use to conduct research and develop programs for preventing drug and alcohol abuse.

 

AFMC will research and compile county-level data on substance abuse risk factors and consequences from a number of sources. The information will be housed on a Web site and will be available for download by substance abuse prevention specialists, researchers, policy makers and anyone else with an interest in substance abuse prevention. Each year, AFMC will compile the most updated information for release on a CD.

 

Analysts at AFMC will also study the data and make recommendations on how best to spend federal and state funds set aside for community substance abuse programs.

 

"This resource will benefit all Arkansans by making it easier for prevention specialists, researchers, policy makers and others in the substance abuse prevention arena to find and use the latest data in their field," said Dr. Nick J. Paslidis, president and chief executive officer of AFMC.

 

The Web site will be completed later this year and will be accessible from AFMC's main Web site, www.afmc.org. It will be available to the general public.

 

Another DHS program, the Arkansas Innovative Performance Project, will remain under AFMC's leadership for another year, with renewal possible for up to six additional years. AIPP helps Medicaid-certified nursing homes provide the best care possible for their residents. The program is an initiative of the Office of Long Term Care, part of the Division of Medical Services within DHS.

 

AFMC helped launch AIPP in 2005 and developed many of the strategies and recommended practices that are now part of the program. The contract was awarded to AFMC for the second time last month.

 

CONWAY-(April 25,2009)- Kimberly Fear, RN, a Certified Diabetes Education Coordinator at Conway Regional Medical Center, recently became the only certified OmniPod insulin pump educator in Conway Regional's service area which includes Faulkner, Conway, Cleburne, Van Buren and Perry counties. She is one of only a few educators in Arkansas to hold this certification.

 

Ms. Fear, a Conway resident, has taught diabetes education to patients and the community through Conway Regional's Diabetes Education Self-Management Program for the past three years. The program is certified by the American Diabetes Association which is the gold standard for diabetes education programs.

 

The OmniPod insulin pump offers some of the latest technology in diabetes treatment providing tubeless pump therapy. Patients can manage their blood sugar with a wireless device that calculates and personalizes each insulin dose. The device is connected to a pod which injects doses of insulin when it is needed.

 

The pod is designed for active people and can be worn even while swimming. Traditional insulin pumps connect monitors to injection pods using tubing which can become cumbersome during activities. The OmniPod is manufactured by Insulet Corporation based in Bedford, MA.

 

LITTLE ROCK — An answer to one of Arkansas' greatest health needs was unveiled today at Arkansas Children's Hospital (ACH) when representatives from ACH, Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Arkansas and Delta Dental of Arkansas cut an oversized thread of dental floss to present the first Ronald McDonald Care Mobile® in the state. Inside this 40-foot, 32,000-pound mobile clinic, a dental team of five will travel to pre-selected elementary schools in the area to treat children who desperately need dental care, at no cost to the child's family.

 

A United States Surgeon General report in 2000 showed dental cavities as the leading chronic disease in children - five times more common than asthma. A statewide examination of the biggest needs in pediatric health, the Natural Wonders report from 2007, www.archildrens.org/naturalwonders, showed that 61 percent of children in Arkansas have a filling or cavity and more than one-third of our state's youth have cavities that go untreated.

 

Even before the launch of this first Ronald McDonald Care Mobile, target schools were already identified and booked for the next two years. The 19 schools in central Arkansas that will be visited by this particular Ronald McDonald Care Mobile were selected based on the highest number of students on the free and reduced lunch program and the highest number of children whose families do not have access to dental care. School nurses will help identify children with the greatest, most urgent needs. Florence Mattison Elementary in Conway receives the first visit.

 

SPRINGDALE — Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe recently ceremonially opened a new acute care Behavioral Health Unit at Northwest Medical Center – Springdale that is the culmination of work by six regional partners.

 

The new program was the dream of the grassroots Northwest Arkansas Acute Care Mental Health Task Force and the result of a cooperative arrangement between Northwest Health System; Ozark Guidance; the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS); Care Foundation, Inc.; Washington Regional Medical Center; and Mercy Health System of Northwest Arkansas.

 

The staff of the newly renovated 10,000-square-foot unit will begin admitting patients on Tuesday, May 5. The remodeling cost about $2 million, and the addition of this new service has resulted in 36 new jobs at Northwest Medical Center – Springdale.

 

As part of the agreement, UAMS will be employing physicians who will provide care to patients.

 

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Children's Hospital (ACH) received three Gold awards and several other honors in one of the nation's most distinguished industry competitions, the 26th annual Healthcare Advertising Awards, sponsored by Healthcare Marketing Report.

 

Selected from more than 3,600 entries across multiple categories, ACH's recognized materials included advertisements, internal communications programs, printed publications and a multimedia health information presentation. The state's only pediatric medical center competed in the Specialty Hospital category.

 

ACH's gold awards included a nurse recruitment campaign in the Professional Recruitment Advertisement category, internal communications about campus wayfinding advances in the Employee Communication category, and a holiday promotional video, "Seasons of Hope," in the New Media category. "Seasons of Hope" can be viewed at www.archildrens.org/seasonsofhope.

 

The Healthcare Advertising Awards is a nationwide competition that draws on the expertise of an experienced panel of judges who review entries for creativity, effective messages, appeal and design elements, among other characteristics. The awards are the "oldest, largest and most widely respected healthcare advertising awards competition," according to Healthcare Marketing Repor

 

LITTLE ROCK — Working with residents in the Delta to improve health just got a little easier for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences' (UAMS) Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health.

 

The UAMS college was awarded about $500,000 a year for five years to develop community partnerships in the Delta to promote health and well-being. The funds are from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as part of its Prevention Research Centers Program.

 

It also provides for a pilot study under the leadership of Martha Phillips, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., an assistant professor in the UAMS Department of Psychiatry, to address lack of good nutrition and physical activity in school-aged children in the Delta, serving to develop future research.

 

The program studies how people and their communities can avoid or counter the risks for chronic illnesses, such as heart disease, asthma and diabetes. Authorized by Congress in 1984, the program allows researchers to work extensively with communities at every step during the research process.

 

UAMS is one of 35 academic health centers nationwide named a CDC Prevention Research Center.

 

Each chosen institution will conduct at least one core research project with an underserved community that has a disproportionate amount of disease or disability. In addition, the CDC Prevention Centers may apply for funding each year for as many as 35 different special interest projects (SIPs).

 

Each SIP is funded for at least one year with a minimum of $100,000, but many are multi-year projects that receive several million dollars, according to the CDC. The SIPs will be identified and bid on as soon as October.

 

All CDC Prevention Research Centers share a common goal of addressing behaviors and environmental factors that contribute to chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Several PRCs also address injury, infectious disease, mental health, oral health and global health. The focus of the PRCs is to engage communities in participatory research. To honor this focus along with the College of Public Health's commitment to community-based public health methods, community members from the Delta were chosen to help direct the effort.

 

Carol Cornell, Ph.D., will serve as deputy director for administration and Anna Huff was named deputy director for community.

 

t. The publication covers the healthcare marketing industry.

 

A new University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) program that provides life-saving emergency care for stroke patients now includes the White River Medical Center (WRMC) in Batesville. 

 

Called Arkansas SAVES (Stroke Assistance Through Virtual Emergency Support), the program uses a high-tech video communications system to help provide immediate, life-saving treatments to stroke victims 24 hours a day.

 

The SAVES program is made possible by partnerships between the UAMS Center for Distance Health, the state Health Department and Sparks Regional Health System in Fort Smith. The program was established with a one-year, $6.1 million Arkansas Department of Human Services Medicaid contract.

 

Six other Arkansas hospitals are participating in the SAVES program: Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home, Booneville Community Hospital, DeWitt Hospital, Johnson Regional Medical Center in Clarksville, McGehee-Desha County Hospital and Mena Regional Health System. 

 

Additional hospitals across Arkansas will be added in the coming months, said Curtis Lowery, M.D., director of the UAMS Center for Distance Health. 

 

Since the program began Nov. 1, 19 patients have been treated by specialists in the Arkansas SAVES program, and two have received the t-PA drug.

 

The Arkansas SAVES system relies on the state Health Department's hospital preparedness high-speed video network transmission lines that provide the live, video communication necessary to link an on-call neurologist with a local hospital physician who is caring for a stroke patient. The program has installed telemedicine equipment at the hospital emergency rooms staffed by the participating neurologists, and at their homes.