UAMS Programs Receive More Than $450,000 in Grants
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ (UAMS) Center for Dental Education, the planned internal medicine residency program in northwest Arkansas and the physician assistant program were among UAMS programs that received grants totaling more than $450,000 from the Blue & You Foundation and its parent company, Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
The Blue & You Foundation awarded more than $350,000 in grants to UAMS programs including $150,000 to the Center for Dental Education and $95,000 to the physician assistant program, both in the UAMS College of Health Professions. A $77,500 grant was presented to the UAMS Northwest regional campus and area hospitals creating an internal medicine residency program to expand the number of resident physicians being trained in that part of the state. A $29,722 grant was awarded to the Safety Baby Showers program at UAMS South in Magnolia that has provided infant safety training and safety equipment to new or expectant parents in south Arkansas.
The Center for Dental Education also received $100,000 in support from Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Together the $450,000 in grants and support from the two organizations will allow for continued development or expansion of education, patient care and outreach programs at UAMS.
The $95,000 grant to the physician assistant program will continue development for the program established in 2011, including raising awareness of the physician assistant profession among Arkansas physicians and preparing them to host students while they gain further clinical experience.
The first class of 26 physician assistant students started the 28-month master’s degree program in 2013. Physician Assistants are licensed medical providers who work with the supervision of a physician. They take patient medical histories, conduct physical exams, order diagnostic tests, diagnose medical conditions, write prescriptions and manage acute illness and chronic disease with the supervision of a physician.
The internal medicine residency program in northwest Arkansas, which hopes to admit its first group of eight physicians in July 2015, is continuing to move through the accreditation process. The three-year program will have a total of 24 residents, admitting eight each year, who will see patients at five hospital systems in the region — Mercy Rogers, Mercy Fort Smith, the Springdale-based Northwest Health System, the Sparks Health System in Fort Smith and the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks — as the physicians serve a post-medical school residency.
Funding to the residency program is for equipment and resources to coordinate the conferences and continuing education fees associated with providing CME credit to physicians who will be preceptors supervising the resident physicians at the hospitals.
The grant to the three-year-old Safety Baby Showers program, based at UAMS South in Magnolia, will cover program costs for a year of safety classes that have reached about 200 new or expectant parents a year in Ouachita and Columbia counties. Participants learn about motor vehicle injury prevention, safe sleep practices for infants, infant CPR and choke-safety, and home safety.
Healthcare Industry Solutions Developer SOAPware to Hold 2014 User Meeting in Orlando
SOAPware, Inc. is pleased to announce the SOAPware User Meeting, in Orlando, Florida. The meeting will be held at the beautiful Rosen Plaza Hotel the evening of June 19th through June 21st, 2014. Attendees will receive unprecedented access to the SOAPware staff, partners, and 3rd party integrators through presentations and breakout sessions covering topics such as ICD-10, Meaningful Use, and much more! This venue is a perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in the SOAPware experience, meet and collaborate with other users, and get one-on-one time with many of the SOAPware staff.
Training Workshop: Due to the overwhelming demand for training during the SUM in 2012, a special pre-conference training workshop has been designed for Thursday, June 19th, prior to the SUM event kickoff later that evening. There is a separate charge for this Training Workshop, and seating is limited, so sign up today.
Personal Training Sessions: Additionally, many of our users asked for personalized, One-on-One Training Sessions tailored to address their specific clinic workflows One-on-One Training Sessions will be offered on Friday and Saturday of the this year’s SUM! Classroom training sessions are sold in one-hour increments and reservations are required. Seating is limited, so sign up early to guarantee getting the most out of your SUM 2014 experience.
For more information, or to register for the event, visit: http://usergroup.soapware.com/
Baptist Health First to Partner With Dod to Provide Life-Saving eicu® Care Services to Fort Leonard Wood Hospital
Baptist Health is the first civilian healthcare provider to partner with the Department of Defense to provide remote high tech intensive care coverage for General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
Through this first ever civilian-military eICU pilot program, the Army hospital will provide its patients with an additional team of critical care specialists who will watch over their active duty military, family members and retiree patients 24/7. Baptist Health was awarded the five-year eICU care contract in August 2013 and services began at the 65 inpatient bed Missouri hospital in early January.
Each critical-care room with eICU technology is equipped with a camera, microphone, and speaker that enable staff in the control center to communicate with caregivers and the patient in real time. The two-way video and “cockpit-like sensors” of this advanced telemedicine technology enables the eICU care staff to detect even the slightest change in the patient’s condition and communicate more effectively with the bedside team. This model reduces the time between problem identification and enhances the quality of direct care intervention.
The hardware at General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital includes four mounted cameras in their intensive care unit rooms and two additional mobile carts for use in the emergency room and inpatient medical surgical ward. The system is projected to save the Army hospital $1.7 million the first year, plus an additional $2 million each following year, according to Wiley.
By simply pressing a button the physicians, nurses or support staff at General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital will be instantly joined by Baptist Health’s experienced critical care team to collaborate and treat their patients. The eICU care team includes certified physician intensivists and nurses who specialize in critical care and are highly trained to execute predefined plans; monitor lab, heart, blood pressure and oxygen saturations; or intervene in emergencies when a patient’s attending physician cannot be immediately present.
Staffed round-the-clock, every day of the year, the Baptist Health eICU care command center and its staff help hospitals like General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital provide state-of-the-art intensive care to its sickest patients. The addition of eICU care will allow the hospital to keep sicker patients who must previously had to be transferred for various intensive care, said Wiley.
Nationwide, hospitals using eICU technology with critical care specialists have seen reductions in complications, reductions in mortality, and better outcomes for patients.
With the addition of eICU care at General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital, Baptist Health now supports seven of its own hospitals, 10 community hospitals throughout Arkansas, and the first ever military base Army hospital located across our state borders.
Northwest Medical Center-Springdale Joins UAMS-Led Program to Provide Emergency Stroke Care
Northwest Medical Center-Springdale has partnered with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) to provide life-saving emergency care for stroke patients in the region.
Called AR SAVES (Arkansas Stroke Assistance through Virtual Emergency Support), the program uses a high-speed video communications system to help provide immediate, life-saving treatments to stroke patients 24 hours a day. The real-time video communication enables a stroke neurologist to evaluate whether emergency room physicians should use a powerful blood thinner within the critical 4.5-hour period following the first signs of stroke.
The AR SAVES program is a partnership between the UAMS Center for Distance Health, the state Department of Human Services, Sparks Regional Health System in Fort Smith, Northwest Medical Center-Springdale and 40 other Arkansas hospitals.
Arkansas, which ranks first in the nation in stroke death rates, had 1,560 stroke-related deaths in 2011, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The nationwide direct and indirect cost of medical and institutional care of permanently disabled stroke victims was $73.7 billion in 2010, according to the American Heart Association’s 2012 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics.
Stroke patients are at high risk of death or permanent disability, but certain patients can be helped with the blood-clot dissolving agent tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) if given within 4.5 hours of the stroke.
Since the program began Nov. 1, 2008, more than 2,038 patients have received stroke consults through AR SAVES and 518 patients have received t-PA.
Forty other Arkansas hospitals are participating in the AR SAVES program.
UAMS College of Pharmacy Dean Named President of National Council
UAMS College of Pharmacy Dean Stephanie Gardner, Pharm. D., Ed. D., has been elected to serve as president of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) for the 2014-2015 term.
Elections took place in February during the ACPE Board of Directors meeting in San Antonio, Texas.
Gardner became dean of the college in May 2003 and before her appointment as dean, she served for 13 years as a member of the college’s faculty. She recently served as a Fellow of the American Council on Education. The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy appointed her to the ACPE Board of Directors.
In 1989, Gardner earned her doctorate in pharmacy from the University of North Carolina. She held a research fellowship in cardiovascular pharmacology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland from 1989-1991. In 2001, Gardner earned a doctorate in education from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
The ACPE is an independent, national agency for the accreditation of professional degree programs in pharmacy and providers of continuing pharmacy education. The council also offers evaluation and certification of professional degree programs internationally.
Dr. Anthony Lamkin Joins St. Bernards Wound Care Center
Dr. Anthony Lamkin has joined the medical staff at St. Bernards Wound Healing Center on a full-time basis as medical director.
Originally from Jonesboro, he is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and is certified as a wound care specialist by the American Academy of Wound Management. Lamkin is one of 11 physicians in Arkansas who hold certification as wound care specialists. He is also board certified in Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine through the American Board of Preventive Medicine.
Lamkin earned his medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and completed a residency in family practice at the Area Health Education Center Northwest, where he served as chief resident.
He formerly worked in emergency medicine and wound care in Batesville and worked part-time at St. Bernards Wound Healing Center for the last two years.
St. Bernards Wound Healing Center takes a multidisciplinary approach to healing complex wounds. Individualized treatment programs are developed using wound care pathways proven successful at centers nationwide.
Arkansas Urology Announces Acquisition of Epoch Health Brand
Arkansas Urology, the state’s leading urology clinic, has acquired the Epoch Health brand, which created and launched the state’s first physician-run testosterone therapy clinic.
The Epoch Health brand pioneered the concept of a physician-run testosterone therapy clinic.
Arkansas Urology has also opened its first Epoch Health clinic. The clinic, located on E. McCain Blvd. in North Little Rock, provides comprehensive men’s healthcare. The site was formerly an Encore Health clinic.
Epoch Health created a physician-run clinic model designed to help men as young as 29 enjoy an enhanced quality of life through proper health screenings, treatments and lifestyle modifications, specifically focusing on symptoms of low testosterone.
The medical term for low testosterone, or “Low T,” is hypogonadism, a disease in which the body is unable to produce normal amounts of testosterone. Only within the past several years has the medical community acknowledged the prevalence and negative impact of Low T in men. Epoch Health focuses on each patient’s specific healthcare needs by conducting a thorough evaluation that precisely tests testosterone levels and a host of other potential symptom-causing conditions during initial and ongoing visits.
WRMC Medical Complex Satellite ER Construction to Begin
M&A Jones Construction submitted the successful bid for conversion of the WRMC Medical Complex Urgent Care Clinic into a Satellite Emergency Room. Work on the project has begun and is expected to be completed this spring. As reported earlier, the building was constructed to comply with healthcare code and only minor modifications are needed to prepare for installation of cardiac monitoring equipment and relocation of the CT scanner. The satellite emergency room will be licensed by the Arkansas Department of Health and provide 24/7 access to physician led medical care. Officials at the Arkansas Department of Health granted the verbal approval necessary for renovations to begin. Upon clarification of procedural questions final written approval will be granted.
