May/June - SSM Health Care

SSM St. Mary’s HealthC e n t e r, St. Louis,recently opened an ew center dedicatedto seniors.P E O P L EIn Ma y, the e m e rg e n cy department at SSM DePaul HealthC e n t e r, B r idgeton, and its me d ical dire c t o r, Kurt Kloss,M D , w e re featured in a na t io nal advertising campaign fo rt he T System, a computerized info r ma t ion ma na ge me ntsystem de s ig ned for hospital eme rge ncy de p a r t me nt s.Paul Conve r y, MD, executive vice pre s ide nt and chie fme d ical of f icer of SSM Health Care – St. Louis was electeda Fellow of the Ame r ican College of Phy s ic ia ns -A me r ican Society of Int e r nal Me d ic i ne (ACP-ASIM), thep rof e s s io nal society of int e r n i s t s. The distinc t ion re c o g-nizes Convery’s achie v e me nt in int e r nal me d ic i ne.Milton Sallis, MD, SSM St. Mary’s Health Center, St. Louis,was recognized by the ACP-ASIM for a poster pre s e nt a t io nhe ma de at the org a n i z a t ion’s annual me e t i ng .Andy Koseff, MD, a nd Eunice Halve rs o n, vice pre s ide nt ,q uality re s o u rce cent e r, pre s e nted “A Collabora t i v eA p p roach to Enhanc i ng Pa t ie nt Safety” at the AprilP re m ier me e t i ng held in San Die go. In add i t ion, Ha l v e r s o np re s e nted “MBNQA: Passport to Exc e l l e nce” at the Ne wMex ico and Wa s h i ngton State Quality Aw a rd confere nc e s.Bruce Eve rs, PT, SSM Rehab Home Care, St. Louis, waso ne of seven phy s ical the rapists ho no red by the MissouriP hy s ical The rapy As s o c ia t ion with an Outstand i ng Servic eAw a rd for his exc e l l e nt patie nt care servic e s.James Arc i p ows k i , p ra c t ice dire c t o r, S S MSt. Charles Clinic Medical Group, w a si nstalled as pre s ide nt of the Greater St.Louis Chapter of the He a l t h c a re Fina nc ia lMa na ge me nt As s o c ia t io n .OklahomaClinton Medbery, MD, an oncologist at St. AnthonyHospital, O k l a ho ma City, was listed in the April issue ofLadies’ Home Journal as being amo ng “the best doctors fo rw o men – coast to coast.” Medbery is na med as one of 43top breast specialists in the cent ral United States.Medbery pre v iously appeared on R e d b o o k ma g a z i ne’s listof “A me r ica’s Best Breast Cancer Doctors“ for 2001.St. Ant ho ny’s planning and marketing departmentreceived a Gold ADDY Aw a rd at the annual Ame r ic a nAd v e r t i s i ng Fede ra t ion District 10 ADDY Aw a rds Show fo r“Beats Per Minu t e,” a 60-second local television spot.WisconsinTroy Wa l ker was appointed director of fina nce for S t .C l a re Hospital and Health Services, B a ra b o o .Pediatric End-of-Life Pro g ra mBecoming National ModelT he Footprints pro g ram at SSM Card i na lG l e n non Children’s Hospital, St. Louis, is having a sig n i f ic a nt impact on pedia t r ic carep ro v iders na t io nw ide through pre s e nt a t io nsma de at venues such as the April pre c o n f e re nc eto the annual Society of Pe d ia t r ic Nu r s e sC o n f e re nc e. Mary Ann Collins, MSHA, whoheads the pro g ram, detailed how pedia t r ic end -of-life care in the Footprints pro g ram differsf rom standa rd ho s p ice pro g ra ms.Un l i ke ho s p ice care, in the Footprint smo del, children may cont i nue re c e i v i ng aggre s-sive tre a t me nt, receive palliative or “c o m fo r t ”c a re, or receive a combina t ion of both.A second key factor is that instead of confi n i ng a child to a hospital bed, the Footprint sp ro g ram enc o u ra ges the family to take thechild ho me when possible, to celebrate thechild’s life and to create me mo r ies by allowingt he child to participate in fa m i l iar activitie sl i ke walking through a park, taking a ride int he car or ge t t i ng ice cre a m .“ W hen pare nts hear the word ‘ho s p ic e,’ its o me how takes away their last vestiges ofho p e,” Collins says. “In the Footprints program, we try not to take away ho p e. Ins t e a d,we take away bounda r ie s. ”M i s s o u r iCenter Improves Seniors’ Access to CareAn increased commitment to olderpatients by SSM St. Mary’s Health Center,St. Louis, has resulted in a new SeniorC a re Coordination Center.“Our motivation is to demonstra t edignity and respect for seniors so theyfeel comfortable here at the health cente r,” says Nancy Dorr, senior servicesd i re c t o r. “Statistics show that by 2030,m o re than 20 percent of the U.S. populationwill be over the age of 65. In fa c t ,s e n i o rs are the fastest growing segmentCase Management Bre a k fast SeminarIn Ma rch, nearly 50 people attended SSMRehab’s Case Ma na ge me nt Bre a k fa s tS e m i nar held at the May Center at SSMD e Paul Health Cent e r, Bridgeton. AbnaO g l e, MD, me d ical director of spinal cordinjury pro g ra ms for SSM Rehab, talked toFashion Show FundraiserThe SSM Rehab Foundation raised morethan $24,000 at its April fashion show,an event attended by more than 220g u e s t s. Celebrity models included HeidiGlaus from KSDK- T V ’s “Show-Me St.Louis” pro g ram; Lauren Pro n g e r, wife ofSt. Louis Blues player Chris Pronger; andWendy Pleau, wife of Larry Pleau, theBlues’ general manager. A highlight ofthe show was Kamisha Hodge, an SSMRehab patient who wa l ked down the runwaywith her husband and son. Hodge,who has multiple sclero s i s, is working toregain her strength and walk again.P roceeds from the show benefit programs and services essential to there c overy of SSM Rehab patients.of the population and are most of t e nusing medical care. ”S e n i o rs entering the Senior CareC o o rdination Center for the first timeu n d e rgo a thorough examination. Staffm e m b e rs then coordinate both inpatientand outpatient services for seniorsand other patients with special needs.The services include scheduling tests,putting patients on fast track re g i s t rationand planning for transportation toand from the health center. Registra t i o nt he group about func t io nal ne u ro mu s c u-lar stimu l a t ion in spinal cord injuryre h a b. The quarterly seminars pro v ide anopportunity for potent ial re f e r rers tolearn mo re about SSM Rehab, its phy s i-c ia ns and staff.I m p roved Collection Process Bolsters Bottom LineSSM Card i nal Glennon Childre n ’ sHospital, St. Louis, is impro v i ng its bottomline by impro v i ng its collectio np ro c e s s. The effort is part of a ne t w o r k-w ide initiative of the cent ralized billingof f ic e, spearhe a ded at Card i nal Glenno nby the “Gross to Net” Team. The teamc o nsists of a dozen ma na gers and Jo h nD u b i s, executive vice pre s ide nt .Two major efforts are under way. Thefirst focuses on impro v i ng processes sop a t ie nts’ cond i t io ns and the servic e sFood Drive Doubles Collection GoalWith a goal of collecting 600 pounds offood du r i ng a re c e nt weeklong dr i v e,SSM Rehab employees raised ne a r l y1,200 pounds to benefit the St. LouisA rea Food Bank. The food drive is anSSM Rehab re c e ntly was na med the onlyl y m p he de ma center in St. Louis sponso red by the Na t io nal Lymphe de maNetwork. Network sponsorship re q u i re sthat all phy s ical the rapists have at least135 hours of course work, tre a t me nt isc o ns i s t e nt with the standa rd of care,Kamisha HodgeSSM Rehab Named Lymphedema Centerp ro v ided are described as accura t e l y,ho nestly and completely as possible.Ac h ie v i ng this goal will ens u re pro p e rre i m b u r s e me nt from Me d ic a id and privateins u ra nce companie s.T he second effort involves de v e l o p-i ng a me a ns of verifying that payme nt sa re correct and complete. Impro v i ng thisfacet of the collection process is ex p e c t-ed to result in mo re easily ide nt i f y i ngu ncollected charge s.a n nual event spons o red by the SSMRehab Mission Aw a re ness Team. Sinc e1999, employees have collected 2,364p o u nds of food that pro v ided 788meals and fed 197 fa m i l ies of fo u r.a nd PT/OT services are pro v ide d, as wellas other assistance such as garme nt fitti ng and support gro u p s.SSM Rehab is listed on the Na t io na lL y m p he de ma Network’s Web site atw w w. l y m p h ne t . o rg .is housed in a different area than regularre g i s t ration in order to prov i d es e nior guests with a private setting,and a patient transportation pro g ra mp rovides the services of two wheelchairaccessiblevans and a sedan.For patients coming to SSM St. Mary’sHealth Center from a nursing home, along-term care manager is available tos e r ve as a liaison between the two fa c i l-ities and keep the nursing home updatedon patients’ pro g re s s.SSM Rehab EmployeesSelect EquipmentAdm i n i s t rators at SSM Rehab, St. Louis,p ro v ided staff members with a voice inde c i s ion ma k i ng by giving them re s p o n-sibility for re s e a rc h i ng and selectinga n nual new equipme nt purc h a s e sa mo u nt i ng to $75,000.T he eig ht - member committee consistedof phy s ical the ra p i s t s, nurses ando c c u p a t io nal the rapists from SSMRehab’s various inpatie nt and outpatie nt fa c i l i t ie s. Wo r k i ng from a list ofcapital ex p e nd i t u re re q u e s t s, committeemembers re s e a rc hed equipme nt, contactedvendors and followed guide l i ne sin which they described how the equipment directly benefitted patie nt carea nd improved effic ie ncy and outcome s.“ Ma ny members of adm i n i s t ra t io ns a id the committee did a better job thant hey would have in de t e r m i n i ng ho wcapital dollars were spent,” says Je n n i f e rNelson, a re p re s e ntative of SSM Rehab.“ W hen caregivers ma ke de c i s io ns basedon firsthand observatio ns of patie ntne e d s, the patie nts truly bene f i t . ”Robin Stro s s, an occupatio nal the rapistat SSM Rehab in Lake Saint Louis,says the ex p e r ie nce gave her job satisfac t ion as well as a chance to do the bestfor her patie nt s. “Being given thisre s p o nsibility showed adm i n i s t ra t o r svalue our expertise and our kno w l e dge ofwhat our patie nts’ needs are,” she says.S he add s, “Because we were looking at outcome s, we weren’t just pic k-i ng some t h i ng because it would benefitoccupatio nal or phy s ical the ra p i s t s.We looked at the whole pic t u re,i nc l ud i ng nu r s i ng . ”T he committee purchased an isokinet ic exe rcise ma c h i ne, a balanc ema s t e r, a We ig ht Well weig ht tra i n i ngma c h i ne and a car that helps stro kev ic t i ms and others learn to get in andout of a vehicle from a whe e l c h a i r. Thei t e ms were purchased for SSM Rehab’sof f ices in St. Charles, Lake Saint Louisa nd Wa r re nt o n .E vent Focuses on SeniorsSt. Marys Health Center Senior Conne c-t ion, Jefferson City, spons o red Senio rFocus ’02 in April. The annual event featu res info r ma t io nal and educ a t io na ls e m i na r s, health scre e n i ng s, lunch anda re s o u rce area. Approx i mately 300 senioradults and 30 exhibitors from thea rea partic i p a t e d.M a y / J u n e 2 0 0 2 N E T W O R K • A b i m o n t h l y p u b l i c a t i o n f o r e m p l o y e e s , p h y s i c i a n s a n d f r i e n d s11