medical staff
U p dat e Issue 1, 2013
St. Elizabeth Health Center • St. Elizabeth Boardman Health Center
Doctors Invited to Health Literacy Program
Health Literacy: What it Is, Why it Matters and How You Can Help is a special program for HMHP physicians, senior leaders and board members to raise awareness of the importance of understandable health information. It is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 30 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Social Hall in Youngstown. Dinner is included. Speaker Helen Osborne, nationally recognized expert in health literacy, will make a one-hour presentation to help physicians and organizational leaders learn more about the complex issue of how health literacy has a direct impact on health outcomes and cost. Helen is the founder and president of Health Literacy Consulting in Natick, Mass. Her book, Health Literacy from A to Z: Practical Ways to Communicate Your Health Message, is considered by many as the most important health literacy reference today. A common definition of health literacy is: A shared responsibility between patients (or anyone on the receiving end of health communication, including the lay public)
and providers (or anyone on the giving end, including agencies that provide health information). Each must communicate in ways the other can understand. Studies consistently show that a significant number of people have problems reading, understanding and acting on health information. Reasons include 1) health information is complex and health providers sometimes are not skilled communicators; 2) patients bring a wide range of learning needs to the health care experience; c) basic literacy skills, language, age, disability, cultural context and emotional responses can all affect the way people receive and process information. The program is free. Brochures and more information are available from Ellen Ford, manager of community health education, at 330-480-5620. This program is presented through the generous support of the HMHP Foundation. This activity is planned in accordance with the Essentials and Standards of ACCME.
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Radiology Department Blesses New Equipment, Suite
Dr. Albert J. Cook II (back) gathers with members of the St. Elizabeth radiology staff to celebrate the blessing the new angiography suite. From left are Natalie LaCivita, Karen Olenick, Melissa Capple, Angela Toth, Rachel Conner, Maggie Rivera, Alaina Bogan and Josephine Dyer.
Members of the St. Elizabeth radiology department gathered recently to bless the new Artis zeeŽ biplane system, an innovative imaging system that provides physicians detailed three-dimensional views of small blood vessels and soft tissue during angiography and neuroradiology procedures. The new imaging system could help lead to more accurate and efficient diagnosis, providing patients faster diagnostic and treatment procedures – including those being treated for strokes and aneurysms. The system is specially designed to provide patients with the lowest possible radiation dose while maintaining high quality images. Minimizing radiation dose is especially beneficial during interventional procedures because they are often lengthy in duration.
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PARTNERS: Physician Welcome Profile Marie Awad-Alexander General Surgery HMHP Physician Associates welcomes Marie Awad-Alexander, MD to Southbridge General Surgery in Boardman. Dr. Awad-Alexander specializes in minimally invasive surgical procedures and endoscopy such as colonoscopies and upper endoscopies. She treats a wide variety of conditions including GERD, peptic ulcers, colitis, Crohn’s disease, and breast and colon cancer. She also performs minimally invasive surgeries such as hernia repair and removal of the gallbladder, spleen and adrenal glands. Her clinical interests include the surgical treatment of breast cancer and colon cancer. Dr. Awad-Alexander completed medical school at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) in Rootstown and residency at UPMC Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh. She is currently accepting new patients. For information, contact: Southbridge General Surgery 755 Boardman-Canfield Rd., #A-1 Boardman, Ohio 44512 Phone: 330-726-8881
Harriet Lemberger-Schor, MD Family Medicine HMHP Physician Associates is proud to announce that Harriet Lemberger-Schor, MD, an established family medicine specialist, has joined the Church Hill Family Health Center practice. Dr. Lemberger-Schor graduated from Indiana University School of Medicine, in Indianapolis, IN and completed her residency training at Western Reserve Care System in Youngstown. Her clinical interests include preventative medicine, sleep medicine, and the impact of nutrition and stress management on wellness and disease management. Dr. Lemberger-Schor and her husband, Neil, have two children, Alyssa (19) and Meryl (15). In her spare time, she enjoys gardening and reading. Dr. Lemberger-Schor is accepting new patients. For referral information, contact: Church Hill Family Health Center 4694 Belmont Avenue Liberty, OH Phone: 330-480-7655
Angela Matthews, DO Family Medicine HMHP Physician Associates is proud to welcome Dr. Angela Matthews to the Church Hill Family Health Center practice in Liberty. Dr. Matthews is originally from Massillon, OH. She received her medical degree from the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Athens, OH, and completed her residency training at St. Joe’s – where she served as Chief Resident in Family Medicine. Dr. Matthews’ clinical interests include office procedures, medical education, and community education. In addition to her practice, Dr. Matthews serves as the Physician Medical Advisor for the Greater Bethel Apostolic Church Health Professionals Auxiliary, and is an Associate Professor for Ohio University. For information, contact: Church Hill Family Health Center 4694 Belmont Avenue Liberty, OH Phone: 330-480-7655
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Our Hospital Quality Measures
Church Hill Family Health Center Hosts Blessing/Dedication Church Hill Family Health Center, HMHP Physician Associates first family practice in Liberty, celebrated its blessing and dedication last month. Many employees, physicians, local business owners and community leaders joined the celebration and toured the new practice located at 4694 Belmont Avenue in the Church Hill Commons Plaza. The practice, staffed by Drs. Harriet Lemberger-Schor, Angela Matthews and Crispin Barlatt offers comprehensive family care. The practice is currently accepting new patients – call them for more information at 330-480-7655.
Nick Kreatsoulas, DO Chief Medical Officer, HMHP In 2013, HMHP operational performance measures are focusing on quality and patient care. The items below are now being monitored by CMS. Please be aware of these focus areas. Thank You. Patient Experience (Your patients, and CMS, are measuring you on this one) top quartile in 6 of 12 areas in HMHP. • Inpatients target at least 18% of value based purchasing HCAHPS points – target top quartile • Emergency Department target – top quartile • Ambulatory Surgery target – top quartile • Home Care target – top quartile Preventable Harm (target is zero) • Stage 3&4 pressure ulcers • Falls with trauma • Central venous catheter related blood stream infections (CLABSI) • Catheter related urinary tract infections (CAUTI) Inpatient All-Cause Readmissions • 30-day hospital-wide all cause unplanned readmission rate • Excludes rehab, OB, psychiatry • Target observed to expected ratio 0.95 (12.6% readmit rate) • Our greatest opportunity is in preventing readmissions of patients diagnosed with CHF, COPD, Pneumonia, and MI.
Physicians and staff of Church Hill Family Health Center gather for a group photo during the blessing and dedication. From left, Dr. Crispin Barlatt, Dr. Harriet Lemberger-Schor, Amy Roskos. LeChelle Irizarry, Tynetta Code, Dr. Angela Matthews, (back row, from left) Noel Stickle, Mary Frances Sohayda, Kara Hitchcock, and Adrienne Winlock.
Get Your Patients Back in the Swing Orthopedics by Design returns your patients to their everyday, active life as quickly as possible. The program helps relieve the stress associated with knee or hip replacement surgery by educating patients on what they will experience before, during and after surgery. Orthopedics by Design is available at St. Elizabeth, St. Joseph and St. Elizabeth Boardman. For more information, contact Lynn Gardner at 330-841-4891.
Emergency Department Length of Stay for Admitted Patients • Target less than 300 minutes Working together, we’ll hit these targets and go beyond in providing quality care to our patients.
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St. Elizabeth Earns ‘Get With the Guidelines’ Gold
Radiology Department Blesses New Equipment, Suite Continued from page 1
St. Elizabeth Health Center has received the Get With the Guidelines® – Heart Failure Gold Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association. This award recognizes St. Elizabeth for achieving an exceptional goal of treating heart failure patients according to the guidelines of care recommended by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology. The recognition marks the second year in a row that St. Elizabeth Health Center has been recognized with a Get With the Guidelines® gold quality achievement award. Get With the Guidelines® – Heart Failure helps the staff of St. Elizabeth to develop and implement acute and secondary prevention guidelines to improve patient care and outcomes. The program provides hospitals with a web-based patient management tool, best practice discharge protocols and standing orders, along with a robust registry and real-time benchmarking capabilities to track performance. The quick and efficient use of guideline procedures can improve the quality of care for heart failure patients, save lives and ultimately, reduce healthcare costs by lowering the recurrence of heart attacks. “St.Elizabeth Health Center is dedicated to making our care for heart failure patients among the best in the country. The American Heart Association’s Get With the Guidelines® – Heart Failure program helps us to accomplish this goal,” observes Mariann Pacak, director of heart and vascular services at St. Elizabeth Health Center. “This recognition demonstrates that we are on the right track and we’re very proud of our team.” “Recent studies show that patients treated in hospitals participating in the American Heart Association’s Get With the Guidelines® – Heart Failure program receive a higher quality of care and may experience better outcomes,” says Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., chairman of the Get
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With the Guidelines national steering committee and director of the TeleStroke and Acute Stroke Services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “St. Elizabeth Health Center’s team is to be commended for its commitment to improving the care of patients.” Following the Get With the Guidelines® – Heart Failure guidelines, heart failure patients are started on aggressive risk-reduction therapies if needed, including cholesterol-lowering drugs, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, aspirin, diuretics and anticoagulants while in the hospital. Before discharge, they also receive education on managing their heart failure and overall health, including lifestyle modifications and follow-up care. Hospitals must adhere to these measures at a set level for a designated period to be eligible for the achievement awards. According to the American Heart Association, about 5.7 million people suffer from heart failure. Statistics also show that, each year, 670,000 new cases are diagnosed and more than 277,000 people die. Even so, many heart failure patients lead full, enjoyable lives. Heart failure can often be managed with medication, medical devices and healthy lifestyles.
About Get With the Guidelines Get With the Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that empowers health care teams to save lives and reduce health care costs by helping hospitals follow evidence-based guidelines and recommendations. For more information, visit heart.org/quality.
The Artis zee® biplane imaging system features advanced software technology that creates detailed images of soft tissue to help detect intracranial hemorrhages, visualize brain tissue, and support quick and accurate therapeutic decision-making. "What is really important from a radiologist’s standpoint is that we can do the procedure in about half the time,” said Interventional Radiologist Albert J. Cook II during his remarks at the blessing. “We can see everything at once, and this makes the procedure better and faster for the patient and makes a big difference in what we do every day.” The room renovation and equipment purchase project represents a $2 million investment to provide the best care to the people in the Mahoning Valley.
Blue Distinction for St. Elizabeth Boardman St. Elizabeth Boardman Health Center has earned the designation as a Blue Distinction Center for knees and hips with Anthem BCBS. This designation signifies that St. Elizabeth Boardman met nationally established quality care and outcome criteria developed with input from the medical community and also met cost measures that address consumers' need for affordable healthcare. St. Elizabeth Boardman joins St. Joseph and St. Elizabeth health center in this status as designated facilities.* *St. Elizabeth is designated for knees, hips and spine. St. Joseph is designated for knees and hips.