May/June 2023 Arkansas Medical News

Hospitals' Websites Thirdparty Trackers Exposing Patients to Fraud and Hospitals to HIPAA Sanctions

Nearly all hospitals have them

Most people who use the internet are accustomed to getting unsolicited advertisements after shopping for a certain product.

Article on page 4

Scientists

Use

AI

to Find Promising New Antibiotic to Fight Evasive Hospital Superbug

Scientists at McMaster University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have used artificial intelligence to discover a new antibiotic which could be used to fight a deadly, drugresistant pathogen that strikes vulnerable hospital patients.

Article on page 5

Please find more local Arkansas healthcare news beginning on page 7.

ONLINE: ARKANSAS MEDICALNEWS.COM

Filling the Gap

By MELANIE KILGORE-HILL

In Arkansas, more than 700 physician assistants practice in every specialty and setting, filling the growing gap between physician supply and patient demand. “We appreciate PAs, and we like the concept,” said David Wroten, executive vice president of the Arkansas Medical Society. “They’re well trained as midlevel practitioners, and their ability to act as an extension of the physician can greatly impact the physicians’ ability to take care of a large number of patients.”

A Growing Need

Arkansas’s two Physician Assistant programs - University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Harding University - graduate approximately 80 PAs each year. Established in 1967, the profession currently has more than 168,300 practitioners in the US, engaging in more than 500 million patient encounters each year. In order to practice, a PA must have a

Board approved supervising physician and delegation agreement in place prior to implementing treatment. A PA is not

May/June 2023 >> $5

December 2009 >> $5

Arkansas’ Physician Assistants an integral part of the care team

able to be issued a license without both an approved supervising physician and delegation agreement in place.

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Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Could Improve Screening Accuracy AI has many applications in research and cancer imaging

B y BECK y GILLETTE

Artificial intelligence has been in the news a great deal recently with Congressional hearings where some speakers advocated that Congress establish licensing and guidelines to mitigate the risk of harm that some see possible with the rapid development in AI. Licenses could be revoked if AI is used improperly.

But machine learning (ML), a subfield of AI that uses algorithms to produce models that can perform a variety of complex tasks, has broad promise in medicine as a tool aimed at providing more accurate cancer screening information. That gives the potential to save time, improve treatments and potentially help reduce costs and patient stress, said Fred Prior, PhD, an AI expert who is head of the Department

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IMPROVING ACCESS TO TREATMENT IMPROVING ACCESS TO TREATMENT

for oPIoID USE DISorDEr

In collaboration with the Arkansas Department of Human Services, the UAMS Center for Addiction Services and Treatment (CAST) is providing funds to facilities across Arkansas offering medication-assisted treatment to patients with opioid use disorder. The money will allow medical providers to offer treatment to patients without insurance or the ability to pay for services.

Medication-assisted treatment involves the use of medication to relieve cravings and withdrawal symptoms along with counseling and support to overcome the

use of opioids. This includes methadone, which can only be dispensed through an opiate treatment program, products containing buprenorphine that require a federal waiver for prescribers and injectable naltrexone, which does not require special qualifications for prescribing.

The funds will cover expenses including the cost of medication, hiring peer support specialists, providing treatment services and even travel costs for patients using medication-assisted treatment.

To learn more about these funds and how to receive them: call (501) 526-8459 or (833) 872-7404 or e-mail Anner Douglas at ADouglas2@uams.edu.

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine,

of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

“There are many aspects to this,” Prior said. “Just as we are seeing with automobiles or home appliances, machines used in medicine are getting smarter. The tools physicians use, whether CT scanners or patient monitors, are going to have AI algorithms built into them that will improve workflow and reduce errors. It will be easier to filter out things that don’t need the physicians’ attention. Now there are a lot of false alarms and alerts that tend to make people turn off those functions rather than use them to filter and get the information they need.”

Prior said researchers are finding ML tremendously useful to explore new research questions that previously couldn’t be tackled.

“Algorithms are given huge amounts of data that allow them to learn from experience which provides the ability to do a very good job of understanding the problem,” Prior said. “We are doing a lot of work in the AI area trying to better understand what the algorithms can teach us about cancer.”

Deep learning algorithms use multiple layers to progressively extract higher-level information from raw data, and have potential for helping learn new things about cancer.

Generative modeling for cancer detection is a relatively new idea. Prior said algorithms can be built to learn the characteristics of a mammogram and then those models are used to create new images of people who don’t exist. Prior said a generated image or synthetic data can be used for testing without exposing the real person to more scans.

“One of the problems with trying to diagnose breast cancer is the features you are looking at are relatively small,” Prior said. “If radiographic density is high, it can be harder to detect. UAMS is currently working with researchers all over Europe with an AI in cancer imaging project funded by the European Union to develop synthetic data that can

continued from page 1

be used to train machine learning algorithms by augmenting training data with hard-to-find cases. UAMS is the only institution in the U.S. involved in this study. It is a way of expanding our training information through algorithms. It turns out to be extremely useful to train algorithms that can generalize and deal with the high variability within patient populations.”

Prior said they need millions of cases in order to represent the variance in the human population. That is only possible with AI.

AI also has great potential for lung cancer screening. A National Cancer Institute trial has established the best type of CT for lung cancer. But in that trial, the number of false positives was very high. The trend is to err on the side of false positives in order to protect patients. But it is highly stressful for patients to be told they have cancer when they don’t.

“What we are doing is building a machine learning algorithm to drastically reduce false positive rates,” Prior said. “We want to reach that balance where we have a machine with the potential to provide fewer false positive and false negative rates than a radiologist. I’m not trying to replace radiologists. But if I can take out 80 percent of the easy cases and get them right, then the radiologist’s workload is greatly reduced making screening more accessible and economically viable.”

Prior said if they can improve screening with ML that is as good or better than a radiologist, it makes it more economically viable to have widespread screening.

“We have published algorithms that show we can do as well as radiologists to reduce false positives but not necessarily false negatives,” he said. “That is the harder one. That is what we are working on now. It is very significant to improve screening and reduce false positives where patients have a few horrible weeks thinking they have cancer when they don’t. But we don’t want to miss anything.”

Prior said liquid biopsies that test blood instead of tissue for cancer are a brilliant idea.

“It minimizes the stress on patients because you can do a blood sample instead of a tissue sample,” he said. “Combining a blood draw with imaging could be very helpful but the research process is just getting started.”

Prior serves as principal investigator and director of the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Imaging Archive project and is the lead PI of an NCI ITCR team exploring the integration of radiomics and pathomics.

For more information, see the UAMS Creativity Hub for Artificial Intelligence in Health (CHAI) https://medicine.uams. edu/research/hubs/artificialintelligence-for-health/ which has a mission of “ensuring that diverse voices define the future of how AI and ML are changing our world. Some argue that we are entering an age of better, more targeted healthcare. Others warn we may inadvertently reinforce existing health disparities. Undoubtedly, algorithms have great potential to identify patterns in complex data and revolutionize medicine. Let’s have all voices at the table.”

Artificial Intelligence Characters Common in Films

By LIZ KIMBERLIN

From an arts and media perspective, the concept of an artificial intelligence doctor is far from new. One of "Star Trek: Voyager's" most popular and entertaining characters was "the Doctor," played by Robert Picardo, an emergency medical holographic AI projection who had to serve as the ship's head of sick bay for seven years when the ship is flung into far deep space and stranded. Like the character of the android Data on "Star Trek: Next Generation" prior to Voyager, the Doctor's storyline was around his developing consciousness and humanity beyond his sentient AI programming whether he liked it or not. Star Trek AI character Data, on the other hand, embraced it and sought it out.

Netflix's "Black Mirror" also featured AI. In the HBO show "Westworld" set in an alternate/futuristic society, AI characters are forced to act out the fantasies and whims of humans at an elite theme park. The AIs begin to question their existence and wage a rebellion for freedom and equality.

The tools physicians use, whether CT scanners or patient monitors, are going to have AI algorithms built into them that will improve workflow and reduce errors.

— Fred Prior, PhD, Department Head, Biomedical Informatics, UAMS

Filling the Gap, continued from page 1 Finding Their Place

Ada Sochanska, PA-C, president of the Arkansas Academy of Physician Assistants, said the role of a PA still remains “more unfamiliar than new” in some areas. “While physicians and nurses know what PAs do, it’s not uncommon to encounter barriers in hospitals, typically related to credentialing or confusion as to who we report to,” Sochanska said, adding that many hospitals have never hired a PA before. ARAPA works with the state’s PAs to help them navigate the system and encourages questions and partnerships from Arkansas’s greater medical community.

Delivering Team Care

While a minority of mid-level providers have sparked a push for independence, Wroten said the majority of PAs he speaks with prefer being part of a team.

“The AMS has been very supportive of PAs, including helping them pass licensing legislation,” he said. “Most are not interested in being independent, because they’re trained as assistants and respect the extensive training physicians have received. They recognize that medicine needs to be delivered via team care with a physician as head.” Wroten said ongoing evolution of the role of nurse practitioners, recently granted more

independence in Arkansas, helped demonstrate the reality of provider shortages in rural areas - a common argument used in favor of mid-level provider autonomy. “Originally, there was an idea that if you give nurse practitioners full independence, they’d flood rural areas and solve the access problem,” Wroten said. “States that have done that have found that nurse practitioners still want to practice in the same areas with physicians, because mid-level practitioners by nature of their training want a support group, and the majority want to work in a physician’s clinic rather than independently.”

Act 303

Increased patient demand also is triggering notable changes to the future of PAs in Arkansas. In March, State Bill 112 (now Act 303) was introduced to authorize physician assistants be identified as a treating provider for insurance billing and claims and, if authorized by the supervising physician, allowed to file claims as the billing provider for medical services delivered by the physician assistant. Despite the victory for PAs, Wroten cautioned that Act 303 also carries implications that could negatively affect reimbursement. “Most insurance carriers pay 100 percent of reimbursement when services are billed under a physician, and often up to 20 percent

less for a mid-level provider,” he said, citing the value of physician supervision as a key factor for payers. “If the PA is listed as both billing and treating provider, the doctor’s office could lose that amount.” Wroten also added that the physician is still fully responsible for care provided by mid-level providers, regardless of whose signature is on the form.

Better Care for Arkansans

Sochanska, who specializes in infectious diseases and was recently named director of Patient Safety at Baptist Health, said all efforts being taken at state level are designed to improve healthcare for Arkansans. “At the end

of the day, we want to do what’s best for the people here at home,” she said. To that end, she and other leaders at ARAPA are working with the state’s healthcare community to educate and collaborate with other PAs. In March, the group hosted its first in-person conference since 2019. The event was well attended and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Lecture topics ranged from Polypharmacy, HIV and pain management to lifestyle medicine, pre- and post-phylaxis and breast disease. “We look forward to continuing these events and watching the bonds and networks grow stronger in the community,” she said.

Hospitals' Websites Third-party Trackers Exposing Patients to Fraud and Hospitals to HIPAA Sanctions

Nearly all hospitals have them

B y BECK y GILLETTE

Most people who use the internet are accustomed to getting unsolicited advertisements after shopping for a certain product. But what about being a patient diagnosed with a serious medical condition who starts receiving unsolicited online advertisements for “cures” for their condition?

First, it is a violation of privacy for highly sensitive personal health information to be disclosed to an advertiser. Second, some patients may make the mistake of believing “snake oil” salesmen instead of their healthcare providers about the best treatments.

Shockingly, the potential for breaches of private health information through hospital websites is very common. According to a recent study by the University of Pennsylvania published in Health Affairs, 99 percent of U.S. hospitals have third-party tracking on their hospital websites.

By allowing third-party tracking of confidential patient data on websites, hospitals are violating Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations exposing patients to targeting by advertisements for fraudulent health cures while opening hospitals to liabilities that could include sanctions and the loss of Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, said Marcus Schabacker, MD, PhD, president and CEO of the non-profit ECRI.

Schabacker said it is understandable there is third-party tracking on hospitals websites since that information can be used to determine what parts of the website are getting good traffic and provide information for improving websites. But he said third-party tracking allowing the transfer of sensitive health data to technology and social media companies, advertising firms, and data brokers should stop immediately.

Schabacker said hospitals should also, if necessary, notify patients of a breach in security regarding their private health information.

ECRI, an independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is improving the safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness of

healthcare, recommends updating HIPAA laws to address these violations of privacy that can allow nefarious, bad actors to target vulnerable people living with severe health conditions with advertisements for non-evidence-based

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 5)

David Wroten Ada Sochanska

Marcus Schabacker

Scientists Use AI to Find Promising New Antibiotic to Fight Evasive Hospital Superbug

Scientists at McMaster University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have used artificial intelligence to discover a new antibiotic which could be used to fight a deadly, drug-resistant pathogen that strikes vulnerable hospital patients.

The process they used could also speed the discovery of other antibiotics to treat many other challenging bacteria.

The researchers were responding to the urgent need for new drugs to treat Acinetobacter baumannii , identified by the World Health Organization as one of the world’s most dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Notoriously difficult to eradicate, A. baumannii can cause pneumonia, meningitis and infect wounds, all of which can lead to death.

A. baumanni is usually found in hospital settings, where it can survive on surfaces for long periods. The pathogen is able to pick up DNA from other species of bacteria in its environment, including antibiotic-resistance genes.

In the study, published today in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, researchers report they used an artificial intelligence algorithm to predict new structural classes of antibacterial molecules, and identified a new antibacterial compound, which they have named abaucin.

Discovering new antibiotics against A. baumannii through conventional screening has been challenging. Traditional methods

are time-consuming, costly, and limited in scope.

Modern algorithmic approaches can access hundreds of millions, possibly billions, of molecules with antibacterial properties.

“This work validates the benefits of machine learning in the search for new antibiotics” says Jonathan Stokes, lead author on the paper and an assistant professor in McMaster’s Department of Biomedicine & Biochemistry, who conducted the work with James J. Collins, a professor of medical engineering and science at MIT, and McMaster graduate students Gary Liu and Denise Catacutan.

“Using AI, we can rapidly explore vast regions of chemical space, significantly increasing the chances of discovering fundamentally new antibacterial molecules,” says Stokes, who belongs to McMaster’s Global Nexus School for Pandemic Prevention and Response.

“AI approaches to drug discovery are here to stay and will continue to be refined,” says Collins, Life Sciences faculty lead at the MIT Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health. “We know algorithmic models work, now it’s a matter of widely adopting these methods to discover new antibiotics more efficiently and less expensively.”

Abaucin is especially promising, the researchers report, because it only targets

Hospitals' Websites,

treatments that are expensive and, at best, do nothing. At its worst, they can cause delays in proper treatment, injury or even death.

“Illegal transfers of health information are annoying and an invasion of privacy, but what we are most concerned about is there is a potential for real harm,” Schabacker said. “It can expose patients who may be frightened and vulnerable to approaches from vendors who don’t necessarily provide approved remedies for a particular disease. Imagine someone in dire straits and trying to find as much information as possible for themselves or loved ones. This kind of tracking allows companies that don’t have an approved product for specific diseases to target vulnerable people who are desperate for additional information. Technically it is also a HIPAA violation because the government clarified in December 2022 that HIPAA applies to hospital websites and that IP addresses do qualify as a patient identifier— just as do names, birthdates and Social Security numbers. This could be considered a violation

continued from page 4

of HIPAA and hospitals might be sued.”

Why do hospitals allow this? Schabacker said he doesn’t think it is deliberate or that hospitals are getting a kickback. But hospitals may be getting their website services at a discount by allowing the tracking.

“Trackers charge hardly anything but hospitals don’t understand what is going on in the background,” he said. “The IT department and senior management probably are not even aware it is happening. Under HIPAA, there is a business associates’ agreement that clearly identifies what can be done with confidential patient data and specifies that data must be protected. You need business protection agreements with vendors if you are going to use this third-party tracking service.”

Individual users can take action to prevent websites from tracking their information. But many people might not be sophisticated enough with their IT knowledge to know how to do block trackers.

A. baumannii, a crucial finding which means the pathogen is less likely to rapidly develop drug resistance, and which could lead to more precise and effective treatments.

Most antibiotics are broad spectrum in nature, meaning they kill all bacteria, disrupting the gut microbiome, which opens the door to a host of serious infections, including C difficile

In addition to legal exposure for lawsuits, ERCI sees other liabilities including penalties and even losing the hospital’s license with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“So, it is a serious issue,” Schabacker said. “It is not to be taken lightly.”

ECRI proposes a holistic overhaul of HIPAA laws to start addressing the state of IT today regarding the capabilities of data collections and analytics. A lot of HIPAA laws were created in 1996, which Schabacker refers to as “the stone age of IT.”

“The whole medical field is still behind in the IT consumer area,” he said. “It will take a concentrated effort for all involved — the healthcare industry, IT people and the government — to really review this and make sure patients are protected from advertising of unsolicited offers of remedies and products.

For more information about ECRI, visit their website www.ecri.org.

“We know broad-spectrum antibiotics are suboptimal and that pathogens have the ability to evolve and adjust to every trick we throw at them,” says Stokes. “AI methods afford us the opportunity to vastly increase the rate at which we discover new antibiotics, and we can do it at a reduced cost. This is an important avenue of exploration for new antibiotic drugs.”

Lead author, Jonathan Stokes, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Science at McMaster University. Researchers identified a new antibacterial compound to treat the pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii.(Matt Clarke/McMaster University)

GrandRounds

UAMS Health Opens New Urology Center

LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has opened a new Urology Center in Premier Medical Plaza at 10915 Rodney Parham Road in west Little Rock.

“Expanding into this west Little Rock location helps UAMS fulfill our mission to improve the health and well-being of all Arkansans by making services more readily available,” said Cam Patterson, MD, MBA, UAMS chancellor and CEO of UAMS Health. “One of the attractions of this site is its ample parking, easy access to public transportation and convenient location right off Interstate 430. We are committed to making health care more accessible in all forms.”

The new Urology Center will offer specialized treatment for complex kidney stones, reconstruction of the urinary system and men’s health, specifically erectile dysfunction, along with top-quality routine urology services. UAMS urologists at the Urology Center will provide comprehensive state-of-the-art urologic care with endoscopic, robotic, laparoscopic and open surgery techniques.

“Our team offers treatments not available anywhere else in Arkansas, and we are pleased these services are now more convenient for our patients,” said Timothy Langford, MD, chair of the Department of Urology in the UAMS College of Medicine. “This facility was designed with patients in mind. They can now receive care from our innovative team of expert urologists with a full suite of services available in a single location.”

In addition to the Urology Clinic opening today, the 32,000-squarefoot UAMS Health Urology Center includes an Imaging Center and a Surgery & Interventional Radiology Suite scheduled to open in the coming months. The Urology Clinic includes four procedure rooms and 15 exam rooms, and the surgical suite has two operating rooms along with pre-op and recovery areas.

“The new Urology Center is just one component of our expanding UAMS Health system,” said Michelle W. Krause, M.D., MPH, senior vice chancellor for UAMS Health and chief executive officer for UAMS Medical Center. “We are also opening a new orthopedic and surgical hospital, a new, expanded Radiation Oncology Center with Arkansas’

first Proton Center, and a regional campus in El Dorado. It’s an exciting time to be part of the growing Team UAMS as we bring the latest in medical technology and techniques to Arkansas.”

Premier Medical Plaza was redeveloped by Premier Gastroenterology Associates and Moses Tucker Partners in 2019. The $50 million adaptive reuse development turned the former K-Mart store into a first-class medical facility. Clark Contractors of Little Rock served as general contractor for the UAMS Health facilities, WER Architects/Planners of Little Rock provided architectural services, and financing for the project was provided by First Security Bank of Searcy.

UAMS, Baptist Health Announce Leadership Promotions to Support Growing Cancer Network

LITTLE ROCK — The Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) appointed two UAMS oncologists to new leadership positions to support the growth of UAMS Baptist Health Cancer Centers planned across the state.

The cancer centers are part of the UAMS Baptist Health Cancer network, a collaboration between the two health care organizations to bring the expertise of the state’s only academic cancer research and treatment center to Baptist Health locations across the state, increasing access to leading-edge cancer treatments for more Arkansans.

Sanjay Maraboyina, MD , radiation oncologist and associate professor in the UAMS Department of Radiation Oncology, has been named clinical director of radiation oncology for the UAMS Baptist Health Cancer network. He will be responsible for leading network development for radiation services.

Santanu Samanta, MD , radiation oncologist, will be the onsite radiation oncology director at the UAMS Baptist Health Cancer Center at the Baptist Health Springhill Medical Plaza in North Little Rock.

In addition to radiation oncology, the center offers medical oncology and infusion services for most cancer types. More complex cancer treatments, including surgery, are referred to UAMS for treatment.

Maraboyina joined UAMS in 2015 in the UAMS Department of Radiation Oncology. He earned his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and completed his residency in radiation oncology at the University of Kansas Medical Center. He is boardcertified in radiation oncology and a member of the American Society of Radiation Oncology.

Samanta, who also serves as assistant professor in the UAMS Department of Radiation Oncology, completed his residency in radiation oncology at the University of Maryland Medical Center and Maryland Proton Center and a fellowship at Maryland’s Department of Radiation Oncology, Division of Translational Radiation Sciences. He earned his medical degree from the University of Calcutta in West Bengal, India. He is certified in proton beam radiation therapy.

“These two leadership positions will be critical for our emerging cancer network with Baptist Health and ensure the very best in radiation oncology care for our patients,” said Michael Birrer, MD, PhD, director of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute and UAMS vice chancellor.

Dr. Terence Angtuaco of Premier Gastroenterology Releasing Second Book Soon

His first book, Divine Intervention: A Story of Healing, Love, and Hope , was published in May 2022 and is about a very challenging time his family went through 11 years ago, when his 5-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a rare life-threatening illness. She developed bone marrow failure, liver failure, and kidney failure as a consequence of the disease. Dr. Angtuaco wrote about the pain and suffering his family endured, their spiritual journey, and the spiritual transformation that ensued.

Dr. Angtuaco's daughter was treated at Arkansas Children’s Hospital and was admitted there

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LITTLE ROCK - As a part of his Luceat Lux Ministries , Dr. Terence Angtuaco of Premier Gastroenterology Associates in Little Rock is releasing a new book soon called, Soul to Soul: Findling Light in My Everyday Life . This book journals insights gained, and lessons learned from personal struggles.

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Sanjay Maraboyina

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GrandRounds

for about 8 months. Because he and his family are very grateful for the care and treatment she received, Dr. Angtuaco will be donating the profits from the sale of this book to organizations that support families of children with life-threatening or serious chronic illnesses.

Readers can find Dr. Angtuaco's books on his website (www.terenceangtuacomd.com) and in e-book and paperback form on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-AMillion, and other retail booksellers’ websites.

UAMS Opens New Orthopaedic & Spine Hospital

LITTLE ROCK — A number of dignitaries and other visitors gathered to celebrate the opening of the Orthopaedic & Spine Hospital at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

Located southwest of the main hospital, the four-story building includes more than 158,000 square feet dedicated to orthopaedic surgery, spine care and pain management. It has 24 private rooms for overnight observation and inpatient stays; 12 examination rooms for orthopaedic trauma, orthopaedic oncology, and physical medicine and rehabilitation; 12 operating rooms; eight exam rooms and two procedure suites for use by the pain management team; educational space for orthopaedic surgery residents; and offices for faculty and administrators.

“We are thrilled to be ushering in a new era of providing comprehensive specialized care available under one roof for orthopaedic and spine patients across the state,” said UAMS Health CEO and UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, MD, MBA. “This facility was designed to support the state-of-the-art equipment and world-class care that we are famous for, while providing easy access for patients.”

The surgical facility will welcome its first patients this month.

“The Orthopaedic & Spine Hospital puts Little Rock right at the helm of medical research and will attract droves of new talent to our state,” said Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “I’m glad to be here to inaugurate this new facility and am thankful to everyone who made it possible. I know this project will pay dividends for our state far into the future.”

“Our nationally recognized experts look forward to the enhanced ability this building provides to combine their multidisciplinary skills while using the latest cutting-edge technology,” said C. Lowry Barnes, MD, chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in the UAMS College of Medicine. “Perhaps more importantly, we know that patients and their family members will appreciate the ways this allows us to streamline services in a comfortable, easy-to-navigate environment.”

The innovative surgical facility was designed with versatility in mind, to accommodate a wide range of procedures including complex orthopaedic surgery, orthopaedic trauma and orthopaedic oncology, as well as pain management, physical medicine and rehabilitation.

It will complement and not replace off-campus UAMS orthopaedic clinics throughout Little Rock.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony came just over two years after ground was broken April 12, 2021, to cheers from a crowd that included several UAMS leaders; local, state and federal dignitaries; representatives of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce and the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees; architect Willie Stokes with Davis Stokes Collaborative Architects; and Greg Williams, CEO of Nabholz Construction, the general contractor.

The project was paid for by a bond issue approved by the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees.

Visible from Interstate 630 and from across the Little Rock campus, the new surgical hospital was designed to be easily accessible from anywhere in the state.

Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway Names New Chief Nursing Officer

CONWAY – A nursing executive with two decades worth of experience, Micah Johnson, MSN, MHA, RN, NE-BC, recently joined Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway as chief nursing officer.

Johnson’s appointment as CNO isn’t his first experience with Baptist Health. In 2003, he graduated from the Baptist

Health School of Nursing, now Baptist Health College Little Rock. Johnson later received an RN-BSN from Arkansas Tech University, Master of Science in Nursing from Texas A&M University in Texarkana.

“Micah joins our team with many years of incredible experience in nursing and leadership,” said April Bennett, president of Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway. “We are extremely grateful to have him join our team, and we know he will be a great addition to the amazing culture we have at Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway.”

Johnson most recently served as vice president and chief nursing officer at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital in San Marcos, Texas. Before that, he served as facility administrator and chief nursing officer for CHRISTUS St. Michael Hospital in Atlanta, Texas, and as intensive care unit nurse manager for CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System.

Throughout his career, Johnson has worked in various specialties including but not limited to the catheterization lab, intensive care and emergency department.

Johnson permanently takes the position previously held by Bennett, who was promoted to president of Baptist Health Medical CenterConway in November.

Johnson and his wife, a speech therapist and part-time travel agent, have two daughters, 11-year-old Amelia Rae and 15-year-old Rylee. They are very active in church and are excited to find a church home in Faulkner County. Outside of work, Johnson loves to travel and do anything outdoors, especially camp, with his family.

CARTI Welcomes Urology Expert Dr. John Paul Brizzolara

LITTLE ROCK – CARTI has welcomed long-time Arkansas urological expert John Paul Brizzolara, MD, to its team. Dr. Brizzolara will see patients at the provider’s flagship campus in Little Rock and the CARTI Cancer Center in Pine Bluff.

“Dr. Brizzolara is trusted by patients and physicians alike for providing exceptional urologic care,” said Adam Head, president and CEO. “His unmatched skill set and experience will be an asset as we continue

to expand our urology team and care options.”

During his more than 40-year career, Brizzolara has practiced at Ozark Urology in Fayetteville, Brizzolara Urology & Associates in Benton, the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System and Arkansas Urology Associates in Little Rock. He served in the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserve, including as a staff urologist at Irwin Army Community Hospital at Fort Riley, Kansas and Brooke Army Medical Center at Joint Base San AntonioFort Sam Houston. A graduate of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, he is certified by the American Board of Urology. He is also a member of the American Urological Association and the American College of Surgeons.

CARTI offers comprehensive urology services for both men and women. Its team of experts treats urological conditions, including HPV; stones of the ureter, kidney and genitourinary; prostate, impotence and erectile dysfunction; Peyronie’s Disease; hernia; epididymitis; orchitis; gout; fertility issues and more, as well as cancer-related conditions of the bladder, testicles, kidney and prostate.

Mercy Fort Smith Pediatricians Join Specialized Autism Screening Program in Arkansas

FORT SMITH – Three pediatricians at Mercy Fort Smith recently joined the CoBALT Project, an Arkansas-based program that screens children for developmental disorders such as autism.

Dr. Anne Eckes, Dr. Manar Ibrahim and Dr. Samina Nadvi have completed training with Community-Based Autism Liaison and Treatment Project ( CoBALT ), joining 17 other providers at eight locations across the state where families can get care for their child quickly and closer to home. The pediatricians at Mercy Clinic Pediatrics – Tower West in Fort Smith are the only three who are providing

Micah Johnson

Paul Brizzolara

Anne Eckes

Manar Ibrahim

Samina Nadvi

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services through the CoBALT project in the River Valley.

CoBalt is a joint venture between the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences Department of Pediatrics and the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Developmental Disabilities –Children with Special Care Needs.

The CoBALT project is designed for children between 12 and 42 months, and a referral is needed from the child’s primary care physician to access services.

“Drs. Eckes, Ibrahim and Nadvi have worked very hard to help bring the CoBALT Project to the River Valley,” said Sebrina Shelton, operations supervisor of pediatrics at Mercy Fort Smith. “The training they have received will be so beneficial for children who need screening for potential developmental delays.

This project helps address a huge need in our state.”

CoBALT teams are educated about autism and developmental delays and given tools to screen and identify young children with a possible Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The project assists providers by offering best practices for screening for developmental and autism concerns, providing information on treatment practices and sharing links to help create relationships between CoBALT teams and local representatives for early intervention services.

According to CoBALT, after a formal diagnosis, pediatricians will be the “front line” in the medical management of patients who may have been diagnosed with a developmental disorder or ASD. They will serve as the medical home for families to guide evidence-based

treatment options and to help find community resources for the child.

“This project will be so beneficial for our patients because it addresses the needs of the entire family, not just the patient,” Shelton said. “Once the referral from the primary care physician is made, we can develop a plan of action so parents will understand what to expect during their child’s evaluation.”

Mercy Clinic Pediatrics – Tower West is at 6801 Rogers Ave. in Fort Smith. Learn more about CoBALT at cobaltar.org

UAMS Graduates 1,096 Health Care Professionals

LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has conferred degrees and certificates to 1,096 students in its five colleges and graduate school.

Degrees and certificates were awarded to 157 students in the College of Medicine, 210 in the College of Nursing, 524 in the College of Health Professions, 76 in the College of Pharmacy, 74 in the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health and 55 in the UAMS Graduate School.

experience in children’s hospitals and academic medical center operations to the role, most recently served as assistant vice president of Nursing at Texas Children’s Hospital.

“Heather brings to Arkansas Children’s Hospital a passion for building and supporting exceptional teams and partnering across organizations to deliver world-class patient care and quality outcomes,” said Arkansas Children’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer Jamie Wiggins, PhD, MBA, RN, FACHE. “Her work across service lines ranging from neonatal care and emergency centers to quality and performance improvement will further strengthen Arkansas Children’s Hospital on our journey to deliver unprecedented child health.”

Cherry also held nursing leadership roles at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Alton Memorial Hospital in Alton, Ill.

She earned a doctorate of Nursing Practice from Cizik School of Nursing – UT Health Sciences Center in Houston, Texas, and a master’s of Health Administration from St. Louis University.

St. Bernards Unveils Revamped, Expanded Infusion Services in Pocahontas

POCAHONTAS – St. Bernards Medical Center has revamped and expanded infusion services in Randolph County through a partnership with St. Bernards Five Rivers.

The services, now provided at St. Bernards Infusion Center – Five Rivers, occupy a renovated clinical space within St. Bernards Five Rivers Medical Center, giving patients greater availability and appointment opportunities for nonchemo treatments, such as IV antibiotics, IV iron, blood products, IVIG, specialty infusions and injections.

St. Bernards Assistant Vice President of Radiology, Cancer and Wound Care Alicia Storey said the services bring needed treatments closer to Pocahontas and its surrounding communities.

“St. Bernards Medical Center has a storied history of clinical excellence, and we have patients who regularly drive from Randolph County to Jonesboro,” Storey said. “They can now expect that same level of care close to home.”

Another service the clinic offers includes financial counseling and access to co-pay assistance.

“Many of these treatments, especially the specialty infusions and injections, are cost prohibitive,” Storey said. “We want to help patients navigate any concerns they may have about receiving the care they need and still paying their bills.”

St. Bernards Five Rivers Medical Center Administrator Randy Barymon said the collaboration further solidifies the official partnership between St. Bernards Five Rivers and St. Bernards Medical Center that started in 2019.

“St. Bernards has a reputation of providing high quality healthcare throughout rural northeast Arkansas,” Barymon said. “In less than four years, this partnership has seen us through a global pandemic, and we look forward to the opportunities it brings us in the future.”

For more information, visit https://www.stbernards.info/locations/st-bernards-infusion-center-five-rivers, or call 870.207.8178.

Degrees and certificates conferred include the doctor of philosophy; doctor of medicine; doctor of pharmacy; doctor of nursing practice; master of science; master of nursing science; bachelor of science in nursing; master of public health; doctor of public health; master of health administration; postbaccalaureate certificate in public health; master of science in health care analytics; and a variety in allied health disciplines, including bachelor of science degrees, master of physician assistant studies and master of science degrees, and doctor of audiology and doctor of physical therapy degrees.

Arkansas Children’s Hospital

Names Nurse Leader, Heather Cherry, DNP, MHA, RN, NE-BC, as Chief Nursing Officer

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Children’s Hospital has hired Heather Cherry, DNP, MHA, RN, NE-BC, to lead nursing operations as senior vice president and chief nursing officer.

Cherry, who brings more than two decades of nursing leadership

Cherry is also a member of the American Organization of Nurse Leaders and American College of Healthcare Executives, and is trained in Lean methodology, Advanced Quality Improvement and as a Six Sigma Black Belt. Originally from the Midwest, Heather, her husband and two children moved to Little Rock as she joins the Arkansas Children’s Hospital team.

NARMC Introduces Two New Physicians to the Team

HARRISON - North Arkansas Regional Medical Center (NARMC) is proud to introduce two new members of our staff.

Pediatrician Dr. Ting Li graduated from Shandong Medical University in China in 1996. She then went on to complete her Pediatric Cardiology fellowship at the Medical School of Shandong University in 2004.

After her fellowship, Li completed her residency in Pediatrics at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York in 2010. Following her residency, she has been a Pediatric Hospitalist for the past 12 years at the University of Maryland Medical

Heather Cherry

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System in Chestertown, LaPlata, and Bel Air, Maryland.

Dr. Li is a Board-certified pediatrician and is proficient in diagnosis and management of common diseases and of high acuity, routinely screening children for possible abnormal growth, developmental delay or behavioral health concerns, combing preventive medicine into hospital medicine, and providing guidance about a variety of healthrelated issues.

She attends high risk deliveries or C sections routinely and is experienced in routine newborn care, neonatal resuscitations and acute care.

Kortni Dixon, Executive Director of Clinic Operations, stated “We are very fortunate to have Dr. Li as part of our new pediatric clinic. She provides a specialized skillset essential to the needs of our community and the surrounding area. She is very knowledgeable, caring and loved by all who work with her.”

Dr. Ting Li is married and has two children. She enjoys nature, music, exercise and learning something new.

Li says, “It is a pleasure to join this blooming community, in the natural state, under one, Almighty God. I am here to serve Him and to serve the people. As a Christian, I feel that the most important thing in my life is to know Jesus after I came to the United States. In Him, I have got the ultimate solutions to all kinds of challenges of life”.

Currently, Dr. Ting Li is located at the NARMC Pediatric Clinic located at 106 E. Crandall Ave. Suite A and her hours are Monday-Friday 8:00 am. – 5:00 pm.

She is taking new patients and accepting all insurances. You may schedule an appointment with Dr. Li at 870-414-4022.

Robert Foy, D.O. was welcomed as a Board Certified Family Medicine/Obstetrician to the Family Medicine Clinic in Harrison.

Dr. Foy graduated from the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine in Dothan, Alabama in 2019. During his OMS-II year, he was recognized by the Council of Osteopathic Student Government Presidents as a “Silver” level volunteer. This is a national recognition of medical students who perform 75 hours of service in a year.

He then completed his Family Medicine residency at Texas Tech University Health Science Center, Department of Family and Community Medicine in Lubbock, Texas in 2022.

Upon graduation from residency, Dr. Foy received the STFM “Resident Teacher Award”.

Dr. Foy enjoys being a part of this community and you may have already seen him at several NARMC community-wide events. He loves to volunteer and has volunteered for organizations such as Ronald McDonald House, Habitat for Humanity, and even as a guitarist for a contemporary worship service band. He is most passionate about music and fishing. He and his wife were both music students in school and both have a love for that. He loves to go fishing with his wife when he can and play with his dogs, Crockett and Boone.

Kortni Dixon, Executive Director of Clinic Operations stated, “Dr. Foy is an integral part of our family practice and obstetric team. He is very enthusiastic, caring, and compassionate. He is extremely community oriented and has already been involved in several community events. We are very fortunate to have him as part of our team and community.”

“My wife, Sarah, and I are originally from Tennessee and Alabama, and we chose to come to Harrison after looking carefully for a long time for the best place for our three children, Robert, Martha and James, to grow up. Certainly, this area is fun and very beautiful, but starting when we first came to visit it was the people of Harrison and how much they are like the family and friends we were raised with. That won us over and convinced us that this was the place we should settle for good and raise our children. Every day here something happens that reminds us we have made the right choice. Working in Harrison, I get to enjoy all the best parts of family medicine, like taking care of growing families, helping children and young parents, and continuing to help families and be a part of their journey in the following stages of life,” said Dr. Foy.

He is accepting new patients and you may schedule an appointment with him at 365-0850. He accepts all ages and insurances including Medicaid. We are glad he is part of our community and our family at North Arkansas Regional Medical Center.

Mercy Fort Smith Expands PET/CT Services with Addition of State-of-the-Art Scanner

FORT SMITH – A new PET/CT scanner at Mercy Fort Smith will help create a better experience for both oncology and cardiology patients.

The GE Omni Legend recently was installed at the hospital in a newly remodeled space. Mercy Fort Smith began using the scanner on April 10 and is the first hospital in the country to have the Omni Legend onsite, according to GE.

“Being the first hospital in the country to have this state-of-the-art scanner demonstrates our commitment to bringing the best services possible to our patients in the River Valley. We look forward to seeing the benefits as we utilize this new technology and to creating an improved overall experience,” said Ryan Gehrig, president of Mercy Hospitals Arkansas.

The Omni Legend uses an all-new digital detector design that delivers the highest sensitivity available in scanners today. Benefits of the enhanced technology include shorter exam times, significantly greater lesion detectability and lower doses of radiation.

In the past, PET (positron emission tomography) has almost exclusively been used with oncology patients as the first course of action after a cancer diagnosis to determine the extent and total involvement of the cancer. However, with this new technology, both oncology and cardiology patients can benefit from PET procedures, said Kevin Bowen, director of imaging services at Mercy Fort Smith.

“The Mercy Fort Smith community is blessed to be among the first in the entire country to offer this technology to our patients,” Bowen said. “Due to the tremendous advancements and growth of our oncology program in Fort Smith, our PET schedule is routinely booked, and we were unable to see new patients for up to three weeks. We recognized this was an unacceptable wait time for our community and wanted to invest in opportunities that would allow patients to be seen in a much shorter timeframe.”

The new scanner will give Mercy Fort Smith the capability to double its current patient capacity, with the goal of being able to provide same-day or next-day access, Bowen added.

“It’s so exciting to bring the latest and greatest technology to our patients here in the River Valley, because they deserve the best,” said Ryan Geib, chief operating officer at Mercy Hospital Fort Smith. “The Sisters of Mercy have been innovating for 195 years, and it really starts with that entrepreneurial spirit. The team here at Mercy is to be commended for this – thank you for looking out for our patients.”

The Omni Legend scanner first launched in more than a dozen locations around the world in late 2022. The scanner was named Best New Radiology Device at the 2023 EuroMinnies awards, where Europeans acknowledge the contributions of their peers in the field of radiology.

Robert Foy