2022 Legislative Priorities for TMA/Memphis Medical Society/MGMA 2022 will be a year of implementing what C-19 has taught us and cleaning up some of the messes it has left us.
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Jorge Calzada PHYSICIAN SPOTLIGHT: CARDIOLOGY
Scope of Practice This issue is expected to rear its head once again this year, as it has every year since 2014. What is the beef? Tennessee Medical Association, Memphis Medical Society and many other physician groups feel that a physician-led team is still the best environment for patient care in our state because it does not compromise patient safety or quality of care. Furthermore, silos and fragmentation are one of the greatest issues in healthcare today, creating unnecessary waste and foster ing poor communication in healthcare systems. Nurse advocacy and phy (CONTINUED ON ShalynMcKittSmith
“The TAVR is one of the most satisfying and gratifying things I have been doing,” said Das, (CONTINUED ON PAGE 3)
By LAWRENCE BUSER
2022 Legislative Priorities for TMA, Memphis Medical Society and the MGMA
NEWS.COMMEDICALMEMPHISONLINE: PRINTED RECYCLEDONPAPER ON ROUNDS FOCUS TOPICS CARDIOLOGY • OPHTHALMOLOGY • HEALTH LAW/LEGISLATIVE ISSUES PRSTSTD U.S. NO.357AGEPOSTPAIDFRANKLIN,TNPERMIT February/March 2022 >> $5 AHLA’s Top 10 Health Law Issues to Watch in 2022 Concerns cover gamut of healthcare authority affecting legislationfederal The American Health Law androllspandemicyearwatchissueshealththerevealedrecently(AHLA)Associationtop10lawtothisastheonCongress scrutinizes healthcare legislation. Article on page 4 Building a Practice with an Eye Toward the Future Dr. Jorge Calzada still treats underserved in his home country of Panama After years of studying, researchtraining, and patient care, Dr. ophthalmologyhisandchallengeatookCalzadaJorgeonnewopenedown clinic and research facility in 2019. Profile on page 5 See more local news in Grand Rounds on pages 6-8 Arkansas > Memphis > West TN READ IT YOUR WAY! In print. Online. On your phone. www.memphismedicalnews.com How Did the 89-year-old Woman Cross the Road? With a little help from an Interventional Cardiologist, of course.
One particularly promising procedure called TAVR or transcatheter aortic valve replacement has been a game-changer for some patients for whom open-heart surgery may be too risky because of advanced age, fragility, or medical conditions.
As an interventional cardiologist, Dr. Pranab Das knows the best way to a patient’s heart is often through an artery with a 40-inch catheter. It’s less invasive than a surgeon’s scalpel, and the recovery time is considerably shorter.
By CLINT F. CUMMINS
“It provides a unique opportunity for our faculty and students to receive specialized education and training from across the continuum of cancer care and research,” said Slater. “This collaboration also supports our mission of providing accessible and innovative higher education that prepares future nursing leaders who will promote the health equity of the global community through excellent teaching, rigorous research and collaborative practice and service.”
West Cancer Center & Research Institute is the leader in comprehensive adult cancer care guided by physicians to provide the most positive outcomes though research, novel therapies, advanced treatments and cancer prevention to all patients, regardless of socioeconomic status. With more than 40 years of oncology expertise, 100+ specialists, 8 locations and more than 47,000 patients in 2020, West is positioned as the first choice for cancer care in the Mid-South and a national model for comprehensive care.
Leader in adult cancer care, West Cancer Center & Research Institute teams with the University of Memphis Loewenberg College of Nursing to expand clinical training in oncology for the nursing program.
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Dr. Larry Slater, interim dean of LCON, said this is an exciting new collaboration that will enhance the education and research opportunities students and faculty receive at LCON.
Advocating for outstanding cancer care to all individuals in the Mid-South is a joint mission for both West Cancer Center and Research Institute and UofM Loewenberg College of Nursing. Pam Dotson, MBA, BSN, RN-Chief Nursing Office at WCCRI said, “West Cancer Center is so pleased to work with the LCON Nursing program to educate and train the next generation of cancer care providers in this community.”
About the Loewenberg College of Nursing
The Loewenberg College of Nursing (LCON) is committed to the preparation of nursing professionals who share a common goal of promoting health and achieving health equity of the global community. Both the baccalaureate and master’s programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and approved by the Tennessee Board of Nursing. LCON is home to more than 1,000 students, enrolled online and on two campuses located in Memphis and Jackson. LCON’s headquarters is located in the $60 million, 200,000-square-foot Community Health Building that serves as a hub for faculty, students, staff and community partners to exchange ideas, pursue scientific inquiries, strive for academic excellence and commit to serving interests of the community from local to global. Cancer is a very complex disease and is best managed by a team of oncology specialists. West Cancer Center & Research Institute (WCCRI or West) has been training the next generation of world-class oncologists and hematologists for more than 21 years. The University of Memphis Loewenberg College of Nursing (UofM LCON) excels in educating nurses at both an undergraduate and advanced levels. This collaboration between WCCRI and UofM LCON will provide first-class training for nurses wanting to specialize in oncology. Rotations and training with WCCRI nursing staff will positively impact the care of cancer patients as they manage a difficult journey from diagnosis and treatment to survivorship and/or palliative care. Graduate students, seeking clinical master’s and doctoral degrees, will be provided clinical rotations in gynecology oncology, medical oncology, palliative care and the aMargaret West Comprehensive Breast Center.
About West Cancer Center & Research Institute
UofM LCON and WCCRI both recognize the importance of research as a component of superior cancer care. With the robust clinical research department at West, UofM LCON trainees will have the opportunity to participate and observe the process of enrolling and caring for patients receiving novel therapies, before they are available to the markeat.
Das, who has practiced in Memphis for 14 years, is medical director of the Car diac Cath Lab at Saint Francis HospitalMemphis where he also is chairman of the Department of Cardiology.
“People are becoming less mobile, more sedentary and less healthy today. That’s lead ing to heart disease in a lot of younger people. I am used to doing heart procedures in older patients in their 60s, 70s and 80s, but I’m now opening the arteries of a patient just 24 years old. That’s not good, because they have many more years to live and they’re already dealing with heart disease. Instead of walking, we do everything in cars. We are not getting as much physical activity and that’s adding a burden to the heart.”
The minimally invasive TAVR proce dure involves inserting a new valve inside the faulty valve with a catheter that is threaded to the site through the femoral artery. This helps restore blood flow and reduces symptoms of aortic valve stenosis, symptoms such as short ness of breath, fainting, fatigue, and chest pain.
memphismedicalnews com FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022 > 3 who is with the multi-specialty Saint Francis Medical Partners. “The aorta pumps blood to the rest of the body and when an aortic valve doesn’t open and close correctly the body does not get enough oxygenated blood and you begin having problems. When an older patient has open-heart surgery, they may die or end up with more complications and prolonged hospital stays.”
“The skill is getting the wire to a par ticular area and sometimes people have a lot of calcium in the artery where the wire does not cross the blockage very easily. So, you have to use all of your skills and a lot of help from different devices, and then you can deploy your stent.” Not only has he perfected his proce dural techniques from countless procedures, but Das also has learned to recognize when it’s time to pull back.
“If something doesn’t work then you try a different approach, but sometimes you have to learn when to stop,” he said. “You cannot keep on going, going, going. You have to see this is your ego telling you ‘If I can’t do it, then that’s it. Oh my gosh. What will people think?’ Then you are doing more harm to the patient. There is always tomor row, you know? The most important skill is to control yourself and to know your limits. That does not come without experience.”
Dr. Das and his wife, Dr. Monisha Dutta, a neurologist, have two sons, ages 19 and 11. He hopes one of them will pursue a career in medicine, but he wants that to be their“Idecision.nowconsider Memphis my home and I appreciate the support I have received from the community and the medical pro fessionals in the area,” he said. “I want to give my patients the care and treatment they deserve. This is my mission in life, and it makes me happy and thankful.”
“For the diagnostic part, you just take pictures to find the blockages, but then to do intervention, the trick is you have to put the catheter wire across the blockage and you have to have the skill to negotiate the differ ent bends,” Das explained. “If you cannot get your wire through the blockage, you can not put in a stent.
“The causes include age, smoking, dia betes, hypertension, high cholesterol and sometimes genetics,” said Das, who per forms 15 to 20 heart procedures each week. “These are some of the risk factors, as well as lack of mobility and poor lifestyles.
The heart is a fist-sized organ that each day beats more than 100,000 times and pumps some 2,000 gallons of blood through the body. Das says taking care of one’s heart is not optional, and he doesn’t mind stating what should be obvious to make his point. “If you have no functioning brain, you can still be alive,” he said. “If one kidney is dead, or both kidneys are dead, you can stay alive with dialysis. You can live with just part of a liver, but you cannot live without a heart. If you have no heart, you are dead. “I feel like the heart is the single most important thing that God has given us, and we have to preserve and protect and take care of it. It doesn’t just keep running, and God didn’t give us a lifetime warranty. If I am running late, I say that as long as a heart is ticking, I have to work, too.”
“I did one today on an 89-year-old lady and she said her only goal in life was to cross the road again to visit her neighbor of six years,” said Das, adding that his patient’s deteriorating heart condition had ended those visits. “Since she’s had her new heart valve, she’s feeling so good she’s going to her neigh bor’s every day. She said she feels like a new person. In less than 24 hours she went home. “This is one of the most gratifying and most advanced procedures I have seen in the field of interventional cardiology.”
February is American Heart Month, established by a 1963 joint resolution of Congress as a time for Americans to focus on their cardiovascular health. Heart dis ease is the number one cause of death in the United States, with more than 650,000 lives lost each year. Coronary artery disease is the most common, killing 360,900 people in 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
His work often involves cardiac cath eterization procedures in which he inserts a catheter through a large blood vessel – usu ally the femoral artery near the groin or the radial artery in the wrist – and into the heart to check for diseases in the heart muscle, heart valves or the coronary arteries.
Das, a native of Bangladesh, began medical school at age 18 in India and came to the United States 28 years ago to continue his advanced medical training. “It was not until after my residency in internal medicine that I learned how quickly I could help a patient when I got into inter ventional cardiology,” he said. “I have seen a patient come in with a massive heart attack and chest pain, you go in the cath lab and open the artery and in one minute he will say, ‘Doctor, I do not know what you have done, but I am feeling so much better. Thank you. Thank you.’ That kind of immediate satisfac tion you cannot get in any other specialty.”
How Did the 89-year-old Woman Cross the Road?, continued from page 1 Ranked top law firm by the AHLA for the past 15+ years. Learn more at wallerlaw.com Driving business, practicing law.
By LYNNE JETER
The “No Surprises Act” for greater transparency in emergency room bills took effect Jan. 1, but several key provi sions of the bill remain subject to future rulemaking, including implementation of plan and issuer drug price reporting and implementation of the good faith estimate process and advanced explanation of ben efits (EOB) for insured individuals. For example, on Dec. 9, 2021, the American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, two hospital groups and two physician practices filed a lawsuit challenging a “presumption in favor of the median in-network rate during disputes between providers and health insurers.”
“While the global marketplace has slowly reopened and manufacturing has resumed, we’re still competing for scarce resources with other countries. The U.S. also has experienced an inability to man age the uptick in imports at major ship ping ports due largely to a lack of drivers for the trucks that play an important role in carrying goods out of ports for delivery.
Securing the Supply Chain for Healthcare Providers
The federal legislation only covered those enrolled in plans covered by ERISA (federal law that establishes minimum standards for federally administered health plans). We need a more comprehensive solution for Tennessee that covers non-ERISA (private) healthTMAplans.leads a coalition of hospital-based physician specialty organizations in protect ing patients from narrow networks created by health insurance companies. State-wide listening sessions are being hosted with SB 001/HB 002 sponsors, Sen. Bo Wat son and Rep. Robin Smith, as they offer a physician-friendly balance billing solution. Their bill would only require patients to pay according to their in-network responsibility if they receive a surprise medical bill and would allow out-of-network physicians to pursue fair payment from health insurance companies through an independent arbitra tion process if the initial payment was unsat isfactory. Telehealth Parity Many of us have already used tele health as a provider and patient. That utili zation has stabilized at levels still thirty-eight times higher than pre-pandemic metric, according to McKinsey. Yet, equitable reimbursement still remains a challenge for providers. TMA is working with several stakeholder groups to amend or add laws that allow for continued and equitable telehealth reimbursement. This will allow our state to continue its increased access to vital healthcare services. There will be plenty of other bills to watch for that will impact healthcare, including COVID-19 rules and regulations for businesses and providers, the profes sional privilege tax, increased coverage to age 35 for breast examinations, and many more. Stay tuned to communication from all of our organizations throughout the ses sion. We will need you!
“The change in administration has brought a more aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement with a sharp focus on the healthcare industry,” said Lisl Dun lop of Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider LLP. Expect investigations with broader scope, new guidelines and changing approaches, more investigations of con summated transactions, and an increased attention to non-hospital provider merg ers, said Dunlop.
Healthcare EmploymentWorkforceLawIssues to Watch Vaccine mandates, COVID-19 liabil ity, staffing shortages, and whistleblower cases on the rise exemplifies four key employment law issues in play.
The American Health Law Associa tion (AHLA) recently revealed the top 10 health law issues to watch this year as the pandemic rolls on and Congress scruti nizes healthcare legislation.
Challenges with the supply chain of PPEs and ventilators persist, said Michael Herald of Guardian Healthcare.
Provider Mergers & Acquisitions Face New Antitrust Headwinds
The Healthcare Workforce IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Accessibility)
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Behavioral Health Transactions Outlook for 2022 A pandemic within a pandemic is a major concern, cautions Purvi Maniar of Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP.
Balance Billing Balance billing, or surprise medical billing, has been an ongoing issue for years. Each one of us has probably received a “surprise” bill from an ED visit, ambulance ride, anesthesia administration, and other sources. Hopefully, we are turning a corner. Around that corner should be a new health care environment that protects our patients and fairly reimburses providers.
Defining diversity, unconscious bias and microaggressions, and the use of sta tistics in diversity initiatives are three areas to watch.“The conversation around what con stitutes diversity and how to achieve it will continue to evolve in 2022,” said Tiffany Buckley-Norwood of Trinity Health. “It’s important to remain up to date on the laws regulating this area to avoid pitfalls.”
Full Disclosure – Surprise Billing and Hospital Price Transparency
“The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in an unprecedented array of measures to provide relief, assistance, and monetary protections for Americans, businesses, and healthcare systems and providers, among others,” said Jody Rudman of Husch Blackwell LLP, pointing to the CARES Act availability of $2.2 trillion in relief funds through a number of pro grams, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Provider Relief Fund. “With any funding mechanism of such a substantial size, post-hoc enforcement is inevitable.”
Clint F. Cummins is the Chief Executive Officer/Executive Vice President of the Memphis Medical Society.
EnforcementPandemic-RelatedandOversight
As you likely saw at the end of 2020, the federal government passed the No Sur prises Act as part of the year-end omnibus legislation package. So, why do we need further legislation at the state level?
“We thought 2020 was unprec edented, but healthcare employers were faced with new chal lenges in employ ment law as the world adapted to COVID19 in 2021,” said Shalyn Smith McK itt, a litigation asso ciate lawyer in the Birmingham, Ala. office of Balch & Bing ham LLP. “And 2022 won’t be any different.
“Providers should closely monitor the challenge and its impact on the depart ments’ regulations as litigation moves forward,” said Lisa A. Lucido, of Hall Render Killian Health & Lyman PC.
“Ransomware is a current darling of cybercriminals,” said Nathan A. Kott kamp of Williams Mullen. Even though “all entities should have robust cyberin surance to help mitigate the costs of man aging an attack … it would be helpful if there was straightforward and consistent guidance on what to do in response to an attack. Unfortunately, recommendations and actual experiences vary.”
Beware, DigitalAccessConsiderationsRansomware:WhenSystemExceedstheValueofAssets
“While rates of childhood mental health concerns and suicide have been rising steadily since 2010, the pandemic also intensified this (mental health) cri sis,” said Maniar, who suggested looking for increased market activity in significant behavioral health transactions, regulatory advances, current market and consoli dation, heightened scrutiny – and silver linings. “Much like the overall accelera tion in telemedicine trends that resulted from the pandemic, the progress we have recently seen in behavioral health, includ ing increased access to telebehavioral health and early attention to pediatric mental health, and will continue to see in 2022 and beyond, represent some of the silver linings of a tumultuous period for healthcare in the U.S.”
Critical medical supplies and equipment remain in short supply, potentially jeopar dizing patient care or worker safety,” said Herald.Look for FDA guidance and waivers, OSHA enforcement, the Defense Produc tion Act, role of states, supply chain fraud and crisis standards of care issues.
Moving Toward a Common Definition for ArrangementsValue-Based “In 2022, we may see further clarity regarding how OIG (DHHS’ Office of Inspector General) and CMS interpret the new regulations,” said Tiana Korley, Uni versity of Michigan Office of the General Counsel. “The ambiguity and newness of value-based arrangements will even tually be a target for whistleblowers. It’ll be interesting to see whether good faith participation in value-based enterprises negates bad intent in causes of action involving the AKS (Anti-Kickback Stat ute). We also may see the first advisory opinions that provide additional insight as to how OIG applies the regulations to specific arrangements.”
sician assistant groups feel that advanced practitioners’ scopes must be expanded to allow for no physician oversight, allegedly allowing those providers to open practices in rural areas. The current laws require physician oversight of any medical clinic opened in our state. Physician groups coun ter that there is no evidence that expanding scope will prompt any healthcare discipline to move to a rural area and patient safety could be compromised, particularly in more complex cases.
The introduction of vaccines in 2021 led to workforce dilemmas and the shift to the new ‘normal’ called for regulation of the industry regarding the safety and welfare of healthcare employees.”
COVID is a Catalyst for APP Expansion Expect Advance Practice Profession als (APPs) to continue significant opportu nity for expansion concerning their scope of services and level of independence in the clinical and business end of providing services, said Robin Locke Nagele of Post & Schell“DuringPC. COVID, APPs, facilitated by the COVID waivers, have demonstrated their value in ensuring access and continu ity of care,” said Nagele. “However, they also face considerable uncertainty about their status as the waivers expire.”
AHLA’s Top 10 Health Law Issues to Watch in 2022 Concerns cover gamut of healthcare authority affecting federal legislation 2022 Legislative Priorities, continued from page 1 ShalynMcKittSmith
Calzada adds that for some less-com mon disorders, such as retinitis pigmentosa or Stargardt disease, both genetic related, there is almost no treatment. But where there are problems, he sees opportunity for solutions.“Iam eager to work with this popu lation of patients because we are about to enter into a stage of gene therapy or cell therapy for these kinds of disorders,” he said. “Most of the gene therapy we are look ing at involves ways to stop vision loss. Cell therapy is to repopulate parts of the retina, or any organ of the body for that matter, that has lost function to bring new cells to work. That’s the future.
Dr. Jorge Calzada still treats underserved in his home country of Panama
memphismedicalnews com FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022 > 5
MIG PennMarc Internal Medicine 6401 Poplar Ave., Suite 600 Memphis TN 38119
Building a Practice with an Eye Toward the Future
On the clinical side, the two biggest issues are diabetes and age-related macular degeneration which is the leading cause of vision loss in Americans over 60, affecting more than 10 million people. “We all know there is an obesity epi demic and there are issues with medical care of diabetic patients who are not getting into the system fast enough,” said Calzada, who performs an average of 10 surgeries a week. “Macular degeneration is another increasing problem simply because of the aging population. As our population lives longer, the diseases of aging are becoming more and more relevant, and so we are see ing patients who are just losing their vision because of macular degeneration. “Sometimes they may be in their late 80s, but they are otherwise perfectly healthy. Their big disability for their daily lives is their vision. That’s clearly an ongo ing struggle that we have to deal with. The population we have here in Memphis and in the surrounding rural communities, sad to say, is an underserved population.”
Calzada’s journey to Memphis began after complet ing medical school at the Uni versity of Panama. He received a call from Dr. Barrett Haik of the Hamilton Eye Institute and soon he was on a plane to Memphis. After passing his boards – “the first medical test I ever took in English” – Cal zada began doing brain cell and neuron cell research with Haik and with Dr. Dianna Johnson, who he calls “another wonderful influence on my life.” While Memphis has become home, Calzada continues to make regular trips to Panama to do clinical work, often using surgical equipment from companies such as Bausch + Lomb to treat patients and developing newer surgical technologies and therapies.“My trips have been limited because of pandemic travel restrictions, but in two trips last year I did 60 surgeries,” he said. “I hope to reignite the trips to Panama and with forward-thinking concepts of hopefully creating my own independent clinic loca tion there to provide both care to patients and to collaborate with industry in develop ing new therapies. Latin America is a very highly underserved region that needs help, and the opportunities are there.” Away from the office, Calzada, a father of two, pursues what might seem to be a risky endeavor for a surgeon whose hands are precious assets: traditional Japa nese Shotokan karate-do. He has a seconddegree black belt.
By LAWRENCE BUSER
PennMarc Internal Medicine, part of Midsouth Independent Group (MIG), welcomes Mallory Dixon, DNP, FNP-C. To refer patients to Dr. Dixon, please call 901.525.3086.
“The most important part of the eye is the retina, which from an embryological perspective is brain tissue that is outside the cranial cavity. You’re working with brain neurons and that means multiple things. It means you’re working with very deli cate tissues and when these cells die, as with in the brain, they do not come back. There’s a famous book about retina biol ogy called ‘The Approachable Part of the Brain,’ and I predict the retina will be the first tissue we use with stem cell therapy before we consider doing that inside the brain.”
“Ultimately, people remember the name, and I would be lying if I told you I don’t have expansion plans. Perhaps open ing a clinic in my home country of Panama where I’ve had a presence before.” Calzada now runs Deep Blue Retina and Deep Blue Retina Clinical Research at 7900 Airways Blvd. in Southaven. The clinic specializes in treatment of retinal dis orders and surgery, while the research side collaborates with biotechnology and phar maceutical companies in developing new treatments for retinal diseases.
“We have nine ongoing clinical research studies, with the majority of them dealing with diabetic retinopathy and mac ular degeneration, but we are expanding,” Calzada said. “One role of the office is regu lar standard medical care, and the other is the research role with the goal of bringing therapies to a population that otherwise would not be available, particularly with diseases that are blinding and that we have no treatment for. “For example, dry macular degenera tion geographic atrophy for which we have three ongoing research studies involving highly complex genetic therapies. We’re very excited about this.”
PHYSICIAN SPOTLIGHT: OPTHALMOLOGY (CONTINUED ON PAGE 6)
After years of studying, training, research and patient care, Dr. Jorge Calzada took on a new challenge and opened his own ophthalmology clinic and research facility in 2019. But what to name it? He didn’t want something that included his name, and he didn’t want a geographic region included because in 20 years a Memphis or Mid-South clinic could expand to Nashville or elsewhere.“Then one day I was driv ing down I-40 and I thought, ‘Ah, Deep Blue,’” recalled Calzada, the owner of Deep Blue Retina. “I was trying to create an abstract branding concept and plug into the idea of artificial intelligence, deep knowledge and deep thinking. Also, it was something that feels calming to patients.” He also did some informal polling to be sure people saw no political connotations. “I clearly had no intention of that, and in another scenario, I had some people who asked ‘Well, does that mean you only take care of people with blue eyes?’” he said. “You have to be concerned about those things. I don’t have blues and many on my staff don’t have blue eyes.
Dr. Dixon graduated with honors from The University of Tennessee Health Science Center in 2018. She has over three years of diverse experience in the medical field as a nurse practitioner. She is board certified in Family Medicine and has experience treating an array of acute and chronic conditions across the lifespan, including Covid-19, the common cold, pneumonia, hypertension, and diabetes. Dr. Dixon is currently accepting new patients, and can often accommodate same day and next day appointments. She looks forward to providing quality primary care to her patients and working closely with them to maintain and improve their health.
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Peter F. Buckley, MD, became the 11th chancellor of the University of Ten nessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) after a unanimous confirma tion vote by the Uni versity of Tennessee System Board of Trust ees. Dr. Buckley, most recently dean of the School of Medicine at Virginia Com monwealth University (VCU) and ex ecutive vice president of medical affairs for the VCU Health System, succeeds Steve J. Schwab, MD, who has served as UTHSC chancellor for approximately 12 years.Dr.Buckley has served as the dean of the VCU School of Medicine since 2017. Prior to that, he was the dean of the School of Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta for sev en years, overseeing regional campuses across the state of Georgia. Dr. Buckley chairs the Administrative Board of the Council of Deans of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and is on the AAMC’s Board of Direc tors. Dr. Buckley also serves as vice chair of the board of Intealth, an integrated organization that includes the Educa tional Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) and the Founda tion for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIM ER), which is dedicated to advancing the global health care workforce. A psychiatrist and expert in schizo phrenia, Dr. Buckley is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric As sociation, a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and sits on the Data and Safety Monitoring Board of the Na tional Institute of Mental Health. He has served on numerous boards and com mittees related to his clinical specialty and is a member of the Board of Schizo phrenia International Research Society.
Building a Practice, cont. from page 5
Peter F. Buckley Rachel Kemp (continued on
Kemp earned a Bachelor of Sci ence in nursing from Baptist College of Health Sciences and a Master of Sci ence in nursing and health administra tion from the University of Phoenix.
OrthoSouth CountyReplacementRobot-AssistedIntroducesTotalKneetoDeSoto
Regional One Health Names Associate Chief Nursing Officer Regional One Health has pro moted Rachel Kemp, RN, MSN, MHA, CRRN, to Associate Chief Nursing Officer (ACNO). Kemp joined Regional One Health just over one year ago as the Director of Clinical Support and Education Services. In this role she was instru mental in establishing policies and pro cedures for a number of nursing initia tives including nursing councils, profes sional development, and assisting with building an alliance through academic partnerships to create a pipeline for hir ing nurses.Prior to joining Regional One Health, Kemp served in executive lead ership and clinical roles at Methodist Healthcare and Encompass Health. She brings to Regional One Health over a decade of experience in developing and implementing best practice mod els, nurse practice and empowerment initiatives, as well as clinical research. She has experience in multiple depart ments including medical-surgical, inpa tient rehab, operating room, cath lab, labor and delivery, NICU and GI lab.
A less-risky activity of his is playing jazz piano and blues organ in a group with other medical musicians known as Memphis Soul Remedy. “It’s an escape,” Calzada explained. “When you’re busy and have a lot of proj ects, it’s always good to have something completely different that lets your mind wander. Karate and music are both like that. Karate allows sort of a deep intro spective growth, while music allows you to concern yourself with the esthetics of play ing together with other musicians. It’s just a wonderful thing to have in my life.”
OrthoSouth surgeon Andrew Wodowski, MD completed DeSoto County’s first robotics-assisted total knee replacement in December at the OrthoSouth Surgery Center in Southav en, using the center’s new CORI robotic system.OrthoSouth is the only center in DeSoto County offering robotics-assist ed knee replacement, and further, in an exclusively outpatient setting. The ad dition of the new high-tech option for same-day knee replacement officially adds one more layer of convenience for thousands of people in North Missis sippi who could potentially benefit from a knee replacement surgery.
page 7)
Buckley Confirmed as New Chancellor For the University of Tennessee Health Science Center
“I would not take this on from scratch now, but I’ve been doing it since I was 7-yearsold and I am very careful in maintaining my sense of limits so I do not hurt my hands or my back,” he said. “Now I do this less for the fighting-combat aspect and more for the per sonal physical mental development.”
GrandRounds
Saint Francis Healthcare Announces Two Promotions
Saint Francis Healthcare recently named Matthew Brooks as Market Chief Strategy Officer and Cameron Murphy as Chief Nursing Officer. Brooks will guide strategic development for Saint Francis-Mem phis and Saint FrancisBartlett. He had previ ously served as Direc tor of Strategy for Saint Francis-Memphis since May 2021. Before joining the team at Saint Francis, he held the role of Strategy and Operations Manager at Riverside Medi Matthew Brooks
OrthoSouth now offers roboticsassisted knee replacement surgery at both outpatient surgery centers, in Ger mantown, TN and Southaven, MS. Learn more about the CORI Robotics-assisted knee replacement, and other options available with OrthoSouth’s talent-rich team of providers, at orthosouth.org.
Baptist Announces New System Chief Nursing Executive
Perimeter Medical Imaging AI Announces Initiation of First Clinical Trial Site at West Cancer Center & Research Institute Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc., a medical technology company driven to transform cancer surgery with ultra-high-resolution, real-time, advanced imaging tools to address high unmet medical needs, announced the initiation of a multi-cen ter, randomized, two-arm pivotal clinical trial to evaluate its Perimeter B-Series OCT with ImgAssist AI for use dur ing breast conservation surgery. The first patient procedures were performed by Richard E. Fine, MD and Michael Berry, MD, leading breast surgeons based out of the Margaret West Comprehensive Breast Center in Germantown, Tennessee. Jeremy Sobotta, Perime ter’s Chief Executive Officer said that the initiation of this pivotal trial marks another milestone in their ATLAS AI project and an important step in the clinical development of software,B-Seriesdevice-designatedbreakthrough-PerimeterOCTwithAIassistedwhichrepresentsthe next generation of commercially available flagship Perimeter S-Series OCT. The hope is that clinical data generated from this study will provide supporting evidence that their technology can help breast cancer physicians improve outcomes for patients and potentially reduce the burden of additional costs within the healthcare system.
MarySumrallEllen CameronMurphy
With the retirement of Dr. Boop, Pediatric Neurosurgeon Paul Klimo, MD, has been named co-director of Le Bonheur’s Neuroscience Institute. He also serves as chief of the division of Pe diatric Neurosurgery at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Dr. Klimo is a two-time winner of the Pediatrics Paper of the Year by the Con gress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS). In 2018 he won for his research on survival rates for pineoblastoma tumors and in 2019 for his work on The Preventable Shunt Revision Rate which found that of the 5,092 shunt operations performed, 861 failed within 90 days and that of those, 307 were determined to be poten tiallyDr.preventable.Klimoattended medical school at Medical College of Wisconsin and completed his internship and residency at the University of Utah. He is certi fied by the American Board of Pediatric Dr. William I. Mariencheck Retires Dr. William I. Mariencheck, a wellknown and respected pulmonolo gist with Mid-South Pulmonary & Sleep Specialists PC, has retired after practic ing medicine for 56 years. Mariencheck is board certified by the American Board of In ternal Medicine and specialized in internal medicine, pulmonary, sleep, and critical care Hemedicine.earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Tennes see, Knoxville, before enrolling at UTH SC. In addition, he did a pulmonary and environmental medicine residency at Duke University. He served in the Unit ed States Army from 1969 to 1971 as the chief of Allergy and Pulmonary Services and Internal Medicine at Ireland Army Hospital in Fort Knox, Kentucky. He is a former division chief and clinical associ ate professor of Pulmonary Medicine at UTHSC.Dr.Mariencheck has been a practic ing physician at Mid-South Pulmonary & Sleep Specialists, P.C. since January of 2006. We wish him a healthy and happy retirement. The footprint he has left in pulmonary medicine will last a lifetime.
Dr. Frederick A. Boop Retires from Le Bonheur; Dr. Paul Klimo Named Co-director of Le Bonheur Neuroscience Institute Frederick A. Boop, MD, FACS, has retired from Le Bonheur Children’s Hos pital after 22 years of service. During his time at Le Bonheur, Dr. Boop was co-director of the Neurosci ence Institute and medical director of the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit. He also served as chairman of the De partment of Neurosurgery at the Uni versity of Tennessee Health Science Center and chief of the division of Pe diatric Neurosurgery at St. Jude Chil dren’s Research Hospital. During his storied career, Dr. Boop held many national leadership positions including president of the American So ciety of Pediatric Neurosurgeons, presi dent of the American Association of Neu rological Surgeons and president of the International Society for Pediatric Neuro surgery. He also held regional leadership positions as president of the Southern Neurosurgical Society and president of the Tennessee Neurosurgical Society.
Cameron Murphy had served as the hospital’s interim CNO since Nov. 2021. Before coming to Saint Francis, she served as National Director of Clinical Operations with Tenet Healthcare in Farmers Branch, Texas. Murphy holds a Bach elor of Science in Nurs ing from The University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Miss., and a Master of Science in Nursing Administration from The University of Texas at Arlington.
memphismedicalnews com cal Center in Kankakee, Illinois. While there, he led a $20 million renovation project that included 58 outpatient bays and resulted in significant cost savings, increased patient satisfaction and im proved patient flow. He also oversaw a multi-million build of four advanced level Cardiac Catherization Laboratories which led to an uptick in physician recruitment, revenue and service line growth. Brooks holds a Master of Business Administration from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business in Blooming ton, Indiana and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois.
Mary Ellen Sumrall has been named system chief nursing executive for Baptist Memorial Health Care and chief nursing offi cer for Baptist
Triangle.morialandinterimandforHospital-Memphis.MemorialSumrallhasworkedBaptistfor34yearspreviouslyservedasCNEforBaptistCNOatBaptistMeHospital-GoldenAssystemCNE, Sumrall will oversee all nursing operations for Baptist. As CNO for Baptist Memphis, Sumrall will be responsible for development and implementation of all nursing and related patient care activities for the hospital. Sumrall graduated from the Universi ty of Mississippi with a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing and got her Master of Nursing and Nursing Administration from Union University. She is board certified by the American Nursing Credentialing Center as an advanced nurse executive. She has worked in management of 20 different areas of the hospital, including peri-operative services, women’s services, in-patient, the emergency department, wound care, administrative house super vision, transitional care and education. Baptist’s prior CNE Susan Ferguson retired in May 2021. We are expanding speciality care for the uninsured. We need you. Time commitments are yours to decide. Many practitioners are already seeing uninsured patients. Our team can track these patients, collect all claims, and submit CME credit for the work you are already doing. Call us today 901-761-0200 William MariencheckI.
GrandRounds
Campbell Clinic physicians Dr. Tyler Brolin (left) and Dr. Quin Throckmorton (right) visit with guest lecturer Dr. John E. (Jed) Kuhn (center) on January 27 at the kickoff of Campbell Clinic Foundation’s Visiting Professor Series. addition to his presentation, Dr. Kuhn visited with attendees, including residents, fellows and staff. The Campbell Clinic Foundation administers the University of Tennessee-Campbell Clinic Orthopaedic Surgery Residency and Fellowship programs. The Sports Medicine Fellowship, a highly sought-out, one-year subspecialty training, puts a unique emphasis on shoulder and elbow research, clinical practice and patient care.
GrandRounds
“Throughout his estimable career, Dr. Kennard Brown has demonstrated the utmost professionalism, ability, and integrity,” the resolution stated, citing specifi cally his leadership in the operation of UTHSC’s Memphis campus, his guidance in drafting and carrying out the Campus Master Plan that has changed the face of the inner-city campus, his support in the development of institutional international collaborations for academic and research partnerships, as well as his outstanding administration of the Plough Center for Sterile Drug Delivery Solutions and the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center.
Dr. Kuhn has served as the Vanderbilt Sports Medicine Fellowship Director for over a decade and is the Medical Director of the Vanderbilt NFL Hall of Fame Health Initiative and Ombudsman of the Departmental Board Initiative. He recently received the VUMC Star Patient Experience Award for scoring in the top 10 percent nationally for patient experience. Dr. Kuhn also has served as team physician for collegiate-level baseball and for numerous U.S. Hockey teams, including Team USA at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships in Finland and at the U.S. Olympic Winter Games in Italy. Since 2008, he has been the Medical Director and Head Team Physician for the Nashville Predators ice hockey team. He is currently the Vice President of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES).
Campbell Clinic Foundation Launches Visiting Professor Series
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Kennard Brown, JD, MPA, PhD, FACHE, executive vice chancellor and chief operations officer for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, received statewide recognition recently for his work to improve the university and the health and well-being of the citizens of Tennessee.
Dr. Brown was honored by the Tennessee Legislature with a resolution com mending his achievements as a health care executive.
In an effort to continually offer leading-edge educators and innovations to its physicians, Campbell Clinic Foundation recently launched a series of guest lectures by visiting professors. The first lecture was held on January 27 and featured John E. (Jed) Kuhn, MD, MS, who is the Kenneth D. Schermer horn Professor of Orthopae dics and Chief of Shoulder Surgery at Vanderbilt Univer sity Medical Center. The event, held at Folk’s Folly, drew more than 40 or thopaedic surgeons in addi tion to allied health provid ers and UT-Campbell Clinic residents.Dr.Kuhn discussed, “The MOON Shoulder Group: Understanding Rotator Cuff Tears Through Multi-Center Collaboration,” detailing his extensive research, practice and global collaboration to address one of the most complex and complicated musculoskeletal injuries, the rotator cuff tear.
Attendees were welcomed to the event by Campbell Clinic physician, Dr. Thomas (Quin) Throckmorton, who shared his gratitude for Dr. Kuhn’s visit. This was the first in-person event hosted by the Foundation in two years. In UTHSC’s Kennard Brown, front row center (five from left), was honored by the Tennessee General Assembly for his work on behalf of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and the citizens of Tennessee.
UTHSC’s Kennard Brown Honored by Legislature for Outstanding Leadership in Health Care
