Volume 16
Issue 2
November 2016
SYSTEMnews `` Perelman School of Medicine student Leah Zuroff shadows chaplain resident Dasha Saintremy in Penn Medicine’s trauma unit.
CEO’s corner RALPH W. MULLER
CEO, University of Pennsylvania Health System
Penn Medicine staff, faculty and students engage with members of our community each day — from care at the bedside to work with patient advocacy groups to administrative work that keeps operations for our patients and their families running smoothly. We’re proud that this spirit of help for our neighbors extends well beyond the work day for many Penn Medicine staff: For example, one staff member spends every Wednesday evening teaching adults to read and helping them get their GED. Another has helped over 400 uninsured women receive free breast cancer screening and diagnostic services. Others work with shelter programs to serve meals to homeless Philadelphia residents. Individually, these efforts have a tremendous impact across our region. When we come together around a common cause, we make an even bigger imprint in efforts to improve our communities. Each year, the Penn’s Way campaign, a charitable giving program in which Penn Medicine joins forces with the University of Pennsylvania, demonstrates the power of our united commitment to helping others. Last year’s campaign raised $1.66 million, surpassing the goal. Thanks to our campaign partners — the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey and the Center for Responsible Funding — more than 2,000 organizations in our region benefitted from these generous donations. Philabundance, which helps feed the estimated 750,000 people in the Delaware Valley who face hunger every day, was one of the top recipients, as was WOMEN’S WAY. This organization funds vital projects that meet the (continued on page 4)
INSIDE Penn Medicine Cherry Hill Celebrates Grand Opening ......2 New Center for Breast Imaging at PAH..............2 Inside Penn’s Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy......2 Perelman SOM Launches Online 3D Anatomy Courses...2 Philly Fights Cancer!.................2 Tackling Clinical Engineering...2 Penn Medicine @Work.............3 Newsmakers..............................4
SPIRITUALITY MEDICINE
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Refocusing on an Ancient Connection Photo credit: Tommy Leonardi
For hundreds of years, spirituality and religion played significant roles in medicine. Indeed, the church originally issued medical licenses to physicians, many of whom were monks or priests. The first hospitals were built by built by religious groups. But, with the advances in medicine and technology, religion and spirituality existed only on the periphery of medical practice. In the last decades of the 20th century, the pendulum began to slowly swing back. Research in the field showed that not only were spirituality and religious beliefs important parts of many people’s lives, but they also had an impact on a person’s physical and mental health. “Medicine is inherently an emotional, psychological and existential experience,” said Horace DeLisser, MD, of Medicine. “Spirituality is a part of people’s identify. Understanding these beliefs helps to better care for patients and form relationships.” A new Certificate in Spirituality and Health at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine will teach students how to incorporate spirituality into their medical practice — and feel comfortable in that role.
Learning How to Listen Although students complete requirements for the certificate throughout the four years of medical school, the cornerstone of the program is the summer internship program. The six-week program, which medical students complete after their first year, comprises several components. Meeting and talking with patients is one. “Being able to engage patients — listening and being present for them —while grappling with issues is an important part of your repertoire as a physician,” said DeLisser, who is director of the certificate program. “I want my students to be comfortable dealing with patients around religious and spiritual conversations.”
The Art of Grief: Transforming Loss into Legacy .......................5
After each visit, students were asked to create and discuss a “verbatim report” in which they try to reconstruct the conversation word-for-word. “We want to get them thinking about the conversation, to mentally walk through it,” DeLisser said. “A lot of what we mean by spirituality is relationship building, being able to connect with people in more than superficial ways.” Students not only learned how to retain a conversation but also to determine where it was accurate and where they saw it through their own experiences, DeLisser said. Another component of the program — shadowing chaplains to patient care units and in the trauma unit at Penn Presbyterian — “gives students a greater awareness of what patients and families go through,” said James Browning, director of Pastoral Care at HUP and co-director of the summer internship. “It’s a new reality for them. “When students encounter a spiritual belief, they have to figure out how it fits in with both the patient and family. It helps them look at the whole, not just the sum of parts,” he continued. “A person’s belief system is part of healing.” “It was an intense experience,” Bohorquez said. “I didn’t know what a chaplain did before. Now I see they are vital to the healthcare team.”
Exploring Different Religions Recognizing their own limitations is another lesson for students to learn, Delisser said. “If a family is struggling with the impending death of a loved one, you see that they’re challenged and maybe suggest a chaplain stop by. Part of the training is that you’re thinking in those terms and appreciate the power of doing something like that.” (continued on page 5)
CCH Outreach Ensures Healthy Snacks for Kids .........................5
LG Health Recognized for Reducing Opioid Use................5
Part of professional development is dealing with many kinds of emotional, psychological challenges. Being able to engage that spiritual realm as a physician ultimately helps you do your work better.
Awards and Accolades.............6 Volpe Represents PM Among Healthcare Leaders......6
There were no time limits on these visits with patients. The students could talk for however long the patient wanted, finding out what was important to them. “I think the patient population is extremely receptive to talking. Many poured their hearts out,” said second-year PSOM student Dominque Bohorquez of her experiences. The visits also helped her feel more comfortable in speaking with patients. “It got me out of my shell.”
— Horace DeLisser, MD Photo credit: Tommy Leonardi
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Perelman School of Medicine Launches Online 3D Anatomy Courses
Penn Medicine Cherry Hill Celebrates Grand Opening Penn Medicine Cherry Hill, a new 150,000 square foot outpatient facility, celebrated its opening last month at its location at 1865 Route 70 East in Cherry Hill, NJ. With 28 specialties and expanded radiology and laboratory offerings in one building, the new facility allows patients to see their primary care doctor or a specialist, receive lab work, radiology services, and even pick up their prescriptions, all in one location. A Philadelphia Inquirer article referred to the facility as the new giant on the Route 70 “health care highway,” treating simple and complex cases requiring care from specialists in dermatology, neuroscience, musculoskeletal specialties and physical therapy, urology and male fertility, liver transplant, cardiovascular medicine, and more.
Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine now offers online 3D anatomy courses to students worldwide. “Penn has been a pioneer in the use of digital media in medical education for more than 20 years. We were one of the first medical schools to provide online streaming of its entire curriculum. The new courses further Penn’s vision of a school without walls,” said Gail Morrison, MD, senior vice dean for Education in the Perelman School of Medicine. The idea for Penn’s paid course offerings began three years ago when Penn was among other medical schools that provided free courses known as MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). Penn’s anatomy course on the upper limb called ‘Going out on a Limb,’ attracted more than 39,000 students. Feedback from the enrollees requested similar courses on the other areas of human anatomy. To read more about the course, go to http://news.pennmedicine.org/inside/ system-news.
PHILLY FIGHTS CANCER!
The location also allows South Jersey patients to receive a broad spectrum of adult cancer services — including hematology, surgical and radiation oncology — which cancer patients may need daily for several weeks at a time. Being part of Penn Medicine, patients at the new practice can coordinate with other locations for additional cancer treatment, such as proton beam therapy or cancer surgeries. “Someday you’ll describe these locations as hospitals without beds,” said CEO Ralph Muller at the opening. “Here patients can receive chronic care in almost all modalities and specialties.”
New State-of-the Art Center for Breast Imaging at Pennsylvania Hospital Pennsylvania Hospital recently opened the Center for Breast Imaging, a state-of-the-art facility that will provide patients with access to the most advanced imaging services with the least radiation dose possible. Additional space, equipment, and staff also help streamline the patient experience. “This carefully designed facility allows us to offer exceptional care with same-day results and biopsies to more patients,” said Brian S. Englander, MD, chair of PAH Radiology. “We are constantly striving to provide the best care and the latest technology for everyone who comes through our doors and the Center for Breast Imaging will do just that!” said CEO Theresa Larivee.
`` Over 1,300 people came together last month to take cancer down for the count at the Philly Fights Cancer Round 2! The celebration helped raise $5.4 million to support translational research and clinical trials at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center (ACC). Above: Physician honoree John Glick, MD, president of the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, and Nancy Wolfson, Philly Fights Cancer chair.
Tackling Clinical Engineering The Penn Medicine family grew over the summer in a somewhat subtle, but very important way. Penn’s Information Services created a new department and a few dozen new positions to handle all of the organization’s clinical engineering needs, needs that prior to June were being met by third-party companies. Penn’s new clinical engineering team maintains more than 40,000 devices — everything from infusion pumps and ventilators to surgical robots and lasers. They take care of all device repair, keep track of any relevant recalls, and generally make sure that all devices are up to snuff. It’s a big job that Jim Beinlich, associate chief information officer for Entity Services, said was traditionally handled by third party companies as the devices come from different manufacturers and different vendors. It made sense to outsource that to someone else. Another big help were the contractors who were already here at Penn doing the work. Even though they worked locally, they were employed by the third party companies. When Penn made the call to do their own clinical engineering, each of the 36 contractors answered the call and is now a full-fledged Penn Medicine employee.
Inside the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Penn Last month, Silicon Valley philanthropist and entrepreneur Sean Parker joined Penn scientists and leaders and patients who have participated in lifesaving clinical trials at the Abramson Cancer Center to mark the launch of Penn’s Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. ABC News Chief Health & Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser moderated the panel event, during which Parker shared his vision for the groundbreaking collaboration between Penn and five of the nation’s other top cancer centers. The Parker Institute was founded in April 2016, backed by a $250 million gift from the Parker Foundation, making it the largest single contribution ever made to the field of immunotherapy.
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Normally in clinical engineering departments, leadership seeks out workers with biomedical engineering backgrounds, but this time, they tapped Penn’s Sean Sarles, MSN, RN, CCRN, to be the new director of Clinical Engineering, and work in partnership with the information officers at each hospital to ensure they are serving staff the best they can. Sarles doesn’t have an engineering degree, but, as a neuro critical care nurse, he has experience on the clinical side of things actually using the equipment the team maintains. The new department and team went live on July 1, taking online service tickets (a service that wasn’t available before) and repairing devices. Beinlich said now that it’s all set up, UPHS is set to save more than $5 million in just this fiscal year. He said they are now looking at new ways that the department can streamline or assist individual areas, to address specific needs in a flexible way. To reach more about this successful process, go to http://news.pennmedicine.org/ inside/system-news.
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PROVIDER STAR RATINGS CONNECT WITH CONSUMERS
Penn Medicine recognizes the importance of patient input when defining the patient experience. For years, we have collected patient satisfaction data to guide improvements in care delivery. This data has been used internally to measure both clinical and operational performance. Consumers today, however, are demanding greater access to this type of data to aid in making important health-care decisions. In response to this growing demand, on November 16, 2016, Penn Medicine is launching Patient Provider Satisfaction Ratings — a pioneering initiative in the Philadelphia region that will allow consumers to find ratings and reviews on Penn providers via pennmedicine.org. In this age of technology and data, peer-to-peer review websites like Yelp and Angie’s List have empowered consumers to provide online reviews about goods and services, and, thus, share their recommendations to a large audience instantaneously. With the proven success of obtaining recommendations online, it is no surprise that consumers have turned to the Internet when choosing a physician or one hospital over another. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, 59% of consumers surveyed said online ratings are somewhat to very important in the decision-making process about their care providers. Many third-party review sites, however, allow unverified reviews and use unreliable sample sizes to obtain their data. Furthermore, because health-care is not their core business, the metrics these sites use to rate a provider are rudimentary. So who better than health-care experts themselves to engage the patient base with industry standard tools to produce accurate, reliable data? For the past 20 years, Penn Medicine has prioritized patient satisfaction as an important factor in the delivery of care and, therefore, has focused on ways to provide the best patient experience possible. By definition, the patient experience is the integrated delivery of quality, safety and service in care — it is our foundational capacity to deliver the best outcomes with every patient and family interaction. As a formal commitment to this concept, the Office of the Patient Experience, an integral part of Penn Medicine Academy, was established in 2015 to partner with our Health System entities in defining our Penn Medicine Experience and ensuring our patient-centered strategies and initiatives are aligned to a common purpose.
A Direct Connection to Empower Our Patients
Penn Medicine Leads a Growing Trend
Penn Medicine sees the new online rating system as a direct connection to consumers and their perspective on the quality of their care, empowering patients to provide relevant and constructive feedback on the care they receive for any of Penn Medicine’s providers, in our specialty and primary care practices, for any type of clinical care. This feedback, an uncensored measure of patient satisfaction, will be shared publicly and will allow patients to form their own conclusions about the standard of care at Penn Medicine.
Penn Medicine is the first Academic Medical Center in this region to make this provider rating available to the public. The ability to rate your provider is a growing trend in our industry and several peer institutions in different parts of the country are seeing great benefits from the direct and transparent connection to the patient experience. The University of Utah Health Care (UUHC) was the first institution to publish patient reviews online for public consumption. In the four years since the star rating system went live at UUHC, the health system has seen an improved quality and safety record, an increase in outpatient appointments, and a growth in revenue.
The system will also be an important measure for providers and their teams. Providers should be prepared to receive an honest review from their patients about their performance. While the ratings criteria are primarily focused on provider activity, the entire team contributes to the patient’s experience. Thus, the published ratings should encourage providers to lead by example in their commitment to patient satisfaction so that excellence permeates the entire organization. The structure for Penn Medicine’s Patient Provider Satisfaction Ratings has been developed based on best practices by our survey vendors and research conducted by the Penn Medicine Academy (see below). Every provider with at least 10 office visits in a month is surveyed. Scores and patient comments will be reported publicly for providers who receive at least 30 responses in a rolling 12-month period. However, all providers will always have internal access to their ratings. For continuous professional development, the Penn Medicine Academy has developed the Penn Medicine Experience training program. As part of this training program, Penn Medicine entities can share best practices and lessons learned for collective improvement towards meeting and exceeding our patient satisfaction goals. Resources pertinent to the metrics that make up the rating system include articles and videos focused on the patient-provider relationship. These tools for improvement and development, curated by peer providers and patient experience experts, are available on the Penn Medicine Experience intranet site, pme.uphs.upenn.edu.
Penn Medicine’s initiative has been a year in the making. Beginning last November, the Penn Medicine Academy, Information Systems, and Marketing began identifying the technology and platform for change necessary to launch the Patient Provider Satisfaction Ratings initiative. In June, department physician champions were identified to test the technology and socialize the rating process. In August, four pilot programs were rolled out to test the system with actual patient data – two pilot programs at CPUP units (Neurosurgery and Radiation Oncology) and two pilot programs at CCA locations (Woodbury Heights, Bala Cynwyd). The initial results from the pilot programs and additional testing have been very positive. The average score has been 4.76 out of 5 stars with 99.9% of providers attaining 4 stars or more. The patient — our consumer — is increasingly making transparency a priority when it comes to the cost and quality of their healthcare choices. This new initiative enhances our connection to our patients and their complex criteria for making healthcare decisions. The Patient Provider Satisfaction Ratings system affords the opportunity to further build trust with patients by sharing relevant, reliable, truthful, and meaningful information about the providers within this health system. If our patients trust us, they are more likely to choose Penn Medicine as their healthcare provider.
HOW THE RATING SYSTEM W OR K S The new ratings system is a star-based rating system from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). A provider’s star rating derives from the patient’s answers to a survey about the quality of care they received on a particular visit. The survey asks patients a series of questions about the patient’s visit including scheduling, wait time, provider interaction, etc. The ratings and reviews that are highlighted are specifically about the providers — Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants. The star ratings are based on the responses to the questions using a similar scale as the rating — 1 to 5 where 1 is the worst and 5 the best — for nine specific questions. Eight of these questions reflect directly on a provider’s interaction with the patient, and a ninth inquires about a patient’s wait time. The eight measures of a provider’s performance, and therefore, a provider’s star rating are: Friendliness / courtesy of the provider Provider explained things clearly Provider showed concern Provider included you in decisions
Provider gave understandable instructions Provider spent enough time Your confidence in this provider Likelihood of recommending this provider
In addition to these eight measures, patients provide qualitative comments. Prior to being published, qualitative comments are reviewed first by a third party vendor, and then, Penn Medicine Academy staff and any flagged as potentially libelous, slanderous, profane, irrelevant or otherwise inappropriate, or may risk the privacy of our patients, are reviewed by a Governance Committee for final decision regarding publishing.
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Penn Medicine
NEWSmakers / / / Common Prostate Cancer Treatment Linked to Dementia Risk A study by Penn Medicine and Stanford researchers found that a type of hormone therapy called androgen deprivation therapy may double the risk of developing dementia. The study was covered in The New York Times and other outlets across the nation and world. Kevin T. Nead, MD, MPhil, a resident in Radiation Oncology, served as lead author in the study.
/ / / Rats Drink More Alcohol When They’re Stressed, Penn Study Finds
/ / / Alzheimer’s is Eroding his Memory, But Not His Determination to Vote “The civil rights of people with dementia are very much in the hands of other people — nursing home staff or family members — who too often don’t know how to properly provide support around voting,” said Jason Karlawish, MD, a professor of Medicine, Medical Ethics and Health Policy, and Neurology, and co-director of the Penn Memory Center, in an article in STAT.
To better understand the roots of human stress-related disorders, a team led by John Dani, PhD, chair of Neuroscience, examined links between the brain chemistry of stress and its impact on the risk factor for alcohol abuse. Dani’s work was covered in the Philly Voice and by outlets in the United Kingdom.
/ / / Women and Minorities are Less Likely to Get Key Stroke Treatment, Even When They’re Eligible
/ / / Opioids May Interfere with Parenting Instincts
/ / / Who Should Go to Mars?
In a new study, Penn researchers found that compared to the brains of healthy people, the brains of people with opioid dependence didn’t produce strong responses to the cute baby pictures, The New York Times reported. The research offered a glimpse into the addicted brain, finding that the drugs appear to blunt a person’s natural parenting instincts. Daniel Langleben, MD, an associate professor of Psychiatry, was quoted.
Steven R. Messé, MD, an associate professor in Vascular Neurology, was quoted in the Los Angeles Times for a study he led that suggested that “women and minorities may be undertreated” for ischemic strokes.
Elon Musk laid out his plan at a conference to colonize Mars, but who will be chosen to embark on a risky trip to colonize a harsh planet? The Verge asked Namni Goel, PhD, a research associate professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, about what kind of group is best suited for the mission.
/ / / Catching a Killer that Hides Deep in our Veins Deepak Sudheendra, MD, RPVI, an assistant professor of Clinical Radiology, was featured in a WHYY Radio piece about the challenges around making patients — and physicians — more aware of the symptoms and dangers of deep vein thrombosis. More than 60,000 people are killed by the blood clots each year.
CEO’s corner
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needs of women and girls in the Greater Philadelphia area, such as women’s maternal healthcare, girls’ empowerment programs, work readiness, and supportive housing and shelters for survivors of domestic violence. Our faculty and staff donated almost $200,000 to Penn Medicine, with the individual hospitals targeting that money for specific patient-centered programs. The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Hospital raised funds for the Safe Sleep Sack program, to reduce the incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in Philadelphia, and the Pharmacy Discharge Medication program, which provides prescription medications upon discharge to the most vulnerable populations. Penn Presbyterian Medical Center focused its efforts exclusively on the Pharmacy Discharge Medication program. This year PAH will support the medication program and the Supportive Care Program at Abramson Cancer Center while HUP will again support the Safe Sleep Sack and the medication programs.
/ / / Amazing Progress for Zion Harvey, First Child with Double Hand Transplant Media outlets across the nation checked back in with Zion Harvey, the nine-year-old boy who last summer became the first child in the world to receive a double hand transplant. “We’re still working very hard as a team. We’re still learning. We’re still engaged. We see Zion in the clinic. We ask questions. We challenge each other,” said L. Scott Levin, MD, FACS, chair of Orthopedic Surgery. A collaborative team led by Levin and Benjamin Chang, MD, an associate professor of Clinical Surgery in Plastic Surgery, performed the transplant, which took place at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
/ / / Twitter May Open Door to People’s Thoughts on Heart Health Reuters and several other outlets featured results from a study led by Raina M. Merchant, MD, MSHP, an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine and director of the Social Media and Health Innovation Lab, which demonstrated that Twitter can provide important information about heart disease, and that it represents a unique opportunity to listen to patients and understand more about what they talk about and care about related to cardiovascular health.
/ / / Should Transplant Surgeons Tell Patients Their Donor Was an Addict? STAT spoke with Emily Blumberg, MD, a professor Medicine and director of Transplant Infectious Diseases, about a quandary many transplant surgeons face: do they tell patients their donor died of an overdose?
/ / / Sugary Drink Warning Labels Work With Teenagers Teens are more than 15 percent less likely to say they would purchase soft drinks and other sugary beverages that include health warning labels, found a study by Christina Roberto, PhD, an assistant professor of Medical Ethics & Health Policy, and Eric M. VanEpps, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics. Their work was covered by several outlets.
Those numbers, and that generosity, tell you why this year’s slogan, Giving is Penn’s Way, is so appropriate. Everyone at the University and Penn Medicine — faculty and staff, physicians and nurses, administrators and students — understands that part of our collective social responsibility is to give back to our community. This shared spirit is also evident during additional annual efforts, such as the Philadelphia Heart Walk and the MS-150 City to Shore Bike Ride, which each raised more than $255,000 for their organizations this year. Everyone here lives out this culture daily. You see it in classrooms and labs, clinics and ERs, on campus and throughout the Philadelphia region, where we are immersed in our community as professionals and volunteers, friends and neighbors. This commitment is reflected in our themes for this year’s Penn’s Way campaign: nurturing dreams and aspirations, promoting health and advancing research, and strengthening families and communities. For the campaign itself, which ran from September 26 to November 11, we try to find ways to say thank you for your participation and generosity – though we are, of course, aware that people aren’t looking for a reward. One example is our weekly raffle, where Penn’s Way participants — who don’t have to donate money to participate; volunteer time counts, too — can win game tickets (Union soccer, Penn football), museum passes (Constitution Center, Philadelphia Museum of Art), restaurant gift cards (White Dog Cafe, Penne Restaurant & Wine Bar), event packages (Barnes Foundation, Helium Comedy Club), and more. This is one small way that we, and our donors, can let folks who join in the campaign know that they are appreciated. The final tally, which was just announced, shows that we raised over $1.7 million, exceeding our goal of $1.55 million! And for that I want to thank you, the Penn Medicine community, for your generosity, for your commitment, and for your inspiration.
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To reach the Penn Medicine news website, go to www.PennMedicine.org/news
Congratulations to the latest recipients of a Penn Medicine CAREs grant! Catrena Drake, CCA Project Well Balanced Dasha Saintremy, HUP Center of the Advocate Victoria Wilson, CPUP Saturday Enrichment Program Michelle Ferrant, PAH ICN Family Advisory Council: Electric Breast Pumps for Uninsured/Low Income Mothers `` Members of HR and Organizational Development helped collect healthy snacks for underprivileged children.
CCH Outreach Ensures Healthy Snacks for Kids Thanks to the generosity of employees at Chester County Hospital and a Penn Medicine CAREs grant, underprivileged children in their community will enjoy healthy snacks during the school year.
Arlene Brackett, CPUP Basketball Court Qunbin Xiong, HUP Asian Senior Cares Center Joan Wielgoszinski, CCA Justine’s Food Angels
Human Resources and Organizational Development at CCH took the lead on the Snack Bag project, which brought in hundreds of health snack donations. Then working with the hospital’s Volunteen program, Nancy Canfield, Benefits Coordinator at CCH, spent one Saturday with local high school students putting together over 300 snack bags that were distributed by the Chester County Food Bank. In addition, they assembled 125 dental health bags with a tooth brush, small tube of toothpaste — donated by Delta Dental and a local dentist — along with a bookmark reminding the kids to “Brush, Brush, every day! ”
Janet McMaster, PPMC WEPAC (West Philadelphia Alliance for Children)
“Penn Medicine Chester County Hospital employees have a compelling desire to ‘give back’ to our community,” said Jacqueline Felicetti, CHRO for the hospital. “It has been a pleasure working as a team to help these children.”
Ben Cocchiaro, PSOM Streetside Health Project Electronic Record Implementation & Sustainability Initiative
Go to http://news.pennmedicine.org/inside/system-news to learn more about CCH’s community outreach.
The Art of Grief: Transforming Loss into Legacy
`` Eric Trumbower, manager of Volunteer Services, with artist Tremain Smith
At Penn Wissahickon Hospice’s exhibition, “The Art of Grief,” at the Chestnut Hill Fall for the Arts Festival, people slowly took in the pairing of eight paintings and poems and, by the time they came to the end, they had tears in their eyes. When they met Tremain Smith, the artist who created the artwork and poetry in response to her mother’s death as part of the Hospice’s Bereavement Program, there was the long hug, followed by the sharing of loss stories. Finally, people expressed surprise that art was being used by the hospice to support people who suffered a loss.
“The art of grief is learning to turn toward rather than away from painful thoughts and feelings,” said Jeffrey Barg, LCSW, administrator of the Bereavement Program. “We help people do that with the creative arts such as music, painting, drawing, photography, poetry and prose.” Smith, whose earlier paintings are part the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, said that the exhibition made her feel her mother’s presence, something that she has been struggling to do ever since her mother’s death. The hospice is planning a larger exhibition of The Art of Grief with several people contributing their legacy art projects later next year.
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SPIRITUALITY
Bethany Thomas, HUP Medical Alert Bracelets to Epilepsy Patients Julie Yoon, CPUP Alphacare Stork Bus Program
Mathilda Lyons, HUP Interfaith Food Cupboard
LG Health Recognized for Reducing Opioids in Low-back Pain Treatment Low-back pain is the leading cause of disability in the United States. One major consequence of the condition, prescription opioid abuse, carries enormous societal burden. Lancaster General Health’s innovative, triple aim-focused approach to treating low-back pain has won the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania’s (HAP) Optimal Operations Award, for reducing opioid prescriptions, unnecessary invasive treatments and imaging services, as well as related costs. Joan M. Vance, LG Health administrative director of Neuroscience, said the new low-back pain protocol creates a standardized, cost-effective approach to care that provides safe and effective pain relief for patients. “Our goal is to avoid getting patients on opioids,” she said. “So far, we’ve reduced opioid use by 20 percent in the Emergency Department and 10 percent in the family practices.”
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Field trips to different religious or faith-based programs help students expand their knowledge and understanding of beliefs among people. “It’s an immersion experience in a religion, hearing the sound of it, being in the environment having conversations with the people. And learning how it affects their decisions about medical care,” said Rhoda Toperzer, who helped launch the summer internship. “There’s a very big difference between reading something and being a part of it.” Last summer’s visits took students to see a Muslim family, a Buddhist temple, a faith-based health center in North Philadelphia, and a Santería, a Cuban religious practice that blends African pagan practices with Catholicism. “It exposes students to different traditions, even if they disagree with it,” Toperzer said. “If patients feel comfortable talking with a physician, they’ll talk about these practices. Otherwise, they’ll keep it a secret.” The program also brings in guests to speak about different religious beliefs. “One of the patients I spoke with was Jewish and I felt connected because I had a deeper understanding of the traditions,” said Krystal Hill, also a second-year med student.
Photo credit: Dan Burke Photography `` Chaplain resident Pauline Jennett shows medical student Dominique Bohorquez the Pastoral Care documentation screens in PennChart, completed for every Trauma patient.
During the internship, the students are also instructed in mindfulness meditation to help them process their emotional reaction to loss and grief. “A provider who can take care of him or herself is better able to take care of patients,” DeLisser said. Additional certificate requirements, which students complete during their remaining three years at the PSOM, include lectures related to spirituality and health, additional observational experiences and an experience in counseling, advising or mentoring.
“Part of professional development is dealing with many kinds of emotional, psychological challenges,” DeLisser said. “Being able to engage that spiritual realm as a physician ultimately helps you do your work better. “My hope is that 10 years from now, these students will look back and see this program as one of the most important things they did during medical school … that it was transformative.”
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AWARDS AND ACCOLADES Millar Named 2016 Winner of FOCUS Award Sarah E. Millar, PhD, director of the Penn Skin Biology and Diseases Research-based Center, has been chosen at the 2016 winner of the FOCUS Award for the Advancement of Women in Medicine. The award recognizes a faculty member at Penn Medicine whose outstanding efforts and achievements have promoted career success, leadership and overall quality of life for Penn women in academic medicine. Millar has long had an interest in promoting women’s professional services. She served as chair of the Perelman School of Medicine’s Child Care Tast Force, leading the planning of a child care center at Penn Medicine, and also co-organized a symposium on Gender Bias in Scientific Publishing, focusing on productive ways to address issues of gender equity in publishing in top-tier journals. In addition, she has worked with the Office of Inclusion and Diverstiy to examine space and salary issues for women in the basic sciences.
Ronald Fairman, MD, chief of Vascular Surgery, was elected president of the Society for Vascular Surgery, a not-for-profit professional medical society that seeks to advance excellence and innovation in vascular health through education, advocacy, research and public awareness. Garret A. FitzGerald, MD, director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, received a 2016 Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad. The award recognizes his research which “has contributed substantially to the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease by low dose aspirin and has benefitted millions worldwide.” David Frankel, MD, of Cardiovascular Medicine, received the Physician 40 Under 40 Award from the Pennsylvania Medical Society. This new award honors early career physicians who are leaders in their field. Frankel’s work has impacted the way patients with cardiac arrhythmia disorders are treated around the world. Farzana Rashid Hossain, MD, of Gastroenterology, received a 2016 Women of Distinction Award from the Philadelphia Business Journal. The award recognizes women who have made a difference in their communities, blazed a trail for others, and are leaving a mark on Philadelphia business. J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, EVP of the Health System and dean of the Perelman School of Medicine, has been awarded the John Phillips Memorial Award for outstanding work in clinical medicine, by the American College of Physicians. The award is bestowed for outstanding, lifetime work in clinical medicine which has been innovative and/or had a regional or national impact. Carl June, MD, director of Translational Research in Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center, has been awarded a 2016 Novartis Prize for Clinical Immunotherapy for his work developing personalized cellular therapies for cancer using Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cells (CAR T cells). The technology modifies patients’ own cells to attack their cancers. Vincent Lo Re, MD, of Infectious Disease, received the 2016 HIV Medicine Association Research Award for his significant contributions to the field of HIV medicine.
Ralph Muller, CEO of the Health System, was named among the Philadelphia Business Journal’s “2016 Power 76,” a list of the most influential people in the region.
Two Win PBJ Health Care Innovator Award Mitesh Patel, MD, of General Internal Medicine, and Jason Moore, PhD, director of the Institute for Biomedical Informatics at Penn, received Health Care Innovator Awards from the Philadelphia Business Journal. Patel’s research focuses on studying innovative ways to change behaviors and improve health outcomes. Moore has developed cutting-edge computer research software to help biomedical researchers prioritize the vast array of data being generated
Penn Medicine Hospitals Reaccredited as Magnet for Nursing Excellence Three Penn Medicine hospitals — HUP, Penn Presbyterian, and Lancaster General Health — have each achieved Magnet reaccreditation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program®; this accreditation is the highest institutional honor awarded to hospitals to recognize excellence in nursing. All five Penn Medicine facilities, including Pennsylvania Hospital, and Chester County Hospital, have Magnet status. “This recognition reflects the tireless commitment by our interdisciplinary nursing teams to deliver exceptional care for patients and their families,” said Regina Cunningham, PhD, RN, senior VP and chief nursing executive for the Health System. “These efforts throughout Penn Medicine maintain our position at the forefront of nursing in clinical care, research, and professional practice.”
SYSTEMnews EDITORIAL STAFF: Sally Sapega, MA Editor
Volpe Represents Penn Medicine Among Healthcare Leaders
Trissy Laurito Graphic Design
ADMINISTRATION:
Susan E. Phillips Senior Vice President, Public Affairs Holly Auer Director of Communications
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3535 Market Street, Mezzanine Philadelphia, PA 19104 phone: 215.662.4488 fax: 215.349.8312 Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas for improving System News! E-mail the editor at sally.sapega@uphs.upenn.edu. `` Michele Volpe, CEO of Penn Presbyterian, represented Penn Medicine in a gathering of the region’s healthcare leaders to recognize and celebrate their organizations’ participation in the HealthShare Exchange of Southeastern Pennsylvania. HSX allows sharing of patient information for treatment purposes at the point of care.
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