Tampa Bay Medical News October 2015

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PHYSICIAN SPOTLIGHT PAGE 3

Matthew Couch, MD ON ROUNDS

Accelerating Telehealth

Tampa Innovation Alliance Aims to Transform, Enrich & Connect New Research and Innovation Zone By dANIEL CASCIATO

At the Telehealth Cornerstone Conference 2015, sponsored

by Florida TaxWatch and held Sept. 9-10 in Orlando, national speakers discussed hot-button issues to help Florida chart the course for telehealth policy

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Florida Hospital Partners with AutoNation Cure Bowl Mixing Football and Research When Orlando takes the national stage in NCAAF post-season play Dec. 19, Florida Hospital will play a major sponsorship role ...

Planning a Rebirth of Northern Tampa

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Former Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Mark Sharpe sees so much promise in the area he once helped oversee. In fact, last fall Sharpe was named executive director of the non-profit Tampa Innovation Alliance, a group formed by Busch Gardens, the University of South Florida (USF), Moffitt Cancer Center, Florida Hospital and RD Management, which purchased University Mall in December, to revitalize the 25,000 acres in the northern part of Tampa these institutions share, centered on 30th Street from Fletcher Avenue to Busch Boulevard.

It includes parts of Tampa, Temple Terrace and Hillsborough County.

As commissioner, Sharpe’s focus was to establish Hillsborough County as a bio-science/ (CONTINUED ON PAGE 6)

Tampa General Hospital CFO Named One of Nation’s Best Steve Short Discusses Challenges and Best Practices of Managing a Hospital’s Finances By dANIEL CASCIATO

In June, Steve Short, executive vice president and CFO of Tampa General Hospital since 2000, was named one of the nation’s “150 Hospital and Health System CFOs to Know” for 2015

by Becker’s Hospital Review. He was the only hospital CFO in Tampa Bay and one of seven in the state to top this year’s list.

Those who made this year’s list “help navigate their organizations through the stormy seas of healthcare reform and keep their ships upright during the shift to value-based healthcare,” according to the national trade publication.

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 8)

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OCTOBER 2015

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PhysicianSpotlight

Helping Others, Then and Now Childhood Event Inspired Surgeon Matthew Couch

By JEFF WEBB

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offer they went back to do some preliminary house hunting – in February. “It was raining, dreary and cold and Sherri made it clear I could take the job if I wanted, but she wasn’t following me,” he joked, “so we started looking for another job.”

Couch said he got a cold call from Albert Li, MD, who had found Couch’s CV online and asked if he had ever considered St. Petersburg. “It sounded great, so we checked it out. My wife liked it. I liked it.

And the practice liked me,” he said. That was 2008, and Couch has been with Li at

gym four or five days a week, but it is Sherri who is “the fitness fanatic. She goes to the gym every day, and sometimes twice a day.

I can’t let myself get too far behind.”

Couch, who is having a home built near Snell Island Marina, also has a boat and likes to stalk the inshore waters of lower Tampa Bay for redfish and snook. His fondness for fishing connects him to his childhood in Connecticut, where he pursued panfish on a rubber raft in the same lake where he made a difference in a floundering man’s life 32 years ago.

In an interesting way, that life-changing experience has come full circle. Couch is involved in a project that may prevent drownings in young people. “Not long ago a family in my neighborhood lost their child to a pool drowning. Similarly, a friend of my wife lost a child to a pool drowning in Texas. Most recently, there was a toddler who drowned in a resort pool in Orlando while the family was vacationing there,” Couch said. “This is not an issue of negligence. As a father of three I can attest to how quickly one child can escape your sight while trying to keep a close eye on the others.”

As a concerned father, “This led me to begin designing a lifesaving device that can be worn at all times, unobtrusively whenever the threat of drowning is present. Final plans and design are currently coming together and I hope to have a finished product within the year,” Couch said.

Prashant Sukharamwala, MD Liver, Pancreas and Foregut Surgery

BayCare Medical Group welcomes Dr. Prashant Sukharamwala who is board certified in general surgery. His specialties include treatment of benign and malignant tumors of the liver, bile duct, pancreas and esophagus. Dr. Sukharamwala’s practice includes robotics and singlesite laparoscopy, with numerous publications and presentations at the American College of Surgeons, the American Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association, the Pancreas Club and the Southeastern Surgical Congress.

Dr. Sukharamwala is the director of foregut and hepatobiliary surgery and gastrointestinal surgical oncology at St. Joseph’s Hospital.

Education ■ Doctor of Medicine – Government Medical College; Surat, India Fellowships

BC1506247-0915

ST. PETERSBURG - Matthew Couch has solid footing as one of the busiest general surgeons in St. Petersburg, but when he saved his first life he was skating on thin ice.

He was only 10 years old and he and his buddies were playing ice hockey on a frozen lake near his home in Columbia, Conn. Their fun was interrupted by the screams of a man from across the lake.

“A man had skated onto a thin part of the ice and fallen through. My friends skated to the shoreline to see if they could find a rope, but I didn’t think there was enough time, so I shimmied flat out on my belly to see if I could pull him out,” recalled Couch. “Fortunately, I was able to pull him from the water. My friends and I helped him back to shore and all was well.”

Couch received the Governor’s Award for Heroism for his instinctive, courageous act. His parents still have the newspaper article and photo on display in their home.

“My wife always gets a kick out of the deerin-the-headlight expression on my face, and the goofy sweater I was wearing,” he laughed.

But that cold day on the ice warmed Couch to the possibility of what could become his life’s work. “I believe that was the point that guided my future path. I knew I wanted to be involved in something that helps others or even saves lives. I did not know that ‘something’ was in medicine at the time, but the incident certainly pointed me in this direction,” said Couch.

Where he headed was the University of Connecticut. There, Couch earned an undergraduate degree in physiology and neurobiology in 1996. “I had medicine in mind, but I sort of got sidetracked in graduate school” at Emory University, where he received a Master of Public Health.

His father, a PhD chemical engineer, had patented a water treatment system for indoor aquaculture farms, and Couch joined him in launching a business. Their venture took them to Australia, but it didn’t really take off. He regrouped by entering medical school at Flinders University School of Medicine.

Couch spent a total of 5 years Down Under before deciding to return to the U.S. to complete his general surgical training and residency. Couch had options, he said, but his decision to choose Texas Tech University in Lubbock was perhaps fortuitous, because that is where he met his wife, Sherri.

“She was training as a physician assistant in the emergency department when I was doing my surgical training. We hit it off and were married a year later,” said Couch.

The couple was very close to returning to Couch’s New England roots. “We interviewed for a job in Massachusetts in July and loved it,” he said. But after he got the

Pinellas Surgical Associates since. Also in the practice are general surgeons Melissa Logan, MD, and Nagella Ravindra, MD. Couch said most of his surgical cases are at St. Petersburg General and Northside hospitals, but “probably weighing heavily toward St. Pete General because a really large chunk of my elective practices is robotic surgery. We are working together to create a center of excellence for robotic surgery,” he said. Those surgeries include “a lot of robotic hernia repairs and colon resections,” he said, as well as gall bladder removals, both robotic and incisional.

Couch values his association with St. Pete General. “The OR is well-managed.

The turnover time is second to none. The OR director does a really good job of making sure the pre-ops and post-ops run smoothly and efficiently,” he said. “In postoperative care, we just recently got a new ward so that the only patients there are surgical patients. The nurses they selected to run that unit are hand-picked,” he said.

Couch said he still makes his own patient rounds, and sometimes is supervised by the oldest of his three sons, 6-year-old Kaeden, whose extra-small lab coat and surgical scrubs make him an extra-large favorite with the nurses. His two younger brothers, Liam and Dylan, 2 years and 7 months, respectively, enjoy going on stroller jogs with their parents on the St. Petersburg waterfront.

Couch, 42, said he works out at the

■ Advanced Gastrointestinal and Hepatopancreaticobiliary – Florida Hospital; Tampa, Florida ■ Robotic Surgery – Florida Hospital; Tampa, Florida 2727 W. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Suite 460, Tampa

For a referral: (813) 879-5010

BayCareMedicalGroup.org OCTOBER 2015

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Accelerating Telehealth

Telehealth Cornerstone Conference 2015 Centered on Developing Strategies

By LyNNE JETER

At the Telehealth Cornerstone Conference 2015, sponsored by Florida TaxWatch and held Sept. 9-10 in Orlando, national speakers discussed hot-button issues to help Florida chart the course for telehealth policy.

Held just before legislative committee weeks began, Kristi Henderson, DNP, CFNP, discussed highlights of her work on telehealth issues concerning reimbursement and business arrangements with the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) and the U.S. Senate. Chris Gibbons, MD, MPH, Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the Connect2HealthFCC Task Force, talked about broadband use and the population health impact. Florida Medicaid Director Tom Arnold, state lawmakers, providers, businesses and Southeast Telehealth Resource Center Director Rena Brewer, RN, MA, also played key roles at the wellattended event, which centered on strategies to help generate consensus from the Florida government to develop policies and approved funding.

The event also served as a launching point for the FCC’s visit in late September and subsequent visit slated Dec. 3-4 for the 2nd Annual Florida Partnership for Tele-

Health Conference at The Alfond Inn in Orlando.

Despite its status as the third most populous state, Florida continues to lag behind the nation in telehealth initiatives, which industry leaders point to as the direct result of the lack of support from some legislators in state government.

“We need sound telehealth policies to facilitate – not stifle – innovation,” said attendee Nick Hernandez, MBA, FACHE, CEO of ABISA LLC, a Florida-based

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OCTOBER 2015

firm specializing in solo and small practice business management.

Even though one-third of all counties in Florida are considered rural, location restrictions exist concerning telehealth usage, leaving providers to shoulder investment costs, noted Hernandez.

“Telehealth promotes competition and thus we should see prices drop,” he said. “Telehealth is an effective delivery system for proNick viding quality care and Hernandez produces better utilization of limited healthcare resources. Additionally, the use of telehealth has revealed high patient satisfaction and demonstrated that patients prefer telehealth over travel or wait times.”

After several years of attempted legislation, the business and health industries pushed telehealth to the forefront heading into the 2014 legislation session, when four telemedicine bills – Senate Bill 70, House Bill 167, HB 751, and SB 1646 – were introduced. Even though the issue ultimate failed to pass as part of a surviving omnibus health bill package, it was championed heavily prior to the start of the 2015 legislative session and stood a significant chance of being enacting into law. The timing was prior to the legislative impasse, primarily centered on issues that included Medicaid expansion and Low Income Pool (LIP) funding, said Tamara Y. Demko, JD, MPH, a Florida TaxWatch telethealth consultant and primary author of “The 2015 Telehealth Legislative Wrap-Up” report released late summer by Florida TaxWatch.

Very importantly, proposed telehealth legislation didn’t address telehealth reimbursement.

“There have been several years of legislative attempts to tackle telehealth,” said Hernandez. “Telehealth has continually proven to increase access to care, reduce costs, improve outcomes, overcome geographic barriers, and reduce hospital admissions and readmissions. Some Florida

legislators, however, have concerns over potential fraud and abuse.”

At the Telehealth Cornerstone Conference, attendees discussed rethinking policy and the need to create legislative strategy for parity reimbursement.

“We discussed the need for state flexibility with Medicaid design and the development of contractual and risk-sharing agreements,” said Hernandez. “We agreed that we need to do a better job at data collection, pilot programs, and the statewide education of telehealth. There’s also a firm belief that Florida could be a worldwide virtual healthcare hub.”

Hernandez pointed to the University of Florida Health, an institution that has used telehealth in the field of pediatric diabetes with the impressive annual result of decreasing the length of hospital stays from 13 days to 3.5 days. Moffitt Cancer Center has also used telehealth as a means to provide consultations to cancer patients in South America, he said.

“Telehealth isn’t a separate medial specialty, but rather a conduit by which care is provided,” Hernandez explained.

“In Florida, 20 percent of personal income is spent on healthcare; the national average is 17 percent. The Alliance for Connected Care produced a study showing that telehealth consultations solve more than 80 percent of patient health complaints while cutting downstream costs in half.”

Discussion about telehealth issues will continue at the 2nd Annual Florida Partnership for TeleHealth Conference, to be held Dec. 3-4 at The Alfond Inn in Winter Park.

“The 2nd Annual 2015 Florida Telehealth Summit is the event to attend if you’re interested in being part of the movement to advance telehealth in Florida,” said Brewer. “Come to meet and network with those who are using technology to profoundly impact how healthcare is being delivered in Florida.”

Editor’s Note: Details of the upcoming Florida Partnership for TeleHealth Conference will follow in the November edition of Medical News.

SAVE-THE-DATE The 2nd Annual Florida Partnership for TeleHealth Conference will be held Dec. 3-4 at The Alfond Inn in Winter Park. Southeastern Telehealth Resource Center, Florida State University College of Medicine, and the Florida Partnership for TeleHealth are hosting the Florida-focused summit. For more information, contact Shea Ross or Kelley Kesler at shea.ross@ gatelehealth.org, Kelley.kesler@ gatelehealth.org or (866)-7544325.

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Florida Hospital Partners with AutoNation Cure Bowl Mixing Football and Research

By LYNNE JETER

When Orlando takes the national stage in NCAAF post-season play Dec. 19, Florida Hospital will play a major sponsorship role.

Florida Hospital, ranked the state’s leading hospital for the third consecutive year by U.S. News & World Report, is partnering with the AutoNation Cure Bowl to bring awareness to breast cancer and support for finding a cure. The unique partnership enhances a strong collaboration between the Adventist Health System and Annette Khaled, PhD, a leading breast cancer researcher at the University of Central Florida (UCF) School of Medicine working to develop new technologies that treat metastatic cancer cells.

“We strive to expand Florida Hospital’s mission – extending the healing ministry of Christ – outside the walls of our hospitals and into our communities,” said Lori Boardman, MD, medical director of Florida Hospital for Women. “This is carried out through a variety of ways – from holistic improvements in the Bithlo community, to our lung clinics that provide free care to the uninsured, to trying to reduce the diabetes rate in Eatonville. The partnership with the AutoNation Cure Bowl is one more way that we can bring healthcare, education and awareness directly to women in our communities without them ever having to walk through our hospital doors.”

The Saturday bowl game a week before Christmas between teams from the American Athletic and Sun Belt conferences is part of a five-year deal Florida Hospital signed with the Orlando Sports Foundation to bring a third college football bowl game to the Citrus Bowl.

Florida Hospital, among the nation’s largest not-for-profit healthcare providers with 22 campuses throughout the Sunshine State, focuses heavily on the critical

Left to right: Alan Gooch, executive director of Orlando Sports Foundation; Dr. Annette Khaled, UCF College of Medicine Associate Professor; Myra Biblowit, president of Breast Cancer Research Foundation; Dr. Lori Boardman, medical director of Florida Hospital for Women; Buddy Dyer, Orlando Mayor.

role that research plays in the development of prevention strategies and new treatments for cancers. Currently, Florida Hospital provides tissue samples from breast cancer patients to Khaled in her mission to develop new technologies to treat metastatic cancer cells.

“Florida Hospital’s mission is carried out not just inside our hospital walls, but also in research labs as we work toward common goals of finding cures for diseases,” said Boardman. “Although the nation’s goal for breast cancer screening is 81 percent, only 50 percent of women in Central Florida got a mammogram in 2014. Even though the occurrence of breast cancer has been decreasing, more than 230,000 women living in the U.S., will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer this year,” Boardman said. “These women deserve more of our time and resources. This new bowl game will help fur-

ther our mission by raising proceeds for breast cancer research and bringing an overall awareness to not just Central Florida, but football fans across the country.”

Proceeds from the bowl game will benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and foster greater collaboration between Florida Hospital and Khaled to identify specific types of patients her treatment could impact.

“The Cure Bowl is an innovative way to raise awareness and funds to find a cure,” said Sharon Line Clary, executive director of Florida Hospital strategic marketing. “We know women put their families and friends first, and frequently, their own health takes a backseat. That means women often don’t take preventative measures – such as mammograms – that could save their life. By working with the Orlando Sports Foundation and their partners, we can expedite the research process in hopes of finding a cure for breast cancer.”

Florida Hospital’s Cure Village will take place outside the Citrus Bowl and feature the healthcare system’s mobile mammography unit, the same mobile unit taken on Florida roads to rural communities throughout the year to provide lifesaving screenings for women who cannot easily access mammograms.

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 6)

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Planning a Rebirth of Northern Tampa, continued from page 1 technology incubator. By working with both the city and county, he helped transform the district into a job-creating center. Now, as leader of the alliance, he hopes he can do the same for this neighborhood by attracting new businesses, developing housing, and creating a research and innovation zone where people would want to live, work and play.

Sharpe believes there is no reason why this downtrodden area cannot thrive. After all, this area is anchored already by a major university, a health care institution, and an entertainment center—all the ingredients that can transform this area into a powerful economic region and also a major draw.

Founded in 2011, the alliance struggled in the early years of its formation because there was no unified vision and plan for the new innovation district. That’s where Sharpe came in.

He was approached by USF president Judy Genshaft and leaders of the other organizations to lead the organization.

Sharpe welcomes the challenge.

“The area around these anchor institutions are still relatively poor, lowincome, and transient,” he said. “The organization’s job is to form a partnership of businesses as well as other forprofit and non-profit organizations, and develop a master plan that would allow us to build a coherent and unified innovation district, similar to the models that you see with the Cortex in St. Louis, University City in west Philadelphia, and Tech Square in Midtown Atlanta.”

After starting with the four pri-

mary organizations—Busch Gardens, USF, Moffitt Cancer Center and Florida Hospital Tampa—the alliance has since grown to 70 member organizations, a feat that Sharpe is proud of.

Some recent members include Florida Blue, Tampa Bay Rays, and Tampa Bay Lightening. Sharpe noted that anyone can join at different membership levels—as an individual, small company, large institution, or board of director members.

Sharpe and his team meet every other Friday morning for coffee with its members at University Mall. Known as TEC Coffees (Transforming, Enriching & Connecting), they discuss current initiatives as well as elicit open discussion regarding issues facing local citizens and businesses.

In addition, the alliance also holds industry-specific workshops focusing on the real estate development, bio-tech, medical, and educational fields to gain a better understanding of the challenges these communities face in the alliance area.

“I envision this to be a place where we can continue to attract businesses, but I also envision a place people elect to stay,” said Sharpe. “That will be a big difference. When people decide this is where they want to live and work, they treat it a little differently and look at it differently.”

The alliance is now working with the county and the cities of Tampa and Temple Terrace to start planning for the area’s revitalization. The alliance’s current initiatives include developing a master plan bringing together the an-

chor institutions, government partners and community to establish a diverse membership network. It also plans to establish a member-driven five-year strategic plan. The county has already pledged $2 million in its proposed fiscal 2016 budget towards the master plan.

Long-term goals include reworking the pedestrian crossings and the major corridors along Fletcher, Fowler and Busch; and potentially seeking state funding for neighborhoods in the district. The alliance is also analyzing the idea of using fixed transit to connect the innovation district and Tampa’s downtown.

As he looks ahead, Sharpe expects the district to make a significant impact on the healthcare community. In addition to being anchored by two healthcare stalwarts, Moffitt Cancer Center and Florida Hospital, USF leads the nation in patent production. Sharpe said its objective is to lead the nation in the commercialization and licensing of these patents. The alliance also wants to enhance the life sciences industry in the region.

“This area will contribute dramatically to the life sciences and healthcare field, and it’s because of our partners,” he said. “Healthcare is changing in only ways we can imagine and I want to make sure that this area is the center of that conversation and the people who live here are participating. We will engage and network with others near us and across the country and become part of that conversation. I would encourage people to watch us, join us and come to Tampa Bay because it’s beautiful here.”

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AutoNation, continued from page 5

Annette Khaled, PhD, assistant professor in the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Central Florida (UCF) School of Medicine, has generated more than $1 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study how the death protein BAX is activated to cause the death of immune cells. This area of research holds promise in finding cures for cancer and neurodegenerative disease. She has additional funding from NIH to study interleukin-7, a critical factor for maintenance of a healthy immune system, and for promoting the growth and survival of immune cells.

“Florida Hospital is in the midst of planning for the event and has engaged other community partners, physicians and organizations with shared missions to participate,” said Line Clary. “The game will be a wonderful opportunity for breast cancer survivors and community advocates such as Florida Hospital’s Pink Army – a community initiative that increases awareness about early detection and prevention of breast cancer – to show their support, raise awareness and help to find a cure.”

The AutoNation Cure Bowl between teams from the American Athletic and Sun Belt conferences is part of a five-year deal Florida Hospital signed with the Orlando Sports Foundation to bring a third college football bowl game to the Citrus Bowl.

The Dec. 19 event represents only the second game to be held in the reconstructed Citrus Bowl, and the first since the facility reached 100 percent completion earlier this year. Ticket holders will notice wider aisles, chair-back seats with more legroom in an all-new lower bowl, and a 15,000-square-foot deck highlighting a new plaza level that encircles the stadium.

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Annual Survey Shows ACOs Still Struggling with Interoperability

By RON VATALARO and DAVID RICE

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are coming together around the country to deliver a more efficient and effective brand of healthcare, but getting their IT systems to work together continues to be a big challenge to progress.

In August 2015, Premier, Inc. and the eHealth Initiative released their third annual survey of ACOs to measure how interoperable IT systems are across these provider networks. The goal of the survey was to determine the current level of interoperability of the 69 ACOs which responded, what challenges they face and to look at their data use and analytics platforms.

This is important, because interoperable health IT allows providers to gather and put to use health data that can improve care as the patient goes across the care spectrum, from seeing a physician to receiving tests and treatments or filling a prescription and participating in home monitoring.

The ACO landscape is only just beginning to coalesce, so the approaches to improving and expanding the necessary IT framework capabilities in the healthcare industry are still developing and large in variety. A set of best practices is not yet in place.

Challenges Ahead The results of the survey show there is no shortage of work to be done to get the nationwide healthcare IT landscape to where it needs to be. While systems are getting better, poor interoperability due to the disparity between systems plagues the ability of ACOs to achieve their desired effect on delivering streamlined healthcare.

Among the issues to negatively affect the work of the ACOs were: • Data integration: Impacted 62 percent of respondents • Change management: Impacted 55 percent of respondents • Access to data outside the organization: Impacted 78 percent of respondents • Obtaining commitment to participate from providers: Impacted 33 percent of respondents • Cost of new technology: Impacted 38 percent of respondents The numbers are an improvement over those reflected in the 2014 survey, where 100 percent of respondents said that access to data outside of their networks was a significant challenge. That year, 88 percent said they faced significant challenges integrating data from outside sources.

While the processes are getting better and the numbers surrounding these issues

improving, the costs have not. Providers have been frustrated by interoperability issues, the survey showed, though the level of that frustration has decreased between 2014 and 2015 by more than 50 percent.

The implementation of electronic health records (EHRs) was a difficult development for the medical community to deal with in the last few years, but recent data shows that EHRs are proving to be more efficient and effective in helping to improve patient care. The impact of health IT is being felt around healthcare organizations in a profound way that is showing up in medical insights and the actions of healthcare professionals.

But there is also an incredible amount of analytical data to emerge from all this information sharing that as of yet, has not been used in a way that fulfills its potential.

The key to analytics is interoperability, but the cost of increasing interoperability and training staff to be more analytically oriented remain as hurdles for ACOs to clear.

Other pieces that have yet to fall into place in the bigger healthcare puzzle, such as data integration and care coordination, will be important developments in the coming years.

In addition, using patient friendly tools that can improve efficiency, such as e-prescribing, patient web portals, self-service

scheduling, telemedicine, remote monitoring devices, personal health records and mobile phone apps, may be the first step in the right direction when it comes to reducing administrative headaches.

At this juncture, ACOs all over the country are at different stages when it comes to aggregating and putting patient data to use. The bigger, more sophisticated ACOs have “big data” warehouses, but others have yet to create the storage spaces that will allow them to combine information from across the spectrum of care.

Those smaller providers are a step behind, relying on data pooled by partner providers or through their own EHR systems.

As the ACO market becomes larger, smaller companies increasing their interoperability will create a level of efficiency the healthcare marketplace has not previously seen.

Ron Vatalaro works at Bisk Education with USF Health Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida and writes about health informatics. Ron holds an advanced degree in Business Administration with a concentration in technology. He can be reached at ronaldvatalaro@bisk.com.

David Rice writes for Jacksonville University on behalf of Bisk Education, covering health informatics and nursing.

He is a graduate of the University of South Florida’s Mass Communications program.

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Tampa General Hospital CFO Named One of Nation’s Best, continued from page 1 Noted for being a dynamic and effective leader with strong financial and strategic capability, this is the second year in a row Short made the list. After steering the hospital to another strong financial performance in the past year, Tampa General received a credit upgrade.

Short holds an MBA from Indiana University and a bachelor‘s degree in accounting from Arizona State University. Prior to joining Tampa General, he was vice president of operations and CFO of the University of Louisville (Ky.) Hospital for five years.

Previously, Short served as assistant vice president of finance at University of Louisville Hospital and was a financial specialist at Humana Hospital of San Antonio, Texas, now known as Metropolitan Methodist Hospital.

The role of hospital CFOs have gradually expanded over the past decade. In addition to the core responsibilities of financial reporting, planning, treasury, and capital structure, today’s CFOs are now playing a greater role in strategic man-

agement. Tampa Medical News recently chatted with Short about the changing role of CFOs as well as some of the challenges today’s CFOs face in an evolving healthcare environment.

As the healthcare industry continues to evolve rapidly, are there skills that CFOs need today that may not have been essential five years ago?

Yes, a CFO now needs to be more strategic, or at least be a partner with the

Don’t Miss the Big Event From industry conferences and continuing educational units to fun ways to support the area’s many non profits ... check the online calendar for healthcare happenings.

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CEO, making strategic decisions. You have to be able to understand more complex treasury-type of issues, for instance such as your debt structure or your investment structure. Those are more complex than they were five years ago. As a CFO, you also have to understand more complex corporate structure as you look to do joint ventures. The legal and regulatory environments are so much more complex.

As I look at what I deal with today compared to five years ago, these are certainly things I feel like I would need to be more familiar with and understand more than I used to.

It seems as if the role of hospital and health system CFO is evolving into a more strategic role.

What is the biggest challenge for hospital and health system CFOs in transitioning into a more strategic role?

The challenge is trying to have balance between insuring that the current operation continues performing as well as it can, but also looking out to the future, you need to do it more strategically. So it’s balancing and focusing on now while being the best you can from a financial standpoint with what you need to strategically in the future. For example, with reimbursement models moving toward value instead of volume, CFOs will have to work more closely with their CMOs and other clinical leaders. To do this, it’s absolutely critical to break down the silos between the financial and clinical teams that often exist within healthcare systems.

You won’t be successful if you don’t break down these silos.

What advice do you have for other CFOs on going beyond

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the typical CFO duties and getting involved in other aspects of the business?

You need to form strong multidisciplinary teams that can look at all of the different aspects of some of the new initiatives you are examining, such as shifting from fee-for-service to fee-for-value. It’s absolutely critical to have good, strong teams set up to deal because the issues that come your way are not always CFO-related. They make their way through and affect all aspects of an organization.

What are some of the best practices for running the finance team of a hospital or health system?

For me, it goes back to forming the right team and having the right people at the table at all times. You need to have people who are really good at what they do and have a deep understanding of how certain decisions will impact into their areas. Then you need to be able to sit down and work through those decisions together as a team.

What do you believe is the greatest challenge facing hospital and health system CFOs today?

One of the biggest financial challenges we are currently facing are the dramatic changes going on both at a market level and governmental level. It’s preparing for the dramatic changes going on in today’s healthcare environment, and positioning your organization in a way that, financially, has the resources to do what it needs to do.

In the last year, what has been your greatest accomplishment as CFO? I’m most proud of our financial performance in the last year. It was excellent and resulted in the hospital receiving a credit upgrade. I’m also proud of several of the strategic joint ventures we have done in the past year.

What is one goal you have for the next year and how will you achieve it?

My plan is to continue acting on many of the strategic initiatives we’ve implemented over the past year. As I focus on the upcoming year, that’s what I primarily think about.

What is one lesson you’ve learned during your tenure you’d like to share with other CFOs? Success comes from an ability to form good teams and to work together as teams within the organization. ta m pa b ay m e d i c a l n e w s

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GrandRounds Venice Heart Surgeon Dr. Fong Joins SMH Cardiac Team Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is pleased to announce that Cardiovascular Surgeon Jonathan Fong, MD, FACS, has joined the health system’s First Physicians Group (FPG) this month.

Dr. Fong, a cardiac surgeon who led Ven- Dr. Jonathan Fong ice Regional Bayfront Health’s cardiac surgery team for the past 12 years, will join Sarasota Memorial Cardiac Surgeons Jeffrey Sell, MD, Paul Vesco, MD, Thomas Kelly, MD, and Jonathan Hoffberger, DO. The cardiovascular/thoracic surgery practice, part of the hospital-owned First Physicians Group, is located in the Heart and Vascular Services building on S. Tamiami Trail.

In addition to general cardiovascular/thoracic surgery, Dr. Fong’s specialty and practice focus will include: • Complex Aortic Surgery • Thoracic/Endovascular Aneurysm Repair (TEVAR/EVAR) • Aortic Aneurysm Repair Dr. Fong’s skills also will enhance and complement the group’s work in minimally invasive mitral valve repair and surgical treatment of Atrial Fibrillation (MAZE Procedure) and valve disorders (TAVR).

Dr. Fong’s decision to join the Sarasota Memorial team comes at a time of significant growth for the health system’s cardiac surgery program. In 2012, Sarasota Memorial affiliated with Columbia University Medical Center Division of Cardiac Surgery, which helped SMH hand-pick Dr. Sell to expand and advance its cardiac surgery program.

The Columbia affiliation, which provides collaborative training opportunities and accelerates Sarasota Memorial’s ability to pioneer new technology and innovative treatment options, has helped attract top-notch specialists to the hospital.

Dr. Fong worked for 15 years as a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon with the Ocala Heart Institute, helping it open cardiac surgery programs in Venice, Winter Haven, Stuart and Citrus County, Fla., and before that served as an attending cardiothoracic surgeon at Rochester General Hospital in New York. He has performed more than 5,000 cardiovascular and thoracic surgeries with outcomes that helped his practices attain top 50 and top 100 designations over several years.

Largo Medical Center is First Hospital in Tampa Bay To Receive Quality Achievement Award For AFib Care Largo Medical Center is proud to be the first hospital in the Tampa Bay area to receive the Get With The Guidelines®–AFIB Bronze Quality Achievement Award during Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Month. The award was ta m pa b ay m e d i c a l n e w s

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presented to hospital CEO, Anthony Degina, recognizing the outstanding achievements of Largo Medical Center in implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology/Heart Rhythm Society. The award was presented during an Afib educational seminar in front of a large crowd at the hospital.

Get With The Guidelines-Heart AFIB was developed to assist healthcare professionals to provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines for patients with atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat that can lead to stroke and other complications.

Largo Medical Center earned the award for meeting specific quality achievement measures at a set level for a designated period. These measures include proper use of medications and aggressive risk reduction therapies such as safe anticoagulants to prevent stroke.

Also evaluated is the use of medications to stabilize the heart rate and rhythm and other medications needed to treat additional heart disease. Before they are discharged, patients also receive education on managing their condition and stroke risk, counseling if needed, and plans on follow-up care.

Moffitt Cancer Center Transitions to Florida Cancer Specialists and Research Institute Leadership Effective October 16, 2015, the medical practice known as Florida Cancer Specialists and Research Institute (FCS) will begin providing all cancer treatment services in the Sharon Morse Office Building located on the campus of The Villages Regional Hospital (TVRH).

Medical services to be offered include medical oncology, radiation oncology and chemotherapy, all in one convenient golf car accessible location, and under one medical administrative structure.

For the past five years TVRH had contracted with the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa to operate its radiation treatment services at the Sharon Morse location.

The initial understanding was that over time, additional services would gradually be added to reach the goal of a comprehensive cancer treatment center at The Villages, similar to what Moffitt provides in the Tampa area. However, recently TVRH received notification from the leadership of Moffitt that the strategy of expanding services beyond their current scope (providing physician specialists in the area of radiation therapy) was no longer going to be an option.

The new agreement between The Villages Regional Hospital and Florida Cancer Specialists enables board-certified radiation oncologist Sachin S. Kamath, MD, previously a Moffitt physician providing care at the center, to join FCS. Dr. Kamath will remain the primary physician provider for all radiation oncology treatments at the same location and will

work with the same clinical and support team, ensuring that there is seamless continuity for patients. The same leading edge technology—including the Varian TruBeam, ™ which provides the most advanced precision in radiotherapy treatment—will remain in place and will be utilized as appropriate.

In addition, over the coming weeks sections of the offices formerly occupied by Moffitt will be renovated, so that all Florida Cancer Specialists offices currently in The Villages can be consolidated at the new location. When these renovations are completed, it will result in the creation of The Villages’ first truly comprehensive cancer treatment center, with all treatment modalities conveniently located in one location on the ground floor of the Sharon Morse Office Building.

A letter is being sent to all current Moffitt Cancer Center patients announcing this transition. This letter also contains information on how patients can gain access to their medical records either electronically or in paper format in order to transfer them over to FCS or another provider.

Manatee Memorial Hospital First in the Region to Offer the Watchman™ LAAC Implant Device for AF Manatee Memorial Hospital is the first hospital in the region to offer patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) an alternative to long-term warfarin medication with the newly approved WATCHMAN™ Left Atrial Appendage Closure (LAAC) Implant.

The Watchman LAAC is implanted through a small needle puncture in the groin area. It looks like a tiny parachute made out of flexible mesh and springy wires. It is guided through a catheter up into a patient’s heart where it can filter potential blood clots and prevent a possible stroke.

Cardiologists performed the first two procedures on Friday, September 11 at Manatee Memorial’s Heart and Vascular Center. Daniel E. Friedman, M.D., F.C.C.A., F.H.R.S., Srinivas Iyengar, M.D., F.C.C.A. and Eugene M. Parent, M.D., F.C.C.A. from Bradenton Cardiology Center worked as a team running pre-tests and performing the implants.

Pediatric Associates of Sarasota Joins SMH’s First Physicians Group Sarasota Memorial Health Care System welcomes one of Sarasota’s longstanding pediatric practices into its First Physician Group (FPG). Pediatric Associates of Sarasota officially joins the hospital-owned network of primary and specialty physicians under the new practice name FPG Pediatrics at Lakewood Ranch.

The first FPG group dedicated solely to the care and treatment of children, the practice includes Pediatric Associates’ longtime pediatricians Robert Shamsey, MD, and Katherine Keeley, MD, who have held multiple leadership positions at Sarasota Memorial since joining the medical staff in 1975 and 1990, respectively, as well as pediatricians Wendy Hurwitz, MD, Charlotta Langley, MD, and Rene Sueiro, MD, who also have been in practice with the group and on Sarasota Memorial’s medical staff for many years. Prior to joining Pediatric Associates, Drs. Langley and Sueiro also served as Pediatric Hospitalists at Sarasota Memorial.

The addition of the pediatric group expands the number of FPG practices to 24 and primary and specialty care physicians to more than 100, including 11 in the group who are dual board-certified in Internal Medicine/Pediatrics. The growth of the hospital-owned group reflects a national concern over the worsening shortage of physicians across the country and the federal government’s focus on population health, an evolving healthcare delivery system that encourages more collaboration and partnerships among providers to better prevent disease and promote the health of patients.

Besides a name change, there will be virtually no detectible changes for patients.

All of the physicians will continue to see patients in their Lakewood Ranch office.

(L-R): Katherine Keeley, MD; Wendy Hurwitz, MD; Charlotta Langley, MD; Rene Sueiro, MD; and Robert Shamsey, MD.

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GrandRounds Largo Medical Center Receives Recognition in U.S. News & World Report – Best Hospital Edition Quality standards and exclusive rankings earn Largo Medical Center a spot in the 2015 Best Hospital edition of U.S. News & World Report. The hospital is recognized for implementing the latest research-based treatment guidelines for patients through the American Heart Association / American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines program. Get With The Guidelines® is a hospital-based quality improvement program created to ensure hospitals consistently care for heart and stroke patients using the most up-to-date guidelines and recommendations.

During 2015, the care that Largo Medical Center’s staff provides was recognized with: • Gold Plus for Quality Achievement in Heart Failure • Gold Plus for Quality Achievement in Stroke • Mission Lifeline: Silver Plus in Quality Achievement for Heart Attacks • Honor Roll participant in the Target: Stroke quality achievement program

Sarasota Surgeon, SMH Ranked Best in Florida for Prostate Removal A Sarasota surgeon is ranked among the best in Florida for prostate removal in ProPublica’s first-ever Surgeon Scorecard.

The nonprofit news organization used Medicare data from 2009-2013 to calculate complication rates for nearly 17,000 surgeons operating at 3,575 hospitals nationwide in eight common elective surgeries.

When it came to radical prostatectomy (prostate removal), local Urologic Surgeon Robert Carey, MD, was the highest rated surgeon with the lowest adjusted complication rates in the state in his subspecialty. His score also boosted Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where he performs the highest volume of cases, to the top of the state chart.

Dr. Carey, who heads Sarasota Memorial’s Robotic Uro-Gyn Epicenter and trains surgeons from across the nation in specialized robotic surgical techniques, had the lowest adjusted complication rates for prostate removals in Florida – just 2 percent, according to the online database. Overall, complication rates across all surgeons ranged from 2 to 4 percent, depending on surgery type, according to the ProPublica analysis.

The study excluded non-elective cases (trauma, ER and other high-risk cases) more likely to result in complications beyond a surgeon’s control and used standardized methods to adjust for a patient’s age and health and overall performance of each hospital.

Dr. Carey said ProPublica’s score-

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card is a useful tool people can use to research and talk to physicians before scheduling elective surgeries, but he stressed that they also should review other quality measures, including the experience and outcomes of the hospital’s surgical team, when choosing where and from whom to receive care.

For information about ProPublica’s Surgeon Scorecard, visit: https://projects.propublica.org/surgeons/

Obstetrics & Gynecology of Trinity Announces the Appointment of Reut Bardach, MD, as Medical Director Obstetrics & Gynecology of Trinity announces the appointment of Reut Bardach, MD, FACOG as Medical Director. She has begun seeing patients at her practice located in Trinity.

Bardach is board certified in obstetrics and gyDr. Reut necology. She comes to Bardach OB/GYN of Trinity from MyGynecologist where she served as an OB/GYN physician. She is a daVinci trained minimally invasive surgeon with an equally busy obstetric and gynecologic patient base.

Bardach completed residency at St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan, where she was a five time recipient of the Medical Student Teaching Award. She received her medical degree from the American University of the Caribbean, School of Medicine, St. Maarten, Netherland Antilles. She also holds a Master of Arts degree in psychology with emphasis on neuropsychology from the University of Northern Colorado and a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of Central Florida in Orlando where she was a five time recipient of the Dean’s List Award.

She is a fellow of the American College of Obstetrics & Gynecologists and a member of the American Medical Association. Her areas of interest include high risk obstetrics, endometriosis, infertility, robotic surgery and abnormal uterine bleeding.

New patients ages 12 through geriatrics are always welcome. Dr. Bardach is fluent in English and Hebrew.

TGH Stroke Program Earns National Recognition The stroke program at Tampa General Hospital is one of just 11 in Florida, and the only one in the Tampa Bay region, to earn the highest recognition from the American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association’s Get With the Guidelines® - Stroke quality improvement program.

TGH earned the STROKE Target Stroke Honor Roll ELITE PLUS recognition as part of a series of national awards given each year to hospitals that meet quality patient care and outcomes guidelines in

heart, stroke, and resuscitation care.

TGH earned Elite Plus recognition by ensuring at least 75 percent of eligible stroke patients received prompt treatment to restore blood flow to the brain within 60 minutes of arriving at the hospital – critical to limiting stroke damage. Additionally, the hospital also met the requirement of starting blood flow treatment within 45-minutes for at least 50-percent of eligible stroke patients.

Under Get With the Guidelines – Stroke treatment guidelines, stroke patients are started on aggressive therapies and medications that can help improve patient care and outcomes.

Hospitals must follow these measures at a set level over a designated period of time to be eligible for the achievement awards.

St. Anthony’s Hospital’s Faith Community Nursing Conference Offers Hope After Cancer Diagnosis St. Anthony’s Hospital’s Faith Community Nursing team will bring physicians, survivors and caregivers together for the daylong conference, Cancer: Hope for Tomorrow on Friday, Oct. 16. Treatments, resources and survivorship will be among the main topics of the conference.

The free conference, which is in its sixth year and focuses on a different topic each year, will be from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Pasadena Community Church, 227 70th St. S, St. Petersburg. Education on prostate cancer, skin cancer, breast cancer and other commonly diagnosed cancers will be available. Participants also will have the opportunity to submit questions to be addressed by a panel of oncology physicians, a nutritionist, cancer survivors and a financial specialist.

Dr. Robert Miller, a St. Anthony’s physician who specializes in internal medicine and therapeutic radiology, will be the keynote speaker. Dr. Miller will discuss common cancers, treatments and their side effects and discuss the important role of the caregiver in the patient’s treatment.

Other speakers include: • Eric Diner, MD, a urologist, will discuss male cancers and prostate cancer.

• Ronsha’ Brown, ARNP, who will discuss new medicines and treatments for cancer.

• Fr. John Mullet, St. Anthony’s director of pastoral care, and Rev. Mardie Chapman, St. Anthony’s pastoral care, will speak about spirituality and the healing arts.

• Ronda Buffington, RN, St. Joseph’s Hospital oncology community outreach resource nurse, will talk about survivorship.

For information or to register, call (727) 825-1709.

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Content and accuracy of the releases is the sole responsibility of the issuer.

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