Western Pennsylvania Healthcare News

Covering healthcare news in the Pittsburgh region and beyond.

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Strong Practice Leaders Understand the Competition

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By Nick Hernandez

Practice managers must be keenly aware of what competing practices are doing as well as practices outside of their catchment area. Practice management requires a firm focus on the competition; identifying its strengths and vulnerabilities is crucial. Since managing a successful practice requires decision and action based on situational awareness, identification of your competition’s expectations and preparations is also important.

Because the healthcare landscape is changing so rapidly, accurate and timely information regarding what competing practices are doing is a prerequisite for success. It is said that Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (an intelligent German WWII commander dubbed the “Desert Fox”) once declared, “It is not that one general is more brilliant or experienced than the other; it is a question of which general has a better appreciation of the battlefield.”

This is why I maintain that knowledge of your competition is a key function of effective practice management. To be clear, practice management is about making and executing decisions, but a market analysis can help support a smart decision-making process. [Read more…]

The Rise of the “-ists”: A Model Offering New Opportunities and Challenges for Locum Tenens Physicians

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Turner Bio PicBy Joseph Turner

The hospitalist model of care has spread like wildfire since its introduction 20 years ago. In the mid-1990s, there were fewer than 1,000 hospitalists practicing in the United States; today, there are more than 44,000 in approximately 72 percent of U.S. hospitals. Hospitalist programs have been shown to more than pay for themselves by improving outcomes, reducing length of stay and enhancing hospital efficiency. Primary care physicians like them because hospitalists reduce their rounding responsibilities, and patients like them because they receive greater focus and attention during their hospital stays.

This model has proven so effective that it has sparked another trend: the rise of other “-ists.” Laborists, for example, are obstetrician/gynecologist physicians who work full-time in a hospital, delivering babies, rather than seeing patients in an office setting like a traditional OB/GYN.

In a 2011 survey by Today’s Hospitalist, more than 75 percent of the hospitalists interviewed said they worked in hospitals exclusively, but there was a significant segment that branched out into other settings such as skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), long-term acute care (LTAC) and hospice/palliative care services. In particular, transitionalists as they’re known—hospitalists who work part of the time outside of acute care in LTAC or SNFs—are drawing attention for their potential not only to help hospitals improve patient care, but also to help them reduce length of stay and avoid financial penalties for preventable readmissions.1  Subspecialties in neurology, orthopedics, and general surgery are other areas in which the hospitalist model is being applied beyond the role of primary care.
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Starting with a CLEAN SLATE

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Nick JacobsBy Nick Jacobs

In the book “Change or DIE” there is a reference to the fact that, when confronted with life altering decisions, about 90% of us make the choice not to change, not because we are suicidal or obtuse, but because resisting change seems to be built into our DNA.

Immediately before my son went to college, he appeared in the kitchen and asked us if he could “get some things off his chest.”   He wanted to start this next part of his life with a clean slate.   The first thing that came out of his mouth was, “Dad, your car does go 140mph,” and that was the beginning of about thirty very uncomfortable minutes of reconciliation.

As we enter the New Year, there is at least one thing that I’d like to “get off my chest,” because it has become increasingly apparent to me that I’m conflicted.  I’ve always embraced the underdog in both my life and my career.  As a teacher, my personal mission was usually wrapped around helping some kid who could have easily gone to the dark side.  This typically was accomplished by motivating him or her into attaining a goal that was perceived to be unattainable.  It was a “Climb every mountain“ scenario where their own self-worth became evident to them, and they realized that all of life does not have to be bad.   Many of those students are still my friends decades later.

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Healthcare Leaders Emerge through Volunteer-Recruitment Collaborations

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Jeffrey H. Finkelstein copyBy Jeffrey H. Finkelstein

When it comes to demonstrating leadership, amazing things happen when healthcare professionals and volunteer organizations collaborate to meet the needs of the community.

Case in point: A Russian immigrant woman’s gum disease was so advanced that, ashamed of her appearance, she had given up laughter. Hand over mouth, she arrived at the Squirrel Hill Health Center (SHHC) desperate for dentures, so her dental problem would not be an embarrassment at her son’s upcoming wedding. She had no money for dentistry, no dental insurance. She could not speak English. Nevertheless, the center’s Russian translator was able to refer her to William Spatz, DMD, a dentist and oral surgeon, who provided care at no charge to the immigrant. Dr. Spatz said that after treatment, the change in the patient was “like the difference between night and day.”

Thanks to the efforts of a growing number of physicians who are part of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Maimonides Society, such outcomes are becoming even more frequent at the SHHC.

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Altoona Regional Moves Forward with UPMC

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Jerry Murray, CEO of Altoona Regional Hospital

The boards of directors of Altoona Regional Health System and parent company Central Pennsylvania Health Services Corporation have signed a nonbinding letter of intent to negotiate an affiliation with UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center), a world-class academic medical center.

UPMC was ranked No. 10 in the prestigious U.S. News & World Report annual Honor Roll of America’s Best Hospitals in 2012 and No. 1 in Pennsylvania, with 15 adult specialty areas ranked for excellence.

The letter of intent follows the announcement in November of Altoona Regional’s decision to pursue affiliation talks with UPMC and is the result of comprehensive discussions held since then.

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Southwest Medical Center, Inc. Appoints New CEO

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Southwest Medical Center, Inc.one of the valleys premier medical facilities, recently announced the appointment of Lori A. Spina as Chief Executive Officer, effective May 11, 2012.  Joining the company in 1996, Spina served most recently as Administrator of the organization, where she continued her established track record of growing the company.

This announcement is part of a series of strategic actions by the company to expand its presence in the Mon Valley as a leading provider of medical care in the adjoining counties.    Southwest Medical Center was established in Bentleyville in 1988 with only two employees.  To date, it now employs 47 medical professionals at three locations, Bentleyville, Charleroi and California. Spina’s  future plans include expanding the company to the Finleyville and Rostraver areas.

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WPHIMSS Board of Directors Nominations Extended to June 15

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Interested health care professionals are asked to submit their nomination by email by the end of the business day June 15, 2012.   If you want to nominate yourself or someone else for one of the available WPHIMSS Board of Directors positions and your and/or your nominee meets the eligibility requirements (see below), please forward which Board of Director position the nomination is for, along with a professional biography (see examples at www.wphimss.org under “About WPHIMSS (Board of Directors)”  to elections@wphimss.org.  If you have any questions regarding serving on the WPHIMSS Board, feel free to contact either Robert Sheesley or Rebecca Huet (contact information below).

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Physician Reentry

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By Timothy Lesaca, MD

The American Medical Association defines physician reentry as the return to clinical practice in the discipline in which one has been trained or certified after an extended period of clinical inactivity not resulting from discipline or impairment.

Physicians take leave of absence from clinical practice for many reasons, including family caretaking responsibilities, personal health reasons, career dissatisfaction, pursuit of alternative careers, and retirement. The actual number of reentering physicians is unknown due to lack of data, as the majority of state medical boards do not require that physicians see patients as a requirement for relicensure. It is nonetheless estimated by the AMA that about 10,000 physicians could reenter clinical practice in the U.S each year.

Physicians wishing to return to practice after a period of clinical inactivity can experience difficulties due to the lack of a standardized reentry process. There is no continuity among state medical boards regarding reentry policy. Only 30 state medical boards actually have a policy on physician reentry. The average length of time out of practice after which some state boards require physicians to complete a reentry program is three years, but the range is wide, from 18 months to 10 years.

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Area Surgeon named President of the Southwestern PA Chapter, American College of Surgeons

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Dr. D’Arcy Duke, Conemaugh Physician Group Valley Surgeons, has been chosen as the incoming president of the Southwestern, Pennsylvania Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Duke is the first physician in the region to hold this position.

The Southwestern Chapter of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) was organized in 1953 to promote the art and science of surgery through educational programs and to enhance the overall quality of surgical care in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Dr. Duke was presented with a gavel and block to commemorate her new position at the group’s general membership meeting earlier this month in Pittsburgh. On hand to congratulate Dr. Duke was her father, Dr. Bruce Duke III. Dr. Bruce Duke was at one time president of the Pittsburgh Surgical Society which has since combined with the ACS Southwestern, Pennsylvania Chapter.

Also at the Chapter meeting, twelve area resident physicians were chosen to present their “Most Interesting Cases”.  Three of the presentations were by Conemaugh Memorial physician residents including: Dr. Kathryn Giroux presented, Metastic Disease Mimics a Primary Gastric Tumor; Dr. Sara Honari presented, Traumatic Transaction of the Thoracic Duct and Dr. Shawna Morrissey presented An Unusual Complication of Nasotracheal Intubation.

Dr. D’Arcy Duke, Conemaugh Physician Group Valley Surgeons, is given a gavel and block by her father Dr. Bruce Duke III, to recognize her appointment as President of the American College of Surgeons Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter.