News from Piedmont Healthcare

Get Moving at Piedmont Hospital’s Day of Dance for Health

Wed, 3 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST

Learn About Your Health and Fun Ways to Improve It!

ATLANTA, Ga. (Feb. 3, 2010) – Dance, bike, walk even the smallest steps count when you are moving toward a healthier you! To make your journey more fun, Piedmont Hospital, Atlanta’s exclusive Spirit of Women hospital, will bring communities together for Day of Dance for Health, a day of fun, education, health screenings, discussions with physicians, dance instruction and demonstration, door prizes and more. Atlanta’s well-known television health expert, Dr. Randy Martin, will emcee the event.

In 2009, Day of Dance for Health occurred in over 68 U.S. cities and had over 75,000 people dancing for their heart health. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, dancing can lower your risk of coronary heart disease and decrease blood pressure.

Piedmont Hospital’s Day of Dance for Health is Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at North Atlanta High School, 2875 Northside Drive, N.W., Atlanta, 30305. The event is free, but registration is required. To register for Day of Dance for Health and/or join Piedmont Hospital’s Spirit of Women Rewards program, visit piedmonthospital.org.

Participants will enjoy special performances and dance instruction from the Atlanta Ballet, Arthur Murray Dance Studios, Nazeem Allayl Belly Dance Studios, Atlanta Line Dance, the North Atlanta High School Center for the Arts and others. Piedmont physicians will show off their own flair for dance.

“Regular physical activity helps to maintain proper body weight and improves general health, and what better way to get active than by dancing,” said Sara Mobasseri, M.D., a cardiologist with Piedmont Heart Institute Physicians. “Lack of physical activity is one of the leading risk factors for heart disease and stroke.”

Representatives of the Piedmont Heart Institute will be on site to help attendees assess risk for heart disease as well as education that will help participants take charge of their health. Screenings provided will include: cholesterol & glucose, blood pressure, peripheral artery disease, body mass index, and body fat analysis. Nutrition consultations and diabetes education will be provided as well.

Other activities and benefits of attending this free event include:

Representatives of the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Falcons will demonstrate the health benefits of participating in sports by providing inflatable games such as the Quarterback Toss and Batting Cage. Freddie the Falcon, Homer the Brave will join the Chick-fil-A cow at the event as well.
Heart-healthy food will be provided by Publix.
The Welch Experience will provide instruction in self defense and how to stay flexible with Tai Chi.
Piedmont Hospital’s Health and Fitness Club will share ways to “move” even if tied to a desk all day.

Piedmont Hospital Increases Treatment Options for Cancer Patients

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST

NanoKnife™ Kills Cancerous Cells Without Harm to Healthy Tissue

ATLANTA (January 19, 2010) — Piedmont Hospital is increasing the treatment options available to cancer patients by offering a new technique that physicians can use to kill cancerous tumor cells without harming nearby healthy tissue.

“Piedmont Hospital is the sixth facility in the United States to offer NanoKnife™ to cancer patients outside of clinical trials,” said Steven Citron, M.D., interventional radiologist. “It provides a treatment option to patients who have no other alternatives due to the location of the tumor.”

While other techniques work with intense heat or cold to kill cancer cells, NanoKnife™ uses electrical pulses that minimize damage to surrounding nerves, blood vessels and lymphatic systems. During a procedure, a physician inserts a needle-like probe into a tumor, which then fires off a series of electrical pulses into the cancerous cells. The pulses open up the cancer cell membrane and, when enough electricity is applied, the cells do not close and the tumor dies. The surrounding blood vessels and lymphatic systems can then assist in removing the dead cells from the body.

“NanoKnife™ is a tremendous leap forward for addressing tumors in critical organs such as the liver, kidneys or lungs,” said Marty T. Sellers, M.D., a multi-organ transplant specialist and medical director of Piedmont Hospital's liver cancer service. “Other techniques use temperature extremes to kill a tumor, but that approach can not only cause serious harm to surrounding healthy tissue but may also leave a tumor adjacent to a large vessel inadequately treated.”

For more information on NanoKnife™ and to view an educational video visit piedmontcancer.org.

Video: Kidney Failure Patient Receives the Gift of Life

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Giving The Gift Of LifeStacy Brown had kidney failure, and desperately needed a kidney. But before she could even get on a waiting list, her hairdresser/Bible study friend offered hers.

Matthew J. Schreiber, M.D., Named Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Piedmont Hospital

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

ATLANTA (November 12, 2009) – Matthew J. Schreiber, M.D., has been named vice president and chief medical officer for Piedmont Hospital, effective November 1, 2009. He is responsible for the functions and overall coordination of all aspects of hospital medical staff affairs including physician/allied health practitioner credentialing, medical staff office, medical staff development plan, quality management, Joint Commission readiness, inpatient medicine service (hospitalist program) and the critical care/intensivist program.

“During the past seven months, Dr. Schreiber has ably and effectively served as interim vice president and chief medical officer at Piedmont Hospital,” said Robert W. Maynard, president and chief executive officer of Piedmont Hospital. “Since 2003, he has served in various leadership and clinical roles within Piedmont Healthcare. We are pleased to have him as a permanent member of the Piedmont Hospital leadership team.”

Dr. Schreiber’s positions with Piedmont Healthcare during the past six years have included medical director for hospitalist services at Piedmont Healthcare; medical director of case management and chairman of utilization management committee at Piedmont Hospital; physician board member of Piedmont Medical Care Corporation and the Piedmont Clinic. In addition, he has served on the physician leadership cabinet of Piedmont Healthcare and as a hospitalist at both Piedmont Hospital and Piedmont Mountainside Hospital. Dr. Schreiber also practiced internal medicine in Jasper, Georgia, for several years before joining Piedmont Healthcare.

Dr. Schreiber holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations and met pre-med requirements at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. He earned a doctor of medicine from New York State/Sackler School of Medicine and completed a combined internal medicine/pediatrics residency at the University of California in San Diego. He is board-certified by both the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Pediatrics. Dr. Schreiber and his wife, Alisha, reside in Kennesaw, Georgia, with their two children.

Piedmont Bariatrics Offers Informational Seminars on Weight Loss Surgery

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

A Multi-disciplinary Approach to Weight Loss

ATLANTA (Nov. 04, 2009) – Are you one of the 28 percent of Georgians suffering from obesity? You’ve tried everything you can think of but can’t seem to keep the weight off? Attend a free seminar to learn about proven, tested and permanent solutions to long lasting weight loss surgery options at Piedmont Bariatrics led by one of Piedmont Hospital’s bariatric surgeons. Classes are free and offered the first and third Wednesday of every month from 4 to 5 p.m. in Classroom 7 of the 77 Building, Piedmont Hospital, 1968 Peachtree Road, N.W., Atlanta, 30309.

Beginning November 21, 2009, Piedmont also will offer the informational seminars on the third Saturday of every month from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. in Classroom 8 of the 77 Building.

Piedmont Bariatrics’ team can help you live a healthier life without obesity. The team consists of two dedicated board-certified and fellowship-trained bariatric surgeons as well as specialists in nutrition, exercise and sleep apnea who help participants develop effective weight loss solutions before and after surgery.

For more information, or to register for an informational seminar, call 866-900-4321 or visit piedmontbariatrics.org.

Piedmont Hospital Launches Satellite Transplant Offices throughout Georgia

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST

Piedmont Hospital’s Transplant Services Continues to Enhance Patient Care By Launching Satellite Offices throughout Georgia

Brings Dalton Its First Transplant Clinic

DALTON, Ga. (Oct. 27, 2009) – Piedmont Hospital Transplant Services is pleased to announce the opening of a new satellite transplant clinic in Dalton, Ga., on Friday, October 23. This facility will support continued efforts to enhance patient access to transplantation evaluation and follow-up care with strategically located satellite clinics throughout the state of Georgia.

These area clinics will make access to care more convenient for those patients who live long distances from Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta and reduce the initial evaluation time for kidney transplant candidates from two days to one.

“We are pleased and privileged to bring Dalton its first transplant clinic, increasing access to services for transplant patients across north Georgia and southeastern Tennessee,” said Mark Johnson, M.D., program director of Piedmont’s Transplant Services. “This clinic will provide pre- and post-transplant care to end-stage kidney and pancreas patients.”

Piedmont’s first satellite clinic opened in Savannah, Ga., in December 2007, and a second clinic opened in Albany, Ga., in February 2009. Each clinic offers education classes for those interested in the advantages and risks of transplantation, provides extensive information about the costs of post-transplant medication and how one can plan to meet those costs. Initial candidate screenings will be performed by a transplant physician and/or nurse specialist, allowing patients with potential disqualifying issues to take corrective action before making an appointment for a full evaluation at the Piedmont Hospital Mason Transplant Clinic in Atlanta.

Piedmont Hospital has one of only two adult liver transplant programs and one of three kidney/pancreas transplant programs in Georgia.

The new satellite transplant clinic in Dalton is located at 1109 Burleyson Road, Suite 101 Dalton, GA 30720, and will initially offer services for those with kidney and pancreas disease. For more information on the Piedmont Hospital Transplant Services Dalton Satellite Clinic, call 888-605-5888.

Get Paid to Work Out!

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST

Sounds like one of those “too good to be true” gimmicks, but it’s not. Radiant Reflections and the Piedmont Health & Fitness Club are partnering together to offer an exclusive members-only benefit beginning in October. The “Work out and Cash-in!” rewards program is designed to assist you in improving your quality of life! Being exposed to the physical and emotional stress in life, we believe it is imperative to take preventive action by integrating a daily workout regimen with getting regular massage treatments. That’s why we will pay you with massage dollars. Not only does it benefit your physical and emotional well-being, but now your wallet benefits, too.

Here’s How It Works

Every time you come to the Club and swipe your membership card, you’ll be logging your workouts for massage dollars. Work out a minimum of twice per week to begin earning your massage dollars. The number of massage dollars you earn is completely up to you. When you are ready to cash in and use your massage dollars you will simply ask the front desk for a print out of your PHHFC registered log-ins. Apply them toward any 30-minute, 60-minute, 90-minute deep- tissue, pregnancy, hot stone, sports or neuromuscular massage therapy treatment that Radiant Reflections offers. You may also apply your massage dollars towards the purchase of a gift certificate.

Now it’s time to work out and begin to cash in! Not a member of the Piedmont Hospital Health and Fitness Club yet? Come by the front desk of the Club to obtain your membership and reap the rewards of this new program. The PHHFC is located on the ground floor, suite 100 of the 2001 building.

We look forward to partnering with you as you strive for your best health yet! For reward program questions, and to schedule your massage contact:

Radiant Reflections 404.605.1982

Radiant Reflections is Piedmont Hospital’s exclusive partner in providing Neuromuscular, massage and spa wellness therapies to all hospital employees and members of the Piedmont Health & Fitness Club.

(Please note: This offer cannot be combined with any other program, discount or promotion that Radiant Reflections has extended to any one person, employee or organization. The maximum amount of massage dollars that may be applied to any listed service at a time is $20. To view a detailed list of all our services please visit us online at www.RadiantReflections.com )

Piedmont Hospital Receives 2010 Specialty Excellence Awards for Cardiac Care and Coronary Intervention

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST

HealthGrades’ 12th Annual Hospital Quality in America Study Ranks Piedmont Hospital Among Top 10% Nationally

ATLANTA (October 13, 2009) – Piedmont Hospital today announced that it has received 2010 specialty excellence awards for Cardiac Care and Coronary Intervention from HealthGrades®, the healthcare ratings company. The awards place Piedmont Hospital’s clinical outcomes in the top 10 percent nationally. In addition, Piedmont was ranked Best in Atlanta for Overall Cardiac Care, Cardiac Surgery and Coronary Intervention.

Piedmont Hospital received five-star ratings in the categories of treatment of heart attack, coronary intervention, congestive heart attack and bypass surgery. Piedmont’ outcomes place it among the top three hospitals in Georgia for cardiac surgery, cardiology and overall cardiac services.

“Piedmont Hospital is honored to be recognized again by HealthGrades for our commitment to excellence in cardiac care,” said Robert W. Maynard, president and CEO. “We place a high priority on quality, and these rankings reflect our commitment to providing the highest quality of care to our patients.”

In 2008, Piedmont Hospital celebrated 20 years of open-heart surgery and cardiac angioplasty. The Fuqua Heart Center of Atlanta at Piedmont Hospital offers a full spectrum of integrated cardiovascular care from initial testing to post-surgery recovery, including nationally accredited programs in cardiac rehabilitation, echocardiology, peripheral vascular and congestive heart failure. Together with the Fuqua Heart Center, the Piedmont Heart Institute (PHI) aims to propel new programs in cardiovascular research, education and excellence in prevention, arrhythmias, coronary and vascular intervention, cardiac surgery, stroke and cardiac imaging, as well as all other cardiovascular care components. PHI now includes more than 75 cardiovascular specialists in over 30 offices across north Georgia.

The specialty excellence award for outstanding cardiac care given to Piedmont Hospital was released in conjunction with the 12th annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study, which reviewed mortality rates and complication rates based on an analysis of more than 40 million Medicare hospitalization records submitted by the nation’s approximately 5,000 non-federal hospitals during 2006, 2007 and 2008.

According to the study, top-performing hospitals had dramatically lower mortality rates than other hospitals. For the 17 procedures and diagnoses for which HealthGrades analyzed mortality rates, patients at top hospitals had a 72 percent lower chance of dying when compared with the lowest-performing hospitals, and a 52 percent lower chance of dying when compared to the U.S. national average.

For 28 procedures and treatments, HealthGrades issues star ratings that reflect the mortality and complication rates for each category of care. Hospitals receiving a 5-star rating have mortality or complication rates that are below the national average, to a statistically significant degree. A 3-star rating means the hospital performs as expected. One-star ratings indicate the hospital’s mortality or complication rates in that procedure or treatment are statistically higher than average. Because the risk profiles of patient populations at hospitals are not alike, HealthGrades risk-adjusts the data to allow for apples-to-apples comparisons.

More information on HealthGrades study, including the complete methodology, can be found at www.healthgrades.com.

Piedmont Hospital Receives Federal Grant to Expand Geriatric Education and Training Program

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST

Award is First Health Resources and Services Administration Grant for Hospital

ATLANTA (September 17, 2009) – Piedmont Hospital has received a three-year, $450,000 federal grant that will enable it to expand its successful geriatric education and training program for acute care nurses. Training now will be available to acute care nurses at its three sister Piedmont Healthcare hospitals, emergency department nurses at all four hospitals as well as long-term care and rehabilitation facility nurses outside the Piedmont organization.

The grant from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is the first HRSA grant ever received by Piedmont. It will fund the Piedmont Healthcare Geriatric Education and Training Program expansion at Piedmont Hospital, a 481-bed hospital in Buckhead; Piedmont Fayette Hospital, a 143-bed acute-care community hospital in Fayetteville; Piedmont Mountainside Hospital, a 42-bed community hospital in Jasper; and Piedmont Newnan Hospital, a 143-bed, acute-care community hospital in Newnan.

“Piedmont Hospital is proud to receive this recognition of our excellence in geriatric education and training and support of our commitment to patients of all ages,” said Robert W. Maynard, president and CEO of Piedmont Hospital. “While the program’s target audience includes acute care, emergency department and long-term care and rehabilitation nurses, those who will ultimately benefit from this program are older patients throughout the metro Atlanta area.”

To date, the geriatric education and training program has trained 108 acute care nurses at Piedmont Hospital as geriatric resource nurses. Program leaders estimate that 240 registered nurses will be trained in geriatric-specific care during the three-year grant period. Based on current patient loads at PHC facilities and on population growth predictors, it is estimated that this training program will impact at least 84,000 older patients.

The Piedmont Healthcare Geriatric Education and Training Program follows the Healthy People 2010 goal of improving access to quality geriatric care across the healthcare continuum and builds on the successful replication of the Hartford Institute’s NICHE (Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders) training program introduced by Piedmont’s Sixty Plus Older Adult Services Program in 2005.

Flu Vaccine Clarification - supplies for public vaccination remain adequate

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST

Due to an issue across the nation of hospitals only receiving half of the seasonal flu vaccine doses ordered to vaccinate hospital employees, Piedmont Hospital is short 950 doses ordered for employees. Piedmont Hospital has already vaccinated 1550 of the 3,800 employees who work at the Buckhead hospital.

Piedmont Hospital has been vaccinating patients who have not received the vaccine and would like a seasonal flu shot since September 1st and has enough vaccine to provide seasonal flu shots to patients who need and want one through flu season.

Piedmont Heart Institute Welcomes Randy Martin, M.D.

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST

ATLANTA (September 14, 2009) – Piedmont Heart Institute (PHI) is pleased to welcome Randy Martin, M.D., well-known television health expert and cardiovascular specialist, to its family of physicians. Dr. Martin joins PHI as director of clinical education and physician development, effective September 14, 2009.

“Piedmont Hospital celebrated 20 years of open-heart surgery and cardiac angioplasty in 2008. Our physicians have set and sustained a high standard of care, and Piedmont Heart Institute is pleased to welcome Dr. Martin to our family,” said Michele Molden, president and CEO of Piedmont Heart Institute. “Dr. Martin’s decision to join PHI is recognition of Piedmont’s legacy of delivering exceptional cardiovascular care to our patients.”

Piedmont Hospital was named Best in Atlanta for Overall Cardiac Care and Cardiac Surgery (2008 and 2009) by HealthGrades®, and in particular, received the 2009 Cardiac Surgery Excellence Award, placing the hospital's clinical outcomes in the top 10 percent nationally. In addition, Piedmont Hospital also received five-star ratings for coronary bypass surgery, treatment of heart attack and treatment of heart failure. Piedmont's outcomes placed it among the top five hospitals in Georgia for cardiac surgery, cardiology and overall cardiac services.

Piedmont Heart Institute was established in 2007 and brings together more than 65 cardiovascular specialists and the Fuqua Heart Center of Atlanta at Piedmont Hospital to propel new programs in cardiovascular research, education and excellence in prevention, arrhythmias, coronary and vascular intervention, cardiac surgery, stroke and cardiac imaging, as well as all other cardiovascular care components.

At the Piedmont Heart Institute, Dr. Martin will help coordinate growth of the PHI prevention center of excellence, assist in managing the growth and expansion of echocardiography services by acting as director, and continue in his role as an educator and advocate for greater public awareness of heart health.

Dr. Martin earned his medical degree from Emory University Medical School, graduating summa cum laude from the school of medicine. He then trained in internal medicine and cardiology at Stanford University Medical School where he became one of the pioneers in the field of two-dimensional echocardiography.

Dr. Martin has held positions at the Stanford Medical Center of Stanford, Ca., where he was assistant professor of medicine and co-director of the noninvasive lab; the University of Virginia Medical School, in Charlottesville, Va., where he was one of the innovators in the use of Doppler echocardiography in the United States; and served on the faculty of the Mayo Medical School where he was a consultative cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and associate professor of medicine.

Dr. Martin returned to Emory University and Emory Clinic to become a professor of medicine in their division of cardiology, and director of noninvasive cardiology at the Emory University School of Medicine. He served as associate dean for clinical development of Emory University School of Medicine from 1991-2003 and associate clinic director from 1991 to 1996.

Dr. Martin has over 160 publications to his credit in peer-reviewed journals and textbooks, and has served and currently serves on the editorial boards of some of the most prestigious cardiovascular journals, including the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the American Journal of Cardiology, JACC Cardiovascular Imaging, and the Journal of Cardiology – the official journal of the Japanese College of Cardiology.

He is a past president of the American Society of Echocardiography and is very active in professional education. He lectures extensively throughout the world and for 21 years has served as the host/moderator of the world’s largest professional medical tele-education program, “Echo in Context.”

Dr. Martin is known for his interest in consumer education. Since 1994, he has served as the director of Emory’s Mini-Medical School, a nearly year-long course for consumers to emulate medical school experience.

For more than 10 years, he served as the sole medical correspondent for Cox Television’s ABC affiliate, WSB-TV, Channel-2, appearing two to three times a week on the news. He has been awarded multiple broadcast awards, including three Emmy nominations, and he won the American Heart Association’s Howard L. Lewis Lifetime Achievement Award for Health Science Reporting – the first physician television journalist to do so.

Dr. Martin is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, and has been elected to the “Best Doctors in Atlanta,” “Best Doctors in the United States” and “Who’s Who.” In 2007, Dr. Martin was honored by his international colleagues, who awarded him both the International Service and Scholarship Award, presented by the European Society of Echocardiography, in Lisbon, Portugal, and the Leadership Award of the Japanese Society of Echocardiography, awarded in Nagano, Japan.

Media Statement Regarding Gwinnett Medical Center Open-heart Surgery Certificate of Need

Wed, 9 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST

September 9, 2009

CONTACT: Diana Lewis

404-605-3372

For almost two years, we have carefully tracked the Certificate of Need application for a new open-heart surgery program at Gwinnett Medical Center. This process has yielded approval, denial, and approval, with the issue still pending. It is the responsibility of the Georgia Department of Community Health and its Commissioner to protect the health and welfare of the citizens of Georgia with access to affordable, quality healthcare across the state. While our reasons for pursuing appeal remain unchanged, today we've decided to accept the decisions made by the Department of Community Health and its Commissioner and withdraw our petition for judicial review in Fulton County Superior Court.

We have endured attacks on our motives and accusations that were just not true. We still believe that a new program at Gwinnett Medical Center could erode the overall quality of existing open-heart surgery programs because hospitals need to perform a high number of these procedures to maintain quality. That's not just an opinion, but rather a scientifically proven fact that is accepted across the country.

Standing up for quality patient care isn't always the popular thing to do, and it can draw criticism from people who have other agendas. In this situation, we stand behind the fact that we've done the right things for the right reasons.

From the beginning, Piedmont has opposed this new program because of the impact on quality patient care -- no other reason. We want what's best for people in Gwinnett, and we still believe that means accessing the high quality open-heart program at Piedmont or one of the other existing programs in metro Atlanta. However, if Gwinnett goes forward with its new program, Piedmont will continue to welcome patients from Gwinnett and other communities because of the world-class heart care and open-heart surgery available here.

Piedmont Hospital Statement regarding Gwinnett Open Heart CON Appeal August 17, 2009

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST

Piedmont Hospital filed for appellate review in Fulton County Superior Court to seek the court’s review of the application of law in the state’s July decision regarding the CON application

Piedmont Hospital Named 2009 Most Wired Hospital for Sixth Consecutive Year

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

ATLANTA (July 14, 2009) – Piedmont Hospital has been named one of the nation’s Most Wired hospitals, according to the results of the 2009 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study released in the July issue of Hospitals & Health Networks magazine. Three of the five Georgia hospitals named to the list are part of the Piedmont Healthcare system.

Piedmont Hospital has been named for six consecutive years, while Piedmont Fayette Hospital, also a winner this year, has been recognized for five consecutive years. Both hospitals are the only two in the metro Atlanta area to be named to the 2009 list. This is the second year for Piedmont Mountainside Hospital in Jasper, Ga., to be named in the small and rural category.

“We are proud the Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study has recognized Piedmont Hospital for the sixth year in a row as a Most Wired hospital,” said Robert Maynard, president and CEO of Piedmont Hospital. “This recognition shows our dedication to quality and excellence in the use of information technology to improve patient care and safety.”

The Most Wired Survey is conducted annually by Hospitals & Health Networks magazine, the journal of the American Hospital Association, which uses the results to name the 100 Most Wired hospitals and health systems. It focuses on how the nation’s hospitals use information technologies for quality, customer service, public health and safety, business processes and workforce issues.

“The economic slowdown is forcing hospitals to look closely at IT spending,” says Alden Solovy, executive editor of Hospitals & Health Networks magazine. “Most Wired hospitals are doing their best to stay the course.”

To complicate matters, the great unknown of healthcare reform looms in the near future and a number of regulatory changes are already heading down the pike, including the shift to ICD-10, which hospitals use to code the signs, symptoms and causes of injury or diseases.

“As the health reform debate continues, it’s clear that IT will play an even more important role in the health system of tomorrow,” says Rich Umbdenstock, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association (AHA). “Most Wired hospitals help illustrate IT in action—improving efficiency, quality and safety of care while helping to control costs.”

Hospitals also continue to invest in IT that supports quality and safety initiatives. Investment in electronic medication management is considered one of the fundamentals of using IT to improve care. The 2009 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study shows an overall increase in both provider order entry of medications and electronic bedside matching at the time medications are administered.

Hospitals & Health Networks conducted the 2009 survey in cooperation with McKesson Corp. and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives. The July H&HN cover story detailing results is available at www.hhnmag.com.

Pancreatic Cancer Research at Piedmont

Tue, 19 May 2009 00:00:00 EST

by Charles A. Henderson, M.D., medical oncologist

Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest of all cancer types. In 2009, there will be approximately 35,000 new cases and 34,000 deaths from cancer of the pancreas. Despite significant progress in detection and treatment of many other types of cancer, there has been very little progress in the area of pancreatic cancer. The only hope of a cure is with surgical excision, and yet only 15 percent of patients who present with cancer of the pancreas are candidates for surgery, and the majority of those will relapse after surgery.

Given these discouraging facts, the Piedmont Oncology Program has embarked on a mission to improve our current standards of care in pancreatic cancer. A core feature of this mission is a weekly multidisciplinary cancer conference devoted to hepatobiliary and pancreas cancer. This conference is attended by radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, surgical oncologists, hepatobiliary surgeons, gastroenterologists, and diagnostic and interventional radiologists. Cases are presented prospectively and specific details of each case are reviewed and discussed. The medical condition of the patient and various treatment approaches are evaluated with a consensus reached for the best course of action. This approach has multiple advantages in that it provides the patient with a greater range of opinions that enhances their care, while simultaneously functioning as a forum for discussion of the overview of pancreatic cancer care within the healthcare system.

A second feature of our mission to improve pancreatic cancer care is our rich tradition of clinical research. Community-based clinical trials are a vital element of the cancer care available at Piedmont Healthcare. The Piedmont Healthcare Research Institute (PHRI) and its participating medical oncologists maintain a portfolio of clinical trials for pancreatic cancer including cooperative study group trials and cutting-edge clinical studies sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry. These research trials evaluate new medicines and technologies for screening, diagnosing and treating pancreatic cancer. They are the primary avenue of patient access to a greater range of options and access to the latest A2 piedmont innovative treatments, therapies and medical technologies. We strive to maintain research options for every stage of pancreatic cancer. Our participation and accrual to these trials has established our reputation as a center of excellence in trials for cancer of the pancreas.

Additionally, Piedmont Hospital has become a member of the Pancreatic Cancer Research Team (PCRT). PCRT is a multi-disciplined group of preeminent researchers dedicated to organizing and accelerating the clinical development of new agents for the treatment of patients with pancreatic cancer. PCRT’s members include laboratory and clinical researchers who share the passion to bring new advances to patients with pancreatic cancer as rapidly as possible. The group provides the only coordinated effort in the world dedicated to rapidly translating research discoveries into new treatments and supportive care for patients with pancreatic cancer. This collaboration of researchers is unified in the goal of establishing effective new treatment paradigms in pancreas cancer. The trials available through the PCRT study novel chemotherapeutic agents, biologic agents and vaccines in an effort to broadly target pancreas cancer using a variety of innovative approaches.

Pancreas cancer has remained a very stubborn opponent. It is our hope that through these focused efforts we can achieve our goal of improving outcomes in diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer.

For more information on pancreatic cancer research at Piedmont or to learn more about the Piedmont Healthcare Research Institute, visit piedmont.org and click on “Learn more about the Piedmont Promise” or email phri@piedmont.org.hospital.org.