April 2016

Below are the April Medical Staff Updates. As a reminder, all providers must complete the attestation at the bottom of this page by April 30.


Medical Leadership Message

Medical LeadersLabor Negotiations and Physician Involvement

There have been several days of bargaining thus far as Kaleida Health and the SEIU, CWA, & IUOE unions negotiate toward a successor Master Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Kaleida Health would like to thank the physicians that have been involved in the preplanning stages and their involvement in the negotiating process. This is the first year that physicians are around the table participating in these negotiations. While there has been hesitancy on both sides in this, physician involvement will add critical perspective in helping achieve the highest quality care for Kaleida Health’s patients.

The parties have agreed that no modifications will be made to 69 current Articles and have signed 19 separate tentative agreements.

Current discussions involve proposals on:

There are many critical topics left to discuss and continued physician participation will be greatly appreciated. Please reach out to your site chief medical officer if you have any interest in participating. We will continue to keep you informed as this process continues.

Thank you to the physician leaders who have participated by making critical suggestions and helping elevate patient-centered issues for discussion.

The next scheduled bargaining session will be conducted on Wednesday, April 6, 2016.

David Hughes, MD, MPH
Chief Medical Officer
Kaleida Health

Kenneth Snyder, MD, PhD
Vice President, Physician Quality
Kaleida Health

Colin McMahon, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Buffalo General Medical Center

David Pierce, MD, FACEP
Chief Medical Officer
Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital and DeGraff Memorial Hospital

Stephen Turkovich, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo

Kamil Alpsan, MD
Site Medical Director
DeGraff Memorial Hospital


Message from the President of the Medical/Dental Staff

George E. Matthews, MDAs my term as president of the Medical/Dental Staff at Kaleida Health comes to an end, I have reflected on our work together over the past two years. During my tenure, I have been the beneficiary of an extremely dedicated and industrious team, including Peter Winkelstein, MD, Tim Haley, MD, Michael Beecher, MD, Russell Vaughan, MD, the chairman of the credentials committee, and Mike Pizzuto, MD, the chairman of the peer-reviewed committee. I extend my sincerest thanks to these individuals, as well as our colleagues of the medical staff, chief medical officers and Kaleida Health's administration.

Let me highlight two of the many changes I believe will help the Medical/Dental Staff in the coming years:

• The Medical Executive Committee (MEC) monthly meeting now incorporates provider feedback. By hearing directly from providers about what works well and what does not, we are able to respond directly to improve the quality of care at our institutions. The chief of service and representative of service presentations have been key to understanding our strengths as well as the challenges and opportunities that our colleagues face.

• In partnership with Kaleida Health's administration, we have identified that career development and leadership training are essential to developing the next group of medical executive, peer-reviewed and credentials committee members and leaders of the medical staff and institution.

Let me paraphrase Colin Powell, former United States Secretary of State, as follows: "The day providers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership."

Concerns continue to be brought forth, and for that I am grateful because the MEC understands that our organization's transformation depends on our listening and leading. I look forward to the continued leadership of the MEC.


Hospital-Acquired Conditions

Kaleida Health’s top quality and patient safety priorities in 2016 focus on reducing hospital-acquired conditions (HAC). One of the top five HAC across Kaleida Health is Clostridium difficile (C. diff), and Colin McMahon, MD, chief medical officer at Buffalo General Medical Center, is leading the reduction and prevention efforts.

C. diff is a bacterium that causes inflammation of the colon, known as colitis. People who have other illnesses or conditions requiring prolonged use of antibiotics and the elderly are at greater risk of acquiring this disease. The bacteria are found in the feces. People can become infected if they touch items or surfaces that are contaminated with feces and then touch their mouth or mucous membranes. Healthcare workers can spread the bacteria to patients or contaminate surfaces through hand contact.
C. diff continues to challenge national healthcare facilities, including Kaleida Health. The challenge is twofold – control the use of antibiotics that allow C. diff to flourish and prevent the bacteria's spread from infected patients via dirty hands, dirty rooms or dirty equipment.  Here are a few tips to help prevent C. diff:


Medical Staff Semiannual MeetingMedical Staff Semiannual Meeting

As a reminder, all members of the Kaleida Health Medical/Dental Staff are invited to the Medical/Dental Staff Semiannual Meeting on Thursday, April 14, 2016, at Park Country Club, 4949 Sheridan Drive, Williamsville, NY 14221.

Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres begin at 5:45 p.m.; the business meeting and dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m.

The event will feature guest speaker, Howard A. Zucker, MD, JD, Commissioner of Health for New York State, who will discuss, “The Doctor-Patient Relationship: More Than Just an Office Visit.” CME credit will be available for Dr. Zucker's presentation.

Space is limited, so reserve your seat now. RSVP with your dinner selection by Monday, April 4, 2016 to the Medical Staff Office at 716-859-5501; by facsimile at 716-859-5592 or by email to kcrispin@kaleidahealth.org.

Accreditation
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and Kaleida Health.

The University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Certification
The University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.


Kaleida Health Libraries Announce New Clinical Resource Service

UpToDateKaleida Health Libraries are pleased to now provide access to UpToDate®, a popular evidence-based clinical decision support resource that helps practitioners make the right decisions at the point of care.

UpToDate allows clinicians to research clinical questions at the point of care to more accurately diagnose and treat patients. Patients also appreciate that their healthcare providers are accessing the latest in medical recommendations.

UpToDate can be accessed in all Kaleida Health hospitals as well as affiliated offsite clinical facilities through the Applications tab on KaleidaScope and through HUBNET.

UpToDate is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (CME). Clinicians can use the time they spend researching clinical questions with UpToDate toward continuing professional development requirements with no additional testing. Credits earned from UpToDate can also be used to fulfill MOC CME requirements of some ABMS Member Boards.

Kaleida Health Libraries encourages all clinical staff to seek more in-depth information by contacting them online at http://www.kaleidahealth.org/library or by telephone:


Clinical Research

Clinical Trials Treat Epilepsy Patients in WNY with Medical Marijuana

For patients with severe forms of epilepsy that do not respond to other medications, hopes are high for marijuana as a treatment. But clinical data showing how well the drug works — and how safe it is — are sparse, experts say.

Two clinical trials underway at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo and Women & Children's Hospital of Buffalo (WCHOB) aim to fill the gaps in research.

The trials are funded by GW Pharma, a British pharmaceutical company that makes Epidiolex, an oil that is 99 percent cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive marijuana derivative. (Tetracannabinol or THC is the psychoactive component of marijuana). Local patients with severe forms of epilepsy are eligible to enroll.

The UB and WCHOB studies are part of multi-center, clinical trials that take the research further, implementing rigorous methodologies that scientists consider the "gold standard" for evaluating the safety and effectiveness of new potential treatments, says Arie Weinstock, MD, professor of clinical neurology at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB and medical director of the pediatric epilepsy, long-term-monitoring unit at WCHOB. He is site investigator on both clinical trials and he sees patients through UBMD Neurology.

Read more at http://www.kaleidahealth.org/kyi/news/?i=6811.


Medical Executive Committee - Department Presentations

Buffalo General Medical Center Pharmacy – Presented by William J. Loeffler, PharmD, MBA

The Buffalo General Medical Center (BGMC) Pharmacy Department continues to make advancements in all Kaleida Health pillars of excellence.   We maintain very well respected clinical pharmacy services covering all of our critical care areas, Emergency Department, many medicine services, comprehensive anticoagulation management and infectious diseases, including antimicrobial stewardship. We maintain a strong representation on all utilization management (UM) committees. Our most noteworthy success in 2015 was our interventional cardiology UM group who changed antiplatelet utilization resulting in a $330,000 savings. We kept our pharmaceutical inflation rate to only four percent in 2015, which was two percent under the budgeted inflation rate of six percent. 
The department’s four key strategic growth initiatives are:

1. Carousel technology with inventory management software -- Improved inventory management of our two million dollar inventory on hand and reduced waste from expired products

2. Transitions of care home calls for cardiology patients -- Dedicating eight hours a day of pharmacy resident time to call our post-MI and HF patient after discharge to enhance their medication safety

3. DoseEdge smart technology in our sterile IV rooms - Barcode and real-time images of products being made in our IV rooms to improve product quality and medication safety

4. BGMC outpatient specialty pharmacy - Specialty pharmaceuticals have been identified as a large burden for BGMC specialty clinic patients due to cost, accessibility and medication compliance issue. We presented a business plan presented to Revenue Enhancement Committee to build a specialty pharmacy at BGMC. We are currently in contract discussions with the large PBMs in Western New York

University at Buffalo Department of Neurology/UBMD Neurology/UNI, UB Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, SUNY – Presented by Gil Wolfe, MD, FAAN

UBMD Neurology has added 12 providers since 2012 and will add three more in the following areas: stroke; adult epilepsy; and movement disorders/DBS/neuromodulation. Melissa Rayhill, MD, offers a headache program to decrease the suffering of individuals in the community with disabling headaches. Memory disorder program now has a once-a-month clinic at 5851 Main Street, and neuropsychology services and outpatient EEG services are now available at the same location.

The department hopes to ensure future growth by recruiting two clinical full-time employees to achieve 24/7 coverage of a closed neurology intensive care unit (NICU) at BGMC. The department also plans to add an epileptologist in 2017 in anticipation of LTM growth and 12-bed EMU in the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital. In addition, future specialty clinics will be available for child neurology in neurocutaneous and neurometabolic disorders. The neurology outpatient practices and infusion clinic will be relocating completely from their current locations at BGMC and Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo to Conventus on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

Research funding for the department has increased over the last several years. In 2012, the department received $1,254,160. In 2015, the department received 2,602,183. Neurology is now #4 for clinical departments.

Within the past year, the department received several awards and recognitions. Channa Kolb, MD, and Robert Sawyer, Jr., MD, received the Siegel Awards for teaching, while Arie Weinstock, MD, and the Epilepsy Division received Level IV recognition from the National Association of Epilepsy Centers. The Stroke Program was awarded American Heart Association’s Get with the Guidelines Gold Plus recognition and was named a NYS Coverdell Acute Stroke Registry Top Performer. In addition, Ralph Benedict, PhD, received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and the UB Department of Psychiatry Ken Altshuler Award for research. Gil Wolfe, MD, FAAN, accepted the Doctor of the Year Award from the MG Foundation of America. Kinga Szigeti, MD, PhD, is co-principal investigator on a $2.35 million New York State Department of Health Alzheimer’s Disease Center of Excellence Award. Four of eight adult neurologists and three of four child neurologists named to Spree Magazine’s 2016 list of Top Doctors are UBMD Neurology providers.


Medical Staff Attestation - April 2016

By submitting this attestation, I confirm that as a member of the medical staff I have read and understand the information included in this email from Kaleida Health in accordance with Kaleida Health policy MED.41 as approved by the Medical Executive Committee.

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First Name *
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Five-digit number assigned by Kaleida Health, also known as your dictation number. To look up your practitioner number, select "Practitioner Search" under Kaleida Links on KaleidaScope.
Kaleida Health Email*
 

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