January 2017

Below are the January Medical Staff Updates. As a reminder, all providers must complete the attestation at the bottom of this page by January 31.


Happy New Year! A Fourth Quarter Update from Jody L. Lomeo, President and CEO of Kaleida Health

Jody LomeoAs we close out 2016 and head into the New Year, I would like to thank all of you – our physicians, nurses, staff and volunteers – for the tremendous work that you do every day in serving our patients. It has been a busy, busy year. The time has flown by but it's important to pause and celebrate the success that we, collectively, have had to date. While doing this, please be sure to show your appreciation for your co-workers; how we treat each other matters!

Since January, 2016, we have seen positive results in our five strategic pillars of quality, people, service, growth and stewardship. Here are some highlights of our strategic plan through the fourth quarter:

Safety & Quality

Highly Engaged People

Exceptional Service

Strategic Innovation/Growth

Stewardship/Community Engagement

Heading into 2017, we will continue to focus on our strategic plan. Our goal remains to be the highest quality/lowest cost provider in Western New York.
Thank you again for all that you do. Your efforts are truly making a difference for our community. From our Kaleida Health family to yours...Have a safe and happy new year!

Medical Leadership Message: Welcoming the New Year

Once again it's time to "ring in the new year," and although 2016 was a terrific year for Kaleida Health in regards to improvement in quality and patient safety, we are setting a full agenda for 2017. We developed very successful strategies that incorporated physician leadership system-wide that enabled many of our successes. The Kaleida Health Quality Plan for 2017 will utilize those very strategies to achieve our new goals.

We plan on making great strides in the areas of sepsis identification and management, as well as post-op DVT and surgical processes. Medical Leaders The 2017 plans include reinforcing programs developed in 2016 for hospital acquired infections (HAI). One of the primary focuses will remain on compliance with hand hygiene, the proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and isolation precautions. We will be partnering closely with nursing leadership to drive this further.

Patient safety has always been one of our key drivers. There have been changes to the way we can review cases with the implementation of multidisciplinary M&M's. They have allowed us to bring together different service lines in an educational format that improves our processes and enhances patient safety. We strongly recommend you attend when invited.

We hope to improve the identification of problems in real time and utilize site physician leadership to resolve them quickly. The goal is a safe and efficient hospital that reflects the excellent care that we deliver to the people of our community.

So as we "ring in the new year," let's all focus on continuing to move Kaleida Health from delivering the best health care regionally to the national level, with best practices for quality and safety.

Happy New Year!

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/Gates Vascular Institute

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

Message from the President of the Medical/Dental Staff

Peter Winkelstein, MD, MS, MBA, FAAPAs we start the New Year, I would like to acknowledge all of the work that your elected Medical Executive Committee (MEC) members do for all of us on the Medical/Dental staff. I am especially appreciative of the effort that the Officers and Committee Chairs give us.

Our ability to provide the highest quality care at Kaleida Health requires the work of the MEC. The MEC is our self-governance body and our conduit to the Kaleida Health administration and Board on quality issues. When you see one of your MEC members, please say "thank you" to them—they are working for all of us.

Officers
President: Peter Winkelstein, MD, MBA
President Elect: Timothy Haley, MD
Treasurer: Michael Beecher, MD
Secretary: K. Kent Chevli, MD

Elected Members
Richard Gilbert, MD
Anne Marie Reynolds, MD
Alan Posner, MD
Molly Moore, MD
Lucy Mastrandrea, MD
Michelle Penque, MD
David Carlson, Jr, MD
Christopher Bartolone, MD
Michael Mineo, MD

Elected Chiefs of Service
Carroll Harmon, MD
Aaron Hoffman, MD
Andrea Manyon, MD
Robert McCormack, MD
Matthew Phillips, MD
Michael Pizzuto, MD
Teresa Quattrin, MD

Committee Chairs
Peer Review: Michael Pizzuto, MD
Credentials: Russ Vaughn, MD
APP: Jeremy Essman, PA

Peter Winkelstein, MD, MS, MBA, FAAP
Medical/Dental Staff President
Kaleida Health

Mask Mandate Now in Effect

On December 28, 2016, the New York State Department of Health Commissioner upgraded the influenza presence in the community to "prevalent." The Commissioner has stated that effective immediately, any unvaccinated healthcare personnel must wear a mask in areas where patients are typically present to protect each other and visitors from influenza.

All managers will monitor staff to make sure they either have the vaccination verification sticker on their ID badges or are wearing masks in areas where patients are typically present.

Mask bins are located at all high volume entrances and lobbies. Instructions on how to wear the mask, where to wear the mask and how often to change the mask are listed on Employee Health's page on KaleidaScope.

Personnel who still wish to receive an influenza vaccine can visit Employee Health during office hours.

Quality and Patient Safety

Kaleida Health had a phenomenal year in quality and patient safety. Most noteworthy is a 32% reduction (111 fewer infections this year compared to the same time period last year) on hospital acquired infections (including CAUTI, CLABSI, Colon SSI, C. difficile and MRSA), and the first known IPRO survey on the residency program without any noted deficiencies.

Additional quality awards and recognition received in 2016 include:

Amendment to the New York Code of Rules and Regulations Part 405

In the near future, Clinical Summaries will no longer come to your office based on changes in the regulations. All information in the Clinical Summary should be in the Discharge Summary and if not, is readily accessible in InfoClique. We are striving to add fields to the Discharge Summary for pending Laboratory tests and pending Radiology exams to make you aware of this critical information at the time of discharge.

WebView

The Kaleida Health Medical/Dental Staff Office is pleased to announce the release of our online reappointment application process, WebView. This new course of action began on December 29, 2016 with the release of the May 2017 reappointment applications and will follow with each subsequent month thereafter. An email will be sent to your preferred email address, along with instructions on how to access WebView, and a checklist of required actions and documents.

The reappointment process itself has not changed; this is merely a different method by which to submit your reappointment application. Once your online reappointment application has been received by the Medical Staff Office, it will go into a queue. When it is time to be processed, it will be carefully reviewed by a member of the Medical/Dental Staff Office and you will be contacted for any materials you may have missed. When the application is complete, it will be submitted to the credentialing committees for review and approval.

This new process should streamline the submission of your reappointment application, allow review and uploading of documents, and increase communication between the practitioner and the Medical/Dental Staff Office.

Clinical Research: Cardiology

Myocardial infarctions (heart attacks) occur when there is lack of oxygen supply to the heart muscle. This is caused by a blockage to one of the coronary arteries. The coronary arteries bring blood and oxygen to the heart. If the blood flow is blocked, the heart is starved of oxygen and heart cells die.

A STEMI heart attack is caused by the complete blockage of a coronary artery. This is taken very seriously and is a medical emergency that requires immediate attention. When a patient experiences a STEMI, the heart muscle stops working within minutes, and dies within minutes to hours unless the artery can be opened to allow blood to flow and supply oxygen back to the heart. If a patient waits too long to seek medical attention, the heart muscle dies and is replaced by a scar that does not function as normal heart muscle.

After a STEMI, several new medications will be started and cardiac rehabilitation and nutritional education will be part of the recovery. Congestive heart failure (CHF) occurs in about one half of all patients who have a myocardial infarction. The development of CHF after a myocardial infarction increases a patient's risk of death.

The University at Buffalo has been at the forefront of cardiology research and currently has research studies ongoing for patients who have had a STEMI and patients that have developed CHF. Please contact Courtney Bishop at 888-4839 cabishop@buffalo.edu or Eileen Daetsch at 888-4848 daetsch@buffalo.edu if you would like more information.

Influenza Vaccination Status of Healthcare Personnel

It is time to prepare for the 2016-2017 influenza season. Kaleida Health will continue to follow the New York State Department of Health mandate titled, “Regulation and Prevention of Influenza Transmission by Healthcare and Residential Facility and Agency Personnel” to document the vaccination status of healthcare personnel.

As outlined in the mandate, the vaccination status of all healthcare personnel must be documented, and all unvaccinated personnel must wear a surgical mask at all times while in areas where patients or residents are typically present during the entire influenza season as determined by the New York State Commissioner of Health. Masks will be available at all main entrances of Kaleida Health’s hospitals throughout influenza season.

Obtaining Your Influenza Vaccine

Flu clinics will be held throughout the fall by both Kaleida Health’s Employee Health Department and the Visiting Nursing Association of Western New York (VNA). Vaccines will also be available at each site’s Employee Health office during scheduled hours for those unable to attend a clinic. The clinic schedule is available on Employee Health’s website on KaleidaScope.

Providers must have their Kaleida Health ID badge to receive the vaccine from Employee Health. Providers will need both their Kaleida Health ID badge and health insurance card if utilizing a VNA-sponsored clinic.

ID Badge Sticker Requirement

At the time of vaccination, a Kaleida Health Employee Health nurse or VNA administering nurse will apply a flu sticker on the right lower corner of the Kaleida Health ID badge to provide visual verification of vaccination.

Providers vaccinated by a facility or provider other than Kaleida Health or the VNA will need to bring official proof of vaccination to Kaleida Health’s Employee Health Department in order to receive their sticker of verification.

Those who decline the influenza vaccine must complete a “Declination of Influenza Vaccine” form. Anyone who declines the vaccine due to a medical condition will also need to complete the “DOH Medical Exemption Statement” form. Details for both forms are available on Employee Health’s website on KaleidaScope.

Employee Health, or a site designee, will apply a red sticker on the right lower corner of the Kaleida Health ID badge of those who decline vaccination.

Once influenza season is officially declared, all providers must have either a flu sticker or a red sticker on their ID badge when in a Kaleida Health facility. Those with a red sticker must also wear a mask in areas where patients or residents are typically present.

Submitting Proof of Vaccination to the Medical Staff Office

This year, Kaleida Health’s Medical Staff Office will be tracking providers’ vaccination status. All providers must submit a copy of their proof of vaccination or declination of vaccination to the Medical Staff Office. Please scan and email documentation to Rosie Light at RLight@kaleidahealth.org or fax to 859-5592.

Medical Staff Attestation - January 2017

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.

Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.
First Name *
Last Name*
Practitioner Number *
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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