From Laparoscopic to Open Heart Surgery without Changing ORs
Baptist’s New Hybrid OR Most Technologically Advanced in Mississippi
JACKSON—When Baptist Medical Center administrative leaders began planning new cardiovascular surgical suites, they huddled with cardiovascular surgeons on staff at the hospital—William J. Harris, MD, Charles S. O’Mara, MD, and W. Stewart Horsley, MD—to determine the best design LYNNE JETER |
Navigating the Regulatory Maze
Final Rule Options, E-Rx Mandates, Newly Introduced Federal Legislation among Practice Management Challenges
The "meaningful use" requirements outlined in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) final rule released mid-July will provide practice managers with an abundance of content to digest before the New Year rolls around. LYNNE JETER |
Delta Regional Medical Center Transmits EKGs Electronically Since the first of the year, Delta Regional Medical Center has been making every moment count by transmitting electrocardiograms from ambulances to the DRMC Emergency Department via the latest technology. Utilizing this new capability through ZOLL Medical Corporation to aide in rapid cardiac management, Emergency Medical Services can transmit a 12 lead EKG to physicians who can interpret the EKG before the patient arrives at the hospital. LYNN LOFTON |
Vetting Deals Like other high-income earners, physicians are often sought after sources of angel investment funds for start-up or growing businesses. I am often asked to review and analyze these business opportunities for physician clients. In this article, I am summarizing the key considerations for evaluating potential investment business opportunities in startups or growth companies. MARTIN WILLOUGHBY |
Electronic Medical Records Conversion Underway
Health care providers in Mississippi are converting to electronic medical records as required by federal Health Care Reform. Some state providers, however, have a head start. After Hurricane Katrina, the State Health Information Exchange was established to set up an electronic health care records system in the six coastal counties, ensuring that medical records would never be lost in storms again. LYNN LOFTON |
Bigger, Faster, Stronger
The Continuing Battle to Keep Athletes Safe from Supplements
Turn to the sports page in any paper, and the headlines serve as a constant reminder that professional athletes of all stripes have been tempted to step outside the straight and narrow path of good nutrition and hard work to get an edge on the competition. From baseball to bicycling, athletes are under tremendous pressure to be bigger … faster … stronger. CINDY SANDERS |
In-House Drug Dispensing Boosts Bottom Line and Patient Convenience
Knoxville Company Offers Turnkey Option
The mother of a sick 6-year-old pushes a double stroller out of the pediatrician’s office, the feverish first-grader trailing behind. In the stroller are a 3-year-old and a hungry and crying 8-month-old. What’s next? A 30-minute wait with three kids in tow for the two prescriptions at a chain pharmacy across town. SHARON H. FITZGERALD |
PHYSICIAN SPOTLIGHT: James "Jay" O'Mara, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon, Mississippi Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center
Jay O'Mara, MD, makes the Energizer bunny appear lazy.
When football season starts, O'Mara, a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon at Mississippi Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center in Jackson, will be on the sidelines of a game most Thursday nights, every Friday night and most Saturdays, clocking 16-hour days. LYNNE JETER |
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Bad News About Youth Boosts Elders' Esteem
Title: Bad News About Youth Boosts Elders' Esteem Category: Health News Created: 9/2/2010 11:04:00 AM Last Editorial Review: 9/2/2010 11:04:48 AM Posted Thursday, September 2, 2010 2:00 am CDT
| | Weight Loss Pill Meridia Raises Heart Attack, Stroke Risks
Title: Weight Loss Pill Meridia Raises Heart Attack, Stroke Risks Category: Health News Created: 9/2/2010 11:01:00 AM Last Editorial Review: 9/2/2010 11:01:05 AM Posted Thursday, September 2, 2010 2:00 am CDT
| | Michael Douglas and Throat Cancer FAQ
Title: Michael Douglas and Throat Cancer FAQ Category: Health News Created: 9/2/2010 10:56:00 AM Last Editorial Review: 9/2/2010 10:56:02 AM Posted Thursday, September 2, 2010 2:00 am CDT
| | Sex Not on Most New Moms' Minds
Title: Sex Not on Most New Moms' Minds Category: Health News Created: 9/2/2010 10:44:00 AM Last Editorial Review: 9/2/2010 10:44:51 AM Posted Thursday, September 2, 2010 2:00 am CDT
| | Health Tip: When Something's Stuck in Your Eye
Title: Health Tip: When Something's Stuck in Your Eye Category: Health News Created: 9/1/2010 10:10:00 AM Last Editorial Review: 9/2/2010 Posted Thursday, September 2, 2010 2:00 am CDT
| | Health Tip: Don't Drive After Drinking
Title: Health Tip: Don't Drive After Drinking Category: Health News Created: 9/1/2010 10:10:00 AM Last Editorial Review: 9/2/2010 Posted Thursday, September 2, 2010 2:00 am CDT
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| Crafting a Model UMMC and Jackson Medical Mall Collaborate on Landmark Program to Benefit Underserved Mississippians
A landmark event involving an academic medical center's educational and training efforts at a federally qualified health center (FQHC) occurred quietly last month in Central Mississippi, marking one of few collaborations of its kind nationwide and possibly creating a model for other states. LYNNE JETER |
Health Insurers Tackle Deluge of Changes Reform Regulations Are Kicking In Already
Healthcare reform requires changes of all stakeholders, but probably none more so than third-party payers, usually portrayed as wearing the black hat in this ongoing drama. In fact, President Obama hasn’t hesitated to cast insurers in the role of characters more worried about money than patient care. SHARON H. FITZGERALD |
An Innovative Approach NewSouth NeuroSpine a Combination of Five Groups with Focused Plan
FLOWOOD—Several years ago, leaders of three spine surgery groups, a physical medicine and a pain management group in Central Mississippi began discussing ways to establish a more effective and efficient practice for their patients. LYNNE JETER |
MEDICAL ENTREPRENEURS: How to Leverage Social Media Legend has it that a Western Union Company executive in an internal memo in 1876 concluded that "the telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." Similarly, if you would have polled business owners or healthcare professionals in the mid-1990s on the value of having a website for their business, most would probably have said "why would I want that?" MARTIN WILLOUGHBY |
Children Are Not Small Adults Nanopediatrics Emerges to Ensure Nanotechnology Encompasses Kids
Imagine a pump the size of a molecule delivering medicine directly in the body where it's needed. Or a miniscule tool programmed to seek out and destroy the first cancer cells of a tumor. That's the promise of nanomedicine, medical applications in the much broader field of nanotechnology. Yet, as such customized medical innovations are being researched, Edward R.B. McCabe III, MD, has one reminder: Kids are different. SHARON H. FITZGERALD |
Maximizing Reimbursements In an environment of rising costs and diminishing returns, it's easy to hone in on contracted rates as the sole source of financial woes. Certainly, negotiating favorable reimbursements with payers is key to a healthy bottom line, but it's really only half the story. CINDY SANDERS |
Mildred Ridgway, MD Gynecologic-Oncologist, Mississippi Gynecologic Cancer Group at Women's Specialty Center, Jackson
Mildred Ridgway, MD, is often referred to as a quarterback.
More specifically, she's well-respected as the leader for the medical team assisting women with gynecologic cancers. LYNNE JETER |
Reflex Testing: Compliance, Billing and Coding
A "reflex" test is a procedure routinely added-on to a patient
order when the initial test results are at a level that meets the clinician’s
threshold to automatically add specific tests. In a nutshell, they are
protocols that specify if this then that. While this makes a great deal of
common sense, care to dot all the I’s and cross all the T’s is the mainstay of
billing and coding compliance. The documentation for dotting and crossing I’s
and T’s is the heart of the compliance step. BETTY HATTEN |
Healthcare Reform: A Look at Employer-Based Wellness Programs On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), otherwise recognized as the healthcare reform law and subsequently amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. A reflection of President Obama's belief that preventive medicine is "one of the best ways to keep our people healthy and our costs under control," wellness program initiatives can be found throughout PPACA with some of these initiatives taking effect as early as next year. CHERI GREEN and LANE STAINES |
HEALTHCARE LEADER: Staying Focused on the Bigger Picture MSMA President Emphasizes State’s Health Status
The ongoing issue of reimbursement rates is no small matter — but it shouldn’t distract Mississippi physicians from focusing on the great health challenges of their home state. LUCY SCHULTZE |
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