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Dr. Tuan Vo-Dinh, Ph.D., ORNL Corporate Fellow and Life Sciences Division researcher |
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ORNL Researchers Develop Nanosensor to Detect Molecules in Single Living Cells
Oak Ridge National Laboratories Corporate Fellow and Life Sciences Division researcher Dr. Tuan Vo-Dinh, Ph.D., heads a team of researchers at ORNL that has developed a nanobiosensor, a fiber optics-based tool that can monitor concentrations of biomolecules in single cells in real time, without disrupting normal cell function during and after insertion.
"Often biochemical analysis is done with a sample containing hundreds of cells. However, since cells respond asynchronously to external stimuli, the results may not reflect what is happening in individual cells," explains Vo-Dinh.
By Rita H. Lee, Ph.D. - Posted: Monday, October 31, 2005 4:40 pm |
Integrating Research
In the late spring of 2004, research scientists began moving into the new state-of-the-art John E. Porter National Neuroscience Research Center.
Three years earlier, more than 150 investigators representing nine institutes of the NIH gathered to hear Dr. Gerald Fischbach, then director of the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and Dr. Steven Hyman, then director of the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH), outline their idea of creating an integrated framework to further research efforts in the neurosciences.
The two leaders, who are no longer with the NIH, envisioned a facility where investigators from different disciplines could work together sharing space, equipment and ideas to build upon basic research in five key areas � neurogentics, neuroplasticity, neurodevelopment, neural circuits and mood incognition.
BY CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Monday, October 31, 2005 4:34 pm |
Clot-Busters: Technology, Medication, Research Combine to Lessen Cerebrovascular Disease Damage
Cerebrovascular disease remains one of the most devastating and misunderstood epidemics of the technology age.
Every year, more than 700,000 Americans suffer a major cerebrovascular event�normally a stroke, the third leading cause of death in the U.S. and the leading cause of disability. On average, an American suffers a stroke every 53 seconds; every 3.3 minutes, someone dies from one. More than three million Americans live with permanent brain damage caused by such an event.
By Lynne Jeter - Posted: Monday, October 31, 2005 4:32 pm |
Dr. Thomas Swift |
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An Exciting Time for the Neurosciences
The American Academy of Neurology has gone public.
Established in 1948, the international association of 19,000 neurologists and neurosciences professionals has just wrapped up its inaugural public expo.
Held in Atlanta, this first public forum was designed to increase visibility of neurological diseases, disseminate information, to raise awareness of the impact of neurological disorders on American society and to try to connect patients with support services.
BY CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Monday, October 31, 2005 4:29 pm |
Lucie Bruijn, Ph.D., ALSA Science Director |
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ALS and Alzheimer�s: Research Continues as Patient Numbers Increase
Age typically plays a key role in the onset of Alzheimer�s and ALS. One disease imprisons the mind while the other imprisons the body. Even though treatment options are limited for both conditions, researchers continue to search for clues behind these devastating neurological disorders.
Alzheimer�s disease is a progressive brain disorder that gradually destroys a person�s memory and ability to learn, reason, make judgments, communicate and carry out daily activities.
BY LYNNE JETER - Posted: Monday, October 31, 2005 4:27 pm |
Dr. William Rodman Shankle |
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MCI Screen May Improve Alzheimer�s Detection, Treatment
Dr. William Rodman "Rod" Shankle is a board-certified neurologist and statistician whose entire career has been focused on Alzheimer�s disease and related disorders, or ADRD.
Almost two decades ago, he co-founded the Alzheimer�s Research Center at the University of California, Irvine. Currently, he manages about 1,000 patients through his community-based private clinic in Orange County and is the chief medical officer for the Medical Care Corporation (MCC), a private company he founded that specializes in management and detection tools for ADRD.
BY CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Monday, October 31, 2005 4:25 pm |
Physician Spotlight: Dr. Christopher Miller
After finishing medical school at the University of Connecticut, Dr. Christopher Miller headed south to Durham, North Carolina for his pediatric residency. His plan was to finish up and begin his practice in general pediatrics.
As many physicians know, however, a rotation can change everything.
Although Miller had always found neurology fascinating, he knew he really wanted to work with children. During a neurological rotation, he began to consider the possibility of doing both.
"I think most neurologists gravitate to the field because they like the science of it � and the Sherlock Holmes approach of piecing together clues to try to find a diagnosis," he says. "My enjoyment of the specialty took over, and that became my career."
By Cindy Sanders - Posted: Monday, October 31, 2005 4:21 pm |
J.D. Hickey |
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Lobbying Disclosure a Requirement of New TennCare Contracts
When TennCare�s managed care organizations signed their new contracts with the state for this fiscal year, the document included stringent new lobbying and conflict of interest language and required annual filing of a TennCare Disclosure of Lobbying Activities Form. Now, as the MCOs take initial steps to meet that filing obligation, many TennCare providers are wondering what prompted MCO interest in their "lobbying relationships."
"In the past several weeks, TennCare has received numerous inquiries relating to the new contractual requirements," wrote J.D. Hickey, deputy commissioner of the Bureau of TennCare, in an Oct. 7 letter to MCOs. "The provisions are not intended to restrict or prohibit legal lobbying activity, but rather to enforce federal law and discourage abuse by shedding light on what have traditionally been poorly supervised activities." That letter wasn�t the first communication to MCOs (as well as behavioral health, pharmaceutical and dental organizations) from Hickey regarding the new lobbying language. On Sept. 29, he sent a memo to MCOs answering 17 specific questions they had posed to the Bureau.
By Sharon H. Fitzgerald - Posted: Monday, October 31, 2005 4:19 pm |
Gene Transfer May Help Create New Blood Vessels in Heart
This fall, the Baptist Heart Institute in Knoxville is involved in a nationwide study called the GENASIS clinical trial. The trial�s goal is to determine whether gene transfer can be used to stimulate new blood vessel growth in the heart. If this gene transfer procedure proves effective, it could be used to decrease angina in patients who are no longer amenable to bypass and stints. Angina is a discomfort or pain due to reduced flow of blood to the heart muscle, and hence, lack of oxygen to the heart.
Knoxville�s Baptist Heart Institute is the only Tennessee facility involved in the nationwide GENASIS (Genetic Angiogenic Stimulation Investigational Study) trial, which is being conducted at only 32 sites throughout the U.S. This gene transfer procedure is targeted toward treating patients who have severe angina and who have already exhausted other conventional options.
By Rita H. Lee, Ph.D. - Posted: Monday, October 31, 2005 4:17 pm |
Dr. John Dougherty, Jr., UT Medical Center |
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UT Research Yields Promise For Patients with Neurodegenerative Diseases
The legacy left by Robert Cole is more astonishing than his rags-to-riches story.
The brilliant self-made man from Knoxville who created a drug store dynasty was helpless to overcome Parkinson�s disease, a chronic, progressive disorder of the central nervous system that belongs to a group of conditions called motor system disorders.
Parkinson�s is the direct result of the loss of cells in a section of the brain called the substantia nigra. Those cells produce dopamine, a chemical messenger responsible for transmitting signals within the brain. Loss of dopamine causes critical nerve cells in the brain, or neurons, to fire out of control, leaving patients unable to direct or control their movement in a normal manner.
By Lynne Jeter - Posted: Monday, October 31, 2005 4:15 pm |
Eric Haralson |
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Knowledge of HRAs Goes a Long Way Towards Small Group's Savings
As the marketing teams for the insurance providers gear up to promote the benefits of HSAs and HRAs combined with HDHPs to reduce insurance premiums, the small practices with no group health plans may wonder if there are any benefits to be had for them. Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRA) do provide for pretax payments of health costs for employees. And the combination with a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) can provide significant premium reductions for employees and employers alike. But, what if your employer does not provide group health benefits?
Eric Haralson, Administrator of Appalachian Therapy in Maryville, asked himself that same question. Appalachian has not provided group health for it's employees since it began as a small business that could not afford coverage. "Most of our employees have coverage through their spouse," Haralson said. "To initiate a group plan now is next to impossible due to participation thresholds, the risk of double digit premium increases, or the risk of reduced benefits." The question was "can we establish an HRA/HSA as a cost-controllable benefit?"
BY BILL MORRIS - Posted: Tuesday, October 4, 2005 4:55 pm |
Dr. Jack Lacey |
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Community-wide Task Force Focuses on Helping the Uninsured
The healthcare communities of Knox and Blount Counties are collaborating on a unique initiative to provide medical care to the uninsured. Hospitals and healthcare systems that were once competitors, and are still on some level, are putting aside their differences and working together on what is being called the Task Force on the Uninsured. Task Force Chair, Dr. Jack Lacey of the University of Tennessee Medical Center, answered these questions about the newly formed task force and its goals.
BY KATHY WHITNEY - Posted: Tuesday, October 4, 2005 4:50 pm |
Associated Therapeutics Celebrates 20 Years in Rehab and Therapy Business
Twenty years ago, Tom Kelly and Andy Smith, both physical therapists, started a private physical therapy practice called Associated Therapeutics, Inc. Their practice has steadily grown and developed over the last 20 years.
Patients have a diverse spectrum of ailments, which bring them to Associated Therapeutics — from a stroke to orthopedic injuries to disease such as multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. To treat these different ailments, Associated Therapeutics, Inc. uses its multi-disciplinary expertise. Kelly notes, "During the 20 years we have been practicing, physical therapy has become more specialized."
Associated Therapeutics reflects this diversification. The services include physical therapy, aquatic physical therapy, occupational therapy, work conditioning, vocational services, functional capacity evaluations and fitness programs.
BY RITA H. LEE, PHD - Posted: Tuesday, October 4, 2005 4:48 pm |
New Cycle Activates Paralyzed Muscles
Even after his death, paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve is still contributing to rehabilitation advances. That's according to Dr. John McDonald, who directs the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. The latest advance taking advantage of work done with Reeve and others is a breakthrough medical device to help restore motor functions to previously paralyzed muscles.
"Part of that concept really bore through with the work that we did with Christopher Reeve, demonstrating that he could recover major function many years out from his injury. That kind of shattered the old myth that most of the recovery is in the first year, and then after that it's finished. It's just not true," says McDonald, who was Reeve's lead neurologist.
BY SHARON H. FITZGERALD - Posted: Tuesday, October 4, 2005 4:44 pm |
Jerry Stone |
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ReDoc Simplifies the Lives of Therapists
Who better to help design a software package for physical therapists than a physical therapist? That's the logic Jerry Stone applied 10 years ago when he founded ReDoc, his Nashville-based medical software company. After two decades as a physical therapist and frustrated by the overwhelming documentation requirements of the job, Stone decided to tackle the problem himself.
"I saw there was a need to alleviate the paperwork involved," he recalls. "Having a lot of experience in that field, I was able to work with some software developers and develop a tool that automates all of this paperwork and decreases the paperwork time by about 50 to 60 percent for the treating therapist."
BY SHARON H. FITZGERALD - Posted: Tuesday, October 4, 2005 4:40 pm |
Worth Sanders |
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A Year After Stark, The Bright Line Test Has Dimmed
Healthcare is scrutinized by the government like no other industry, and medical professionals rely on their contingent relationship with attorneys to keep them informed and well within regulations. The federal physician self-referral law, referred to as the Stark law, dictates much of what legal professionals consider in their daily workings with medical clients. Now, over a year after Stark II, Phase II, a look into the medical-legal world paints the picture of an ever increasing rift between hospitals and physician practices and the realities of structuring business deals in the healthcare industry. In addition, new stipulations are making the law more convoluted. Since early last year, the designated health services (DHS) had become finalized, with CMS ensuring that physicians could not benefit from self-referring Medicare or Medicaid beneficiaries to an entity in which they or an immediate family member hold a financial interest, from employment contracts to lease agreements. The law also laid some important exceptions, namely the in-office ancillary exception and one excluding nuclear medicine from the DHS list.
BY HOLLI W. HAYNIE - Posted: Tuesday, October 4, 2005 4:38 pm |
Second year Clinical Medical Assisting class receivies instruction in the various integrated clinical and diagnostic procedures. |
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October Honors Medical Assistants
October 17 - 21 has been designated as Medical Assistants Appreciation Week. With the current staffing shortages in healthcare, MA's are filling a nitch in medical practices in the East Tennessee area.
Medical assistants are sometimes confused with physician assistants (PA), but their training and job duties differ significantly. PAs work under the direct supervision of a physician to examine, diagnose and treat patients. A PA functions as an extension of the physician in every sense of the word. MAs, on the other hand, sometime provide both clinical and administrative support.
BY BILL MORRIS - Posted: Tuesday, October 4, 2005 4:29 pm |
Physician Spotlight: Dr. Rosanne Barker
Nineteen years ago, when sleep medicine was still a fledgling field, Rosanne Barker, MD, had the foresight to see that sleep medicine would become the important, rapidly growing field it is today. With this foresight, she decided to practice sleep medicine full-time. Today, Barker is the medical director of the Baptist Sleep Institute whose services are spread throughout East Tennessee
The Sleep Institute has multiple locations including offices at Baptist Hospital of East Tennessee as well as at the Baptist West campus in Knoxville. With Barker at the helm, Baptist Sleep Institute is currently expanding across East Tennessee. This November, the Baptist Sleep institute will be opening up a facility in Sevierville, near Pigeon Forge. By 2006, Cocke County Hospital will also offer Baptist Sleep Institute services.
BY RITA H. LEE, PHD - Posted: Tuesday, October 4, 2005 4:26 pm |
UTMC employees load donations. |
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Volunteer State Lives Up to Name
Time and again, Tennesseans have stepped in to help whenever there's a need. The nickname "Volunteer State" was coined during the War of 1812 as General Andrew Jackson's volunteer troops displayed valor during the Battle of New Orleans.
Today, members of East Tennessee's medical community are once again displaying valor in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast as they rush to help.
Although there are too many examples to cite, many area hospitals and clinics have received and treated evacuee patients. Additionally, the healthcare community has offered everything from donated supplies to a kind touch.
BY CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Tuesday, October 4, 2005 4:24 pm |
Supreme Court Rules Non-Competes Unenforceable
"We hold that except for those specifically prescribed by statute, physicians' covenants not to compete are unenforceable and void."
This is the last line of the opinion of the Tennessee Supreme Court issued June 29, 2005. One of the justices concurred on this specific case, but issued a dissenting opinion reflecting on the broad statement that all covenants not covered by statute were void. What does this mean?
To understand let's look at the specific case under consideration. In this case Murfreesboro Medical Clinic (MMC) entered into an employment agreement with Dr. David Odom for two years with the option of extending the contract.
The non-compete provision stated: "upon termination of this agreement…, the Employee agrees not to engage in the practice of medicine within a 25 mile radius of the public square of Murfreesboro, Tenn. for a period of 18 months following such termination." Basically, Odom had to leave town to practice medicine, unless he chose to accept the buyout clause, which required a payment equal to one year's salary.
BY BILL MORRIS - Posted: Tuesday, October 4, 2005 4:21 pm |
Niles Lundt, PhD, St. Mary's Cardiac Rehab Team Leader works with a patient. |
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A Change of Heart at St. Mary's Cardiac Rehab
How can life change for the better after a stroke, angioplasty or bypass surgery? For the approximately 130 to 140 patients who are currently involved in the St. Mary's Cardiac Rehabilitation Program, the goal is to replace high-risk heart disease habits with a long-term healthy and active lifestyle.
St. Mary's opened its newest Cardiac Rehabilitation facility at East Towne on Centerline Drive in Knoxville in 1997. This facility serves as the mainstay of St. Mary's Cardiac Rehabilitation Program which started back in the early 1990s.
BY RITA H. LEE, PHD - Posted: Tuesday, October 4, 2005 4:19 pm |
Government Tracks Soaring Demand for Bariatric Surgery
For a growing number of morbidly obese Americans, the most effective tool for fast weight loss is a scalpel.
As bariatric surgery becomes increasingly safer, a growing number of obese Americans are turning to surgeons for a quick victory in the fight against fat. And in a new report, analysts say that demand for weight-loss surgery has the potential to increase at an even faster pace in the years to come.
After examining the available data from 1998 to 2002, researchers at Health and Human Service's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality determined that the number of bariatric surgeries in the United States soared from 13,386 a year to 71,733. A big part of that increase resulted from a 900 percent rise in operations for patients 55 to 64.
BY JOHN CARROLL - Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2005 5:21 pm |
Tennessee Turns to Turnkey Patient Assistance Program for Drugs
For tens of thousands of patients who have lost their drug benefits under TennCare, the only realistic way they can avoid any sudden lapse in their drug regimens may be a state bridge program set up to help low-income residents tap into drug manufacturers' Patient Assistance Programs.
The state has contracted with Missouri-based Express Scripts (ESI) for a $57 million plan, and thousands of Tennesseans have wasted no time in accessing it for free or discounted generic drugs.
"As of (August 5) we have had just over 8,047 patients order from RX Outreach with an average of 2.9 scripts per order, each for a 90-day supply," wrote Lola Potter, spokesperson for the Department of Finance and Administration, which oversees TennCare, in an e-mail reply to Medical News. "So, we've delivered over 23,000 prescriptions for a 90-day supply. We have also now processed over 8,360 claims on the discount card."
BY TRACY STATON - Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2005 5:20 pm |
Dr. John C. Nelson (right) is pictured with Dr. Charles R. Handorf . |
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AMA's "House Call" Encouraging Physicians to Act Against Medicare Reimbursement Cuts
Editors Note: Medical News Papers Inc. has worked to provide physicians with detailed information about the impending Medicare reimbursement cuts slated to begin January 2006. Some physicians were regretfully prepared to significantly cut or no longer accept new Medicare patients, causing a severe access problem for seniors, but there is hope to stop these cuts.
On August 15, Dr. John C. Nelson, an obstetrician and immediate past president of the American Medical Association, made a Tennessee "House Call" urging the state to support federal legislation that would not only stop the 26 percent reimbursement cuts from 2006 through 2011, but also replace the formula by which these reimbursements are decided, the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR).
BY HOLLI W. HAYNIE - Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2005 5:19 pm |
Health Savings Accounts: A Two-Edged Sword for Medical Practices
Cariten Healthcare announced its newest products recently at its twentieth anniversary celebration. The products bundle high-deductible health insurance with either a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) or a Health Savings Account (HSA). There is no doubt that we will all be bombarded by similar plans from all health insurance companies in the coming months. Let's take a look at these two new consumer options.
BY BILL MORRIS - Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2005 5:17 pm |
Researchers Find Doctors Turning to Handhelds for Bigger Load of E-Prescribing
If you want to find the physicians most likely to use the latest handheld technologies for writing prescriptions, you need to start by looking for the doctors with the most to gain.
"It's really the busy physicians that are writing a lot of prescriptions that are most likely to embrace technology," says Erika Fishman, an analyst for Manhattan Research. A new survey by Manhattan Research concluded that the doctors who tap electronic prescribing software on their PDAs blaze through an average of 42 more prescriptions per week than those who stick with their desktop software.
It's a small crowd, says Fishman, amounting to only about 80,000 doctors that use their PDAs to order drugs for patients. But it's growing fast, up about 300 percent in just the past year, according to Fishman.
BY TRACY STATON - Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2005 5:16 pm |
Andy Grove |
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Former Intel Chief Says Healthcare Business has Much to Learn from IT
Over the years, Andy Grove has learned a thing or two about efficiency and development. As the head of the global chip maker Intel, he helped guide a company through a monstrous growth phase while earning a reputation for unparalleled technological advancement.
So when Grove, recently retired as chairman of Intel, turned his eyes to the healthcare industry recently, he admitted to some frustration with its shortcomings. In a piece written for the Journal of the American Medical Association, Grove spelled out the comparisons between a business he helped shape and a healthcare field that seems to be a permanent laggard in the area of innovation.
BY JOHN CARROLL - Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2005 5:14 pm |
St. Mary's Starts Computerized Physician Order Entry
St. Mary's Medical Center has installed its first phase of computerized physician order entry (CPOE). Last September, three OB/GYN physicians at St. Mary's started using the digitized physician order entry. The next step St. Mary's is taking is to equip the entire OB/GYN department with CPOE. The ultimate goal is that by 2006, the entire St. Mary's Medical Center complex will have CPOE.
The digital physician order entry helps increase the safety of patients. Trish McDaniel, Senior VP and Chief Nursing Officer for St. Mary's, borrows an analogy used by Dr. Leonard Brabson, one of the active forces behind making sure CPOE runs smoothly at St. Mary's. McDaniel says, "Using CPOE is like putting a child in a child car seat. Sure, it takes a few more moments to buckle the child up, but in the end, it's worth it. Likewise, it takes time to learn how to do the CPOE, and to enter the orders into the computer, but in the end it's worth it."
BY RITA H. LEE, PHD - Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2005 5:10 pm |
ASP Services Help Providers Earn Top Dollar
"Healthcare is the only industry with contracts where payments are not expected to match invoices."
Those are the words of Harriett Flowers, who in 1990 founded Dallas-based Innovative Managed Care Systems (IMaCS) to help hospitals ensure they receive correct reimbursements from managed care organizations and later from government payers, too. The product was originally PC-based, then moved to a server environment. Information technology advances — including common use of the Internet — prompted IMaCS in 1998 to launch MaCS Performance, an ASP (application service provider via the Web) still focused on preventing hospital underpayments. Now IMaCS has introduced a new ASP, MaCS Professional, to do the same thing for medium and large physician groups.
BY SHARON H. FITZGERALD - Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2005 5:09 pm |
One-Time Health Plan Credentialing Streamlines Cumbersome Process
Say the words "health plan credentialing" to physicians or their office managers and watch them cringe. Completing the applications to be a provider for multiple health plans is a time-consuming administrative burden, fraught with mind-numbing detail and redundancy.
True to its name and mission, the national Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH), based in Washington, D.C., has tackled this hassle using a secure, state-of-the-art data center and the Internet. The organization's Universal Credentialing DataSource, launched in 2002, received earlier this summer a statement of support from the American Medical Association and was already endorsed by the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Family Physicians.
BY SHARON H. FITZGERALD - Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2005 5:07 pm |
Seniors Show Little Excitement for New Medicare Drug Benefit
For months now, the federal government has been trumpeting the fast-approaching Medicare drug benefit. Anxious to lend their support, a host of major managed care plans have announced their intentions to offer their own branded plans. The agency has teamed up with about two dozen prominent medical groups to spread the word. And President Bush himself has been using the bully pulpit of his national office to herald the expensive new drug support for the nation's seniors.
"This new law is bringing preventive medicine, better healthcare choices, and prescription drugs to every American receiving Medicare," the president said while touring the country in June to tout the new drug package.
That message, though, hasn't gone very far in convincing the government's target audience.
BY TRACY STATON - Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2005 5:04 pm |
Redefining the "Men" in Menopause
Although it's a complete misnomer, the term "male menopause" has begun gaining ground in popular culture over the last few years.
Since menopause comes from the Latin "mensis" referring to month and is tied to the ending of the menstrual cycle, men cannot physiologically go through male menopause.
However, the term instantly connotes a physical change of life that is something more than the typical "midlife crisis" often associated with men.
Endocrinologist Dr. Adrian S. Dobs is a professor of medicine and oncology for Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an active researcher in the field of sex hormone disorders. While she deplores the term "male menopause," she readily admits perfect terminology is still lacking for the condition in which men face physical symptoms due to a hormonal decline, most notably in testosterone.
BY CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2005 4:57 pm |
Taking a Gender-Based Approach to Impact Outcomes
Men and women are different. The very nature of these differences have been explored for centuries in literature, the visual and performing arts and over countless conversations with commiserating friends of both sexes.
Yet, for most of the history of medicine, clinicians have tended to treat the two genders in the exact same manner with the very obvious exception of the clear reproductive health differences. Yes, men must worry about their prostate and women about childbirth, but there are other, much more subtle differences that have an impact on health. These physiological, cultural and emotional differences aren't as readily apparent but can profoundly alter medical outcomes.
BY CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2005 4:55 pm |
Physician Spotlight: Dr. Daniel Ibach
"It is not the length of life, but the depth of life," the writer Ralph Waldo Emerson once said.
Dr. Daniel Ibach, Medical Director for Covenant HomeCare Hospice in Knoxville believes that depth and quality of life are precious, even in the end stages of life.
Ibach was a missionary kid with his family in Mexico where his father worked in a missionary clinic. His parents eventually moved Ibach and his four siblings up to Chattanooga, Tenn., where Ibach grew up and eventually attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Ibach's first encounter with the hospice concept was a very personal one. During his college years, Ibach's father became ill and died of a rare type of cancer at the young age of 53. Ibach was only 20 years old at the time.
BY RITA H. LEE, PHD - Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2005 4:54 pm |
Ken Larish |
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Doctors to Push for Legislation Allowing Joint Negotiations
Powerless to stop unwanted changes last year to their BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee contracts, a group of disgruntled Nashville doctors has banded together to establish the Tennessee Patient-Physician Alliance, a nonprofit corporation with a goal to legalize collective negotiations by physicians with payers.
"There's a famous court decision that says, 'Where there's a right, there's a remedy.' After reviewing this issue for a while, I just concluded that that is apparently not true if you are a doctor in Tennessee. I've become kind of evangelical about this. This group of clients of mine are aggrieved people," says Ken Larish, a Nashville attorney with Bone McAllester Norton PLLC. Larish is TPPA's lawyer and spokesman for the organization.
BY SHARON H. FITZGERALD - Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2005 4:51 pm |
Preventable Cancer, the No. 2 Killer of Men in Their Prime
Cancers of the digestive system are the most common types of cancer. Colon cancer and esophageal cancer continue to affect over 160,000 people every year in the United States. Even more shocking, is that these types of cancer are, for the most part, preventable.
Colon cancer is a malignant tumor that grows in the tissue walls of the colon —the final feet of the large intestine. These tumors begin as small polyps and can range in size from microscopic to very large. As the polyp grows in size and duration in the colon, the chance of it becoming cancerous increases. Common symptoms of colon cancer include: rectal bleeding, diarrhea, weight loss, abdominal pain, and if the polyp is large enough to block the colon, severe constipation and severe abdominal pain can result.
BY BILL MORRIS - Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2005 4:48 pm |
Blues Online Records May Help TennCare
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee has created a for-profit company, Shared Health, to head up their newly made database of claims-based patient information. Using high speed Internet to access the claims-based medical records database, physicians in Tennessee can now access the histories of 750, 000 TennCare patients. This database of patients' medical information includes test and lab results, prescription records and other relevant medical information collected from across multiple practice settings. Data on immunizations and well-child exams will eventually be added as well. By year's end, the patient histories of all TennCare patients will be available on the Blues' online medical records database. This online database is available free of charge to all physicians in Tennessee.
BY RITA H. LEE, PHD - Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2005 4:45 pm |
Dr. Mauro Moscucci, University of Michigan |
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Doctors Say New Report Cards Force Them to Turn Away Sickest Patients
Throughout the country, new report cards grading how effectively physicians are taking care of their patients are becoming increasingly popular. In theory, giving doctors grades will help the public choose better doctors and encourage physicians to practice better medicine.
But a new study suggests that the trend may have just the opposite effect than what was intended, with more and more docs deciding to steer clear of the sickest patients who may contribute to a bad grade.
JOHN CARROLL - Posted: Friday, July 29, 2005 2:24 pm |
Deanna Aftab-Guy, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center |
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Researchers Zero in on New Therapies to Fight Diabetes Epidemic
Confronted by an epidemic of new diabetes cases, researchers have been beavering away at finding new therapies to control the disease.
According to the American Diabetes Association, there are some 18 million diabetics in the United States, and that number is growing at about 7 percent a year. And there are few places where the growth rate is faster than in the South, where a tradition of fatty foods and poor exercise habits has created a prime breeding ground for new cases.
The cost is high. Treating Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes costs about $92 billion a year, which makes diabetes an "as yet unexploited" field for drug companies, notes WR Hambrecht analyst Andrew Forman.
JOHN CARROLL - Posted: Friday, July 29, 2005 2:24 pm |
Walter Schuler The Bogatin Law Firm |
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Tennessee Supreme Court Strikes Down Physician Non-Competition Agreements
The recent opinion issued on June 29, 2005 by the Tennessee Supreme Court in the case of Murfreesboro Medical Clinic versus Dr. David Udom has set off a firestorm, creating a wake of unanswered questions for both physicians and medical groups.
At issue in this case is the enforceability of non-compete agreements between a physician and his former employer. During 2002 and 2003, both the trial court and the Court of Appeals concluded that the non-compete agreement was enforceable, however, the Court of Appeals remanded the case to the trial court for further determinations with respect to the agreement's "buy-out" provision.
KAREN OTTMAYER - Posted: Friday, July 29, 2005 2:24 pm |
Siemens' Acquisition of CTI Creates Value for Medical Research in Eastern Tennessee
The 17-year relationship of Siemens and CTI that led to the acquisition of CTI by Siemens continues to benefit the East Tennessee region as well as worldwide medical research.
In 1987 Siemens recognized the potential of CTI's technology as the leader in PET scanner development. Siemens entered into a joint venture with CTI for one half of their scanner business. They actually acquired 49.9 percent of the stock from the four founders of CTI. The business continued to be managed by CTI. A provision of the partnership allowed for Siemens to acquire 100 percent of the stock when CTI shipped approximately 1000 scanners. As CTI approached the 1000 mark, slated for 2006, Siemens expressed an interest in acquiring the entire company. Earlier this year the purchase was completed for approximately 1.1 billion dollars.
BILL MORRIS - Posted: Friday, July 29, 2005 2:24 pm |
Social workers may be sent out to assess the home health situation. |
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Medical Care that's Personal and Private
As the baby boomers approach senior status the questions of medical care assume a larger importance as a part of daily living. The insurance industry has responded with a plethora of Long Term Care insurance policies targeted at the population in their 50s and early 60s. Some insurance statistics suggest that one in four seniors will serve an average of 18 months in a long term care facility. For a generation raised on personal freedom, this is unacceptable.
Home health agencies have been provided in home medical care for well over 50 years.
As the boomers age, more and more will be turning to home health agencies to provide care in the privacy of their own home rather than go to an assisted living facility or moving in with relatives.
BILL MORRIS - Posted: Friday, July 29, 2005 2:24 pm |
Paul J. Williams |
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Sink or Swim … America's Age Wave on the Horizon
Those demanding Baby Boomers … they impact, change and challenge the system at every lifestage.
In the 60s they were outspoken in their criticism of the government. By the 90s, they'd elected the first president from their own generation. In 2020, they are fully capable of again raising their voices, in a loud protest if the system isn't prepared to offer the array of senior services and lifestyle options, they are sure to demand.
In truth, the industry is already getting a taste of what Boomers will expect for themselves as members of the nation's largest generation are now reviewing housing and service options on behalf of their parents.
CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Friday, July 29, 2005 2:24 pm |
Garden Terrace Alzheimer's Center of Excellence in Colorado is where specialized programs for Alzheimer's, which are now being used all over the country, were first developed. |
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Specialized Alzheimer's Care at Life Care
As of 2003, an estimated 4.5 million people in the United States had Alzheimer's disease, according to a report in the August 2003 issue of Archives of Neurology. The report projects that by the year 2050, the number will increase to somewhere between 11.3 and 16 million Americans with Alzheimer's disease.
In light of the growing population requiring Alzheimer's care, Life Care Centers of America, which is headquartered in Cleveland, Tenn., has developed specialized programs for Alzheimer's care. Life Care Centers of America, whose facilities include retirement, assisted living, nursing, and home care facilities across the United States, also has facilities throughout East Tennessee including in Maryville, Athens, and Morristown.
RITA H. LEE, PH.D. - Posted: Friday, July 29, 2005 2:24 pm |
Norma Lindsey, administrator for St. Mary's Residential Hospice (left) and Lisa Collier, hospice director are pictured in front of the Transformation window in the hospice chapel. |
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Hospice Is Where the Heart Is: Affirming Life at End of Life at St. Mary's
As one drives up the curved driveway of St. Mary's Residential Hospice, no stark institution comes into view. Instead, one finds a homey, ranch-style English cottage with purple and green bushes landscaped around the entire perimeter of the house — a cottage which is St. Mary's Residential Hospice.
Norma Lindsey, administrator for St. Mary's Residential Hospice, explains, "In the 1960s, English physician Dame Cicely Saunders pioneered the concept of the hospice, the concept that enhancing quality of life is important for those near the end of life. Saunders established the first hospice in London, England. Therefore, in the late 1990s when St. Mary's Health System decided to build a hospice, it was designed with a welcoming, homey, English theme to it.
RITA H. LEE, PH.D - Posted: Friday, July 29, 2005 2:24 pm |
Hospital-Based Palliative Care:
The scenario is painfully familiar: A 93-year-old woman in breathing distress is rushed by ambulance from her nursing home to a hospital emergency room in the middle of the night. She's later admitted into the intensive care unit, where her family can't see her, and she's hooked up to a ventilator.
"I'm not a clinical person, but you would be amazed how many stories I hear about people who had advance directives that were ignored and how difficult it is, once someone is on the conveyor belt into the hospital," says Lynn Spragens, a national expert in palliative care and an independent consultant with the New York-based Center to Advance Palliative Care. Spragens contends that hospital-based palliative care programs help prevent such agonizing situations — and save hospitals money at the same time.
SHARON H. FITZGERALD - Posted: Friday, July 29, 2005 2:24 pm |
Dr. Russell K. Portenoy |
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Hospice and Palliative Care Board Certifies While Pushing for Formal Recognition
What does it mean to be a specialist in hospice and palliative medicine? To help answer that question, the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine was founded in 1995 and since 1996 has administered a certification process to ensure physicians have the necessary knowledge and competency to do the job.
"What we're doing is certifying physicians both through their training and experience and then through the exam process. Those physicians must prove specialty level knowledge in the care of people at the end of life and in the care of people with life-threatening illness," explains Dr. Russell K. Portenoy, chairman of the ABHPM Board of Trustees and chairman of the Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Beth Israel Medical Center. An expert in the field of pain management, Portenoy champions the cause that hospice and palliative medicine should be a legitimate subspecialty recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties, and the ABHPM is working toward that goal.
SHARON H. FITZGERALD - Posted: Friday, July 29, 2005 2:24 pm |
Healthcare Cost Inflation Levels Off
Hopes that healthcare spending was beginning to slow to a more affordable pace have been dashed by a new study showing industry inflation steaming ahead of overall economic growth.
Healthcare costs surged 8.2 percent last year, according to the Center for Studying Health System Change. That is at the same pace as 2003 and well ahead of a brisk 5.6 percent surge in the economy as a whole. Analysts fear that after peaking at 11.3 percent in 2001, healthcare spending growth may have settled in at a high level. And that's bad news for groups hoping to see the trend that has left a growing number of Americans without health insurance coverage go into reverse.
TRACY STATON - Posted: Friday, July 29, 2005 2:24 pm |
Physician Spotlight: Dr. David Adair
Calvin Coolidge once said, "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not … genius will not … education will not. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
Dr. David Adair, Director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, and at Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, has proved that while talent, genius, and education have been helpful, persistence and determination have been just as important for his pioneering research.
RITA H. LEE, PH.D. - Posted: Friday, July 29, 2005 2:24 pm |
AMA Plots Ambitious Legislative Agenda at Annual Policy Summit
When members of the American Medical Association's House of Delegates gathered in Chicago in June for their annual policy meeting, image was much on their mind.
Delegates were treated to a new set of television ads starring physicians as "everyday heroes" in an upcoming $60 million marketing campaign. And there was a new logo featuring a stylishly modern staff-and-snake design.
TRACY STATON - Posted: Friday, July 29, 2005 2:24 pm |
Physical Therapist Sean Alvarez helps a resident walk using the parallel bars at the Shannondale Health Care Center. |
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Onsite Medical Services for
One of the prime concerns for elderly residents of senior living communities is easy access to nearby medical services. Presbyterian Homes of Tennessee, Inc. oversees the campus Shannondale of Knoxville as well as Shannondale of Maryville, Tenn. which provides the same set of services as the Knoxville campus. Both campuses have an onsite healthcare center whose many medical services are available to all of their senior residents. In addition, both campuses provide a whole continuum of senior care from private homes, duplexes and villas, to a retirement center and assisted living to nursing facility care.
Jane Finn, director of Social Services and Admissions at Shannondale of Knoxville explains, "We offer a whole array of medical services in our onsite Health Care Center, including dental, podiatry, speech and language pathology, X-rays, mental health, clinical lab services, occupational therapy and physical therapy.
BY RITA H. LEE, PH.D. - Posted: Friday, July 29, 2005 2:24 pm |
Dr. Norm Walton, UT's Cole Neuroscience Center in Knoxville |
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Neurologist Puts Clarity Into End of Life Decision-Making
End of life issues have become an increasingly prevalent concern in modern day society as new medical technologies come into existence and cases like the Terry Schiavo case are brought to the public's attention. Dr. Norm Walton, who is double board-certified in Internal Medicine and Neurology, as well as an Assistant Professor at University of Tennessee Medical Center and a practicing neurologist at UT's Cole Neuroscience Center in Knoxville, sheds some light on end of life issues.
"After watching the Terry Schiavo case unfold in the media, the take-home point I took from that case was that there should be every effort made to keep the legal system out of the situation," says Walton. "The decision should be made by the entire healthcare team — including the physicians, the social workers, and the chaplain — along with the patient's family, and the patient if the patient is able to do so."
RITA H. LEE, PH.D. - Posted: Friday, July 29, 2005 2:24 pm |
Pill Cam Gives Physicians a Close-Up View of The Human Body
The PillCam has been revved up to speed diagnostics and broaden its uses among gastroenterologists.
Introduced by Israel-based Given Imaging, the pill-sized device includes a miniature video camera that is swallowed by a patient and then returned to a physician after it passes through their gastrointestinal system. During its journey through the small bowel, the device takes 15 to 25 picture frames a second — about 55,000 altogether — which can be downloaded later and reviewed by the physician to diagnose abnormalities like Crohn's disease, Celiac disease and tumors. The PillCam was approved for use in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration as an "adjunctive" tool in 2001 and OK'd for primary diagnosis use in 2003.
by Tracy Staton - Posted: Friday, July 1, 2005 5:02 pm |
Dr. Steven Harms is pictured here with his RODEO MRI behind him. |
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The Answer in Black and White
Any woman who's ever had a mammography will cheer the work of Dr. Steven Harms at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. His new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique to detect breast cancer does not require the tissue compression necessary for traditional mammography. No more squashing the breast with an unforgiving plate of Plexiglass.
Developed by Massachusetts-based Aurora Imaging Technology Inc., the dedicated MRI machine is designed specifically for breast imaging and is contoured for the patient to lie face down. The breasts are suspended away from the chest wall — without compression — in a cushioned device which contains the signal transmitters and receivers for the radio frequencies. Harms' RODEO MRI method is at use in nine medical facilities across the country with an onslaught of additional sites expected in the next year. The first site was in Knoxville, Tenn.
by Sharon H. Fitzgerald - Posted: Friday, July 1, 2005 5:00 pm |
Dr. Rebecka Peebles, Stanford University adolescent medicine specialist (left) and Jenny Wilson, Stanford medical student. |
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Physicians who treat patients with anorexia or bulimia face a sinister obstacle in the form of Web sites that promote eating disorders as a lifestyle choice. These painfully thin patients, mostly young women, look to these sites for validation — and they get it, according to a California doctor who has studied their impact.
"These Web sites are founded on the mistaken belief that eating disorders are not a disease, but a way of life," says Dr. Rebecka Peebles, a Stanford University adolescent medicine specialist. Peebles and Jenny Wilson, a Stanford medical student, presented their research on the subject at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Washington, D.C., in May.
by Sharon H. Fitzgerald - Posted: Friday, July 1, 2005 4:57 pm |
Dr. Kathleen Edmunds |
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To Take or Not to Take Hormone Therapy
Hormone replacement therapy, or Hormone Therapy (HT), is an FDA-approved treatment used to provide significant relief from many symptoms of menopause. Hormone therapy consists of two main types of therapy — a combination of estrogen and progesterone (usually synthetic forms of both) or just estrogen alone — which are used to supplement a woman's body when it stops producing these hormones during menopause.
There are many factors to consider when the decision to take or not to take hormone therapy is made, including the type of therapy — combination (estrogen-progesterone) or estrogen alone — the length of therapy, the dosage amount, and previous medical history and risk factors.
BY RITA H. LEE - Posted: Friday, July 1, 2005 4:54 pm |
Baptist Opens First Women's Hospital in East Tennessee
Baptist Hospital for Women opened up in July 2003 in Knoxville and is the first women's hospital in East Tennessee. The Hospital for Women centralizes women's health services in one location — including medical, surgical, diagnostic, and labor and delivery services. Another aspect of Baptist Hospital for Women is that they address the holistic health of the female patients — not just physical but also mental and spiritual, through a supportive environment, educational programs and spa services.
"Our hospital has both inpatient and outpatient services for women, and our staff is trained to work specifically with women," states Martha Chill, senior vice president and administrator of Baptist Hospital for Women and Baptist Hospital West.
While Baptist Hospital for Women and Baptist Hospital West are located in adjacent buildings on the Baptist West Campus, Baptist Hospital for Women has its own separate entrance.
BY RITA H. LEE - Posted: Friday, July 1, 2005 4:53 pm |
Dr. Richard Briggs, Colonel US Army Reserve |
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Doctors at War
Dr. Richard Briggs, Colonel US Army Reserve, recently made a presentation at a meeting of the Knoxville Academy of Medicine with slides and moving pictures of his recent deployment in Afghanistan. The presentation and graphics were detailed and moving, both from a medical perspective and as an insight into the human condition during war.
Not only was the military hospital treating wounded soldiers, but also providing medical care to injured civilians, including women and children. The pictures of horrific wounds, both military and civilian, were surreal as Dr. Briggs described the procedures necessary to repair all manner of physical injury. Often, the materials and procedures utilized were improvised on the spot from the pool of knowledge of physicians in the surgical team tempered by supplies at hand.
BY BILL MORRIS - Posted: Friday, July 1, 2005 4:51 pm |
Scott Vogel |
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E-health Initiative Gaining Statewide Support in Pediatric Field
As the nation moves quickly into the information age, the medical industry is working to keep up pace, and Tennessee is primed for informational integration, particularly in pediatrics. From east to west and in between, physicians are coming together on the common goal of improving the quality of healthcare and deciphering what could be a sound business move by implementing technology to share and utilize health information.
Commercial and federal payers are concurrently working toward quality of care programs that could be maintained via e-health which is creating another motivation for the healthcare industry to centralize their information and outcomes.
BY HOLLI W. HAYNIE - Posted: Friday, July 1, 2005 4:49 pm |
Dr. John E. Lewy |
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Children's Access to Care Tops AAP Priority List
"Access is at the top of everyone's agenda," stated Dr. John E. Lewy, FAAP, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Federal Government Affairs.
With more than nine million uninsured children in America, many kids go without the necessary preventative medicine … and even acute care … that they need. In the 109th Congress, the AAP supports several solid pieces of legislation that would significantly chip away or totally eliminate the number of uninsured minors in the nation.
While advocating for broad-based access to healthcare, the AAP is simultaneously trying to minimize damaging cuts to the nation's Medicaid program.
by Cindy Sanders - Posted: Friday, July 1, 2005 4:45 pm |
National Organizations Take On Childhood Obesity
While access to healthcare tops most pediatrician's list of legislative priorities, reversing the trend of overweight children is quickly climbing to the top of clinical concerns.
Dr. Bob Holmberg, a board certified pediatrician for Eastern Maine Medical Center's Norumbega Pediatrics group, sits on the American Academy of Pediatrics Obesity Task Force, which was created two years ago.
"It is increasingly recognized that the acceleration of the prevalence of obesity is one of the major epidemics we're dealing with," Holmberg said.
by Cindy Sanders - Posted: Friday, July 1, 2005 4:41 pm |
University Cuts Drug Firms Out Of Its Pharmacy Program
University Cuts Drug Firms Out Of Its Pharmacy Program
by John Carroll
Like most employers, the University of Michigan has been stung by soaring drug prices. But unlike most employers, the university was able to do something about it.
Convinced that something needed to be done to rein in the stiff, double-digit price hikes that hit their budget with each passing year, the university called on a staff full of medical experts and a group of outside consultants to create a working group that could come up with a solution. In the end, says Keith Bruhnsen, who was hired on to the university's benefits division specifically to focus on drug costs, Michigan found that some of the biggest culprits for higher drug prices were the pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) who had been brought in to help manage costs.
by John Carroll - Posted: Friday, July 1, 2005 4:05 pm |
Physician Spotlight: Dr. Don Hall
When asked about his favorite aspects of practicing as a gynecologic oncologist, Dr. Don Hall mentions that the "cancer patients are the greatest."
"Cancer patients have a lot of courage, good humor in the face of adversity and appreciate life. I admire them tremendously," says Hall.
A discussion with Hall about his dedication to bringing the best of his gynecologic oncology subspecialty to his patients leads one to suspect that many of his patients hold the same grateful sentiment toward Hall as well.
Hall is a long-standing member of Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG), a national consortium of gynecologic oncologists which is affiliated with approximately 60 medical facilities across the United States, including medical schools and hospitals.
BY RITA H. LEE - Posted: Friday, July 1, 2005 3:54 pm |
Dr. Theodore Addai, chief of cardiology at Nashville General Hospital and Meharry Medical College |
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BiDil Receives FDA Approval as First Racially Targeted Drug
The Food and Drug Administration on June 23 approved BiDil, a drug treatment for cardiovascular disease that specifically targets blacks. In a statement, the FDA says the drug represents "a step toward the promise of personalized medicine."
"Today's approval of a drug to treat severe heart failure in the self-identified black population is a striking example of how a treatment can benefit some patients even if it does not help all patients," says Dr. Robert Temple, FDA associate director of medical policy. "The information presented to the FDA clearly showed that blacks suffering from heart failure will now have an additional safe and effective option for treating their condition. In the future, we hope to discover characteristics that identify people of any race who might be helped by BiDil." A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee endorsed the drug on June 16.
by Sharon H. Fitzgerald - Posted: Friday, July 1, 2005 3:51 pm |
Michael and Jarod Strunk and German Rodriguez leave their patient rooms to go to the Third Floor playroom to paint pictures with child life specialists Kristin Wells and Julie Head. |
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ETCH: Perfection in Pediatrics
If a child is the most precious asset of the family, then East Tennessee Children's Hospital (ETCH) must be the most precious asset of the Knoxville community. Since 1937 ETCH has focused on meeting the needs of children's health and well being in the East Tennessee area. It is the only state certified Comprehensive Regional Pediatric Center in East Tennessee.
ETCH is a private, independent, not-for-profit hospital. These are far more than descriptive adjectives. Ellen Liston, Director of Community Relations, explained the reasoning behind the hospital's independence. "In the 90s, most pediatric hospitals aligned with larger adult service hospital systems, mainly out of fear and financial pressures. We went against our consultant's recommendations and chose to stay independent." ETCH felt that aligning with one hospital system could alienate the hospitals and physicians who were aligned with another hospital system. "We do not have the pediatric population base to support two pediatric hospitals. So, we knew we could not limit ourselves to a portion of Knoxville's children. In fact we knew we had to expand our catchment area to survive as the only pediatric hospital in East Tennessee."
BY BILL MORRIS - Posted: Friday, July 1, 2005 3:47 pm |
Dr. Antonin Bukovsky MD, PhD., reviews microscope images projected onto a computer screen. |
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UT Doctor Discovers Potential Source for Human Eggs
The established thought is that women are born with a fixed number of eggs. In the May 5, 2005, issue of Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, the discovery that new human eggs can be developed in vitro from cells scraped from the surface of adult human ovaries was made in the laboratory of Dr. Antonin Bukovsky, MD, PhD. Bukovsky is a Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville) Graduate School of Medicine. He is also the director of the Laboratory of Development, Differentiation and Cancer in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the UT Graduate School of Medicine.
These results suggest that cells scraped from the ovary could be a potential source of new eggs for women who have trouble conceiving — either due to age or other complications such as a lack of ovarian follicles, the structures composed of an egg surrounded by granulosa cells.
For women who want to delay having babies, these results suggest the possibility of having ovarian surface epithelium (OSE) cells frozen in order to produce new eggs at a later date.
BY RITA H. LEE - Posted: Friday, July 1, 2005 3:44 pm |
Mary Frank, M.D. |
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Asking for Drugs by Name Can Drive Prescriptions — Even When They're Not Needed
Medical experts and drug companies have argued for years over the effects direct-to-consumer advertising has had on patients. But a new study has brought the argument over DTC advertising back to the front burner.
Researchers sent groups of white, middle-aged actresses to 152 primary care physicians' offices describing similar symptoms of event-induced - also known as transient — depression brought on by divorce and the loss of a job. One of the groups asked about the anti-depressant Paxil, another group asked about antidepressants in general and the third didn't mention drugs. And even though anti-depressants are not believed to be effective in treating event-induced depression, more than half of the actresses asking for Paxil by name obtained prescriptions for either that drug or another anti-depressant. Thirty-nine percent of the group asking about drugs in general obtained a prescription and only 10 percent of the control group complaining of the same condition without asking about drugs walked away with a prescription.
BY TRACY STATON - Posted: Monday, June 6, 2005 3:42 pm |
Meghan Gerety, M.D. |
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Study Shows Seniors Often Shun Prescription Drugs
America's seniors often avoid taking the drugs that are prescribed for them, either because they can't afford it or they don't feel they need to, according to a detailed analysis of the feedback gathered by Medicare. And those seniors who do take drugs as their doctor suggests often take a complex variety of pharmaceuticals that are often prescribed by more than one doctor and are frequently filled in different pharmacies.
The researchers paint a complex picture of seniors who often appear deeply confused by the drugs that they're on, the potential for harmful interactions as well as anxiety over who picks up the tab. And the three groups that conducted the analysis - the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Commonwealth Fund and Tufts-New England Medical Center - say that the data also presents some clear challenges to Medicare as it rolls out a new prescription benefit plan in January.
by Tracy Staton - Posted: Monday, June 6, 2005 3:40 pm |
Genentech Touts Major Gains in Cancer Fight
Every year, tens of thousands of the world's top cancer experts are brought together by the American Society of Clinical Oncologists to delve into the nitty-gritty world of clinical trial data and the never-ending search to find a better tool to fight the world's toughest killer. And each year, one of the drug developers touting their new pharmaceuticals walks away with the unofficial title of cancer drug champion as the reporters who cover the scene shine their spotlight on the greatest triumphs of the past 12 months.
by John Carroll - Posted: Monday, June 6, 2005 3:38 pm |
Ralph J. Ibson |
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Advocating for the Mentally Ill
Last month, Ralph J. Ibson, vice president for government affairs for the National Mental Health Association (NMHA), listened as Dr. Larke Huang, PhD, outlined key issues and findings on the state of mental health in America during a Congressional Briefing (see sidebar on page 18).
Huang, who had served as one of the commissioners appointed by President George W. Bush to the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, rolled out disturbing statistic after disturbing statistic on the number of Americans who suffer from a mental or emotional disorder and the nation's response to these individuals.
by Cindy Sanders - Posted: Monday, June 6, 2005 3:36 pm |
Ben Harrington |
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Access and Education a Key to Mental Health
A few weeks ago, a "Mental Health Matters in the Workplace" workshop was held in Knoxville to help employers learn how to identify symptoms of mental illnesses, to know how to move employees into treatment, and to recognize that mental healthcare can ultimately make better, cost-effective employees. This is just one example of many workshops that the Mental Health Association of East Tennessee provides to help educate the public about mental health.
"Two-thirds of people in Tennessee have mental illnesses which have not been identified. Part of our job is to try to reach the at-risk population through education. For example, in addition to various educational workshops, we do free screenings for depression and anxiety. We also help people better recognize symptoms of mental illness in themselves or in their family members," says Ben Harrington, Executive Director of Mental Health Association of East Tennessee (MHAET).
BY RITA H. LEE - Posted: Monday, June 6, 2005 3:35 pm |
New InnerVue System Offers An Inside Look At Body Damage
Dr. Kenneth Bramlett has had years of experience trying to gauge the severity of a child's knee injury or an adult's arthritis through an MRI or by using his fingers in a probing clinical examination. But in many cases Dr. Bramlett never got all the information he really wanted for his diagnosis.
Now, though, he can look right at the damage.
About six months ago, Dr. Bramlett - an orthopaedic surgeon and clinical director of a Southeast orthopedics clinic - began to use Arthrotek's InnerVue Diagnostic Scope System. A 1.9 mm fiberoptic tube - about the size of a surgical needle - can be inserted directly into a knee or shoulder. A tiny camera gives the doctor a crystal clear, digital image of the tissue or bone injury, making it possible to make a visual examination of the damaged area inside the body.
by John Carroll - Posted: Monday, June 6, 2005 3:32 pm |
Dr. Keith Woodard standing next to Bi-Plane Angiography equipment. |
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Radiology Advances in East Tennessee
From the beginning of radiology when X-rays were first used to the present, radiology has expanded with new technologies. Furthermore, radiology is used for treatment as well as diagnosis. Some of the new technologies in radiology are:
oNoninvasive, vascular imaging
oNew treatments for brain aneurysm, strokes, and AVMs
o64-Slice Volume CT scanning
Noninvasive, vascular imaging
There are many different areas of imaging which are parts of the specialty of radiology. The Association of University Radiology, a 17-physician radiology group at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, reflects this diversity with its subspecialty radiologists focused on new advances.
"For example, vascular imaging is one area of radiology that has developed major advances in the last 15 years," says Dr. John Snidow, a radiologist with the Association of University Radiology.
Snidow explains, "Vascular diagnosis used to always require an invasive and painful procedure. Conventional arteriography and angiography generally involved puncture of an artery with catheterization, usually through the groin, for injection of contrast material (dyes) for X-ray filming of arteries."
BY RITA H. LEE - Posted: Monday, June 6, 2005 3:31 pm |
Advanced Imaging Equipment Progresses Radiology While Diagnostic Costs Soar
What a thrill to be in medicine during this age of ever-evolving technological ascent, and radiology proves to be a field advancing by leaps and bounds with super fast equipment and increasingly precise detections. High tech CT, PET and MR equipment lead the way, and with the implementation of electronic medical records, radiologists are able to receive data quicker, detect abnormalities sooner that can dramatically improve a patient's treatment, and consult with one another more efficiently. But all this remarkable equipment does not come cheap. Medical imaging costs are reaching $100 billion a year as imaging utilization increases at unprecedented rates. With such astounding innovations as the 64-slice CT scanner and recent applications of combined PET/CT, the radiology specialty has become a desirous practice, and imaging has become an equally desirous commodity.
The 64-slice CT scanner takes 64 pictures of the heart in less than a second. The new scanner is used in routine angiography where multiple thin images can detect blockages in the arteries that can lead to a heart attack. Accompanying the equipment is software which enables the creation of three dimensional reconstructions.
BY HOLLI W. HAYNIE - Posted: Monday, June 6, 2005 3:25 pm |
Jana Davison, CARITEN |
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Small Medical Practices Feeling the Squeeze
With reimbursement continuing to fall and some carriers going to exclusive contracts, the future for independent physicians has many challenges. Some have chosen to retire or leave the area under the increasing pressures of income reduction.
In the beginning, physicians and hospitals charged a reasonable fee for service and the patients or their carrier paid what was charged without much concern. The first control issue was addressed by providing a patient with a superbill that he or she could submit to his insurance carrier for reimbursement. This was provided as a courtesy to the patient since there was no contractual relationship between provider and insurance carrier.
BY BILL MORRIS - Posted: Monday, June 6, 2005 3:21 pm |
Ray Moncrief (left) and Grady Vanderhoofven |
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Venture Capital or Vulture Capital?
Do venture capital (VC) funds take control and all the profits from companies in which they invest? The National Venture Capital Association released a study on the impact of venture capital on business in America. Companies that received venture financing between 1970-2003 accounted for 10.1 million jobs and 1.8 trillion dollars in revenue in 2003. These companies registered 6.5 percent and 11.6 percent gain in jobs and revenue respectively between 2000 and 2003 while national employment fell 2.3 percent and U.S. company revenue rose only 6.5 percent. Most VC funds want preferred stock and a seat on the board, but only provide guidance, not control, of operations.
Why then, are needy entrepreneurs hesitant to approach venture capital firms? Is it because they don't know how to approach the venture capital firms? Or do they just not know who they are? Or maybe it's because VC funds expect a return on investment (ROI) that is a multiple of their original investment, since many start-up companies fail in the first five years according to the Small Business Administration.
BY BILL MORRIS - Posted: Monday, June 6, 2005 3:18 pm |
Nancy-Ann DeParle |
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Stocks on the Rise, Lure Investors at All Levels
Medical devices and instruments. Healthcare information technology. Hospitals and other facilities. Managed care. Biotechnology innovations. Administrative outsourcing. All these business sectors and more combine to lure investors of all stripes to the healthcare arena. Yet if you thought healthcare was hot last year, it's on fire now.
"I've been on this side of healthcare - the business of healthcare as opposed to the regulation or the legal aspects of healthcare - for about four years. I think there's more going on right now than I've seen since I've started," says Nancy-Ann DeParle, a senior adviser with JPMorgan Partners in New York. DeParle is former administrator of the federal Health Care Financing Administration (now the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) and past commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Human Services.
BY SHARON H. FITZGERALD - Posted: Monday, June 6, 2005 3:14 pm |
Physician Spotlight: Dr. Kamilia Kozlowski
"I know you can do it," said the father of Dr. Kamilia Kozlowski when she first considered becoming a doctor. That single sentence spurred Kozlowski on to fulfill her dream. Kozlowski first became a clinical breast radiologist. But she did not stop there. Kozlowski went on to establish Knoxville Comprehensive Breast Center which serves as a "one-stop shop" for breast cancer diagnosis, screening, and treatment.
Kozlowski, who grew up in Rhode Island, studied pharmacy at University of Rhode Island in the early 1970s. She then transferred to Simmons College in Boston, and with her father's encouragement, finished up with a pre-med major.
BY RITA H. LEE - Posted: Monday, June 6, 2005 3:11 pm |
Kenneth Robinson |
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Safety Net Task Force Unveils Recommendations
In late May, the Governor's Task Force on the Healthcare Safety Net presented their recommendations to shore up Tennessee's services in the wake of TennCare cuts.
The 26-member task force, led by Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health Dr. Kenneth Robinson, outlined 16 broad recommendations in three categories — core recommendations, future options when funding becomes available and potential adjustments to TennCare.
BY CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Monday, June 6, 2005 3:09 pm |
UT biomedical engineering student Dave Holmes, holding an artificial knee implant, sits at computer screen showing fluoroscopic data overlaid with 3D bone model. |
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UT/ORNL Researchers Find New Way to Track Joint Movement
When a joint such as the knee loses its ability to function, it is often a result of trauma or osteoarthritis, a type of arthritis which is characterized by the degeneration of cartilage. As a result, evaluation of how well the patient's joint is working is essential for determining whether joint replacement surgery is needed. If the joint is replaced with an artificial joint implant, assessment of the inserted implant's ability to function properly can help determine whether a different implant model may be better suited for the given patient.
In the February 2005 issue of Journal of Biomechanics, University of Tennessee researchers Drs. Mohamed Mahfouz PhD and Richard Komistek PhD and others describe how they use fluoroscopy and CT (computed tomography) data to make accurate in vivo three-dimensional measurements of normal and ACL-deficient (anterior cruciate ligament-deficient) knees as the knees are being extended and flexed.
BY RITA H. LEE - Posted: Monday, June 6, 2005 3:07 pm |
Barbara Blevins, President of Peninsula Behavioral Health, stands by poster for annual art auction Artsclamation held as a benefit for Peninsula Behavioral Health. |
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Transformation at Peninsula
In the past, Cynthia Barker tried to suicide seven times and ended up in 17 psychiatric hospitals. She was diagnosed with a major mental illness, but with a combination of family support, medication, and a good psychiatrist, Barker was able to improve and find appropriate medication. In the last ten years, through treatment and increased hope, Barker has not thought of suicide.
Barker is just one of many people who have come to Peninsula Behavioral Health, whose lives have been transformed by solid, comprehensive mental healthcare.
Peninsula is a comprehensive mental health network — consisting of services such as Tennessee's largest psychiatric hospital Peninsula Hospital and Peninsula Village — a nationally-renowned residential program for hard-to-reach teens. Other services of Peninsula include community mental healthcare centers, Peninsula Lighthouse which teaches mental healthcare self-management, and a behavioral medicine unit at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge.
Overall, Peninsula Behavioral Health has more than 12 service locations throughout six counties including Knox County.
BY RITA H. LEE - Posted: Monday, June 6, 2005 3:04 pm |
Allison Jones |
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Relieve the Symptoms and Stress of Patient Bill Payments for Better Financial Health
Because healthcare providers throughout the United States are seeing dramatic increases in bad debt expenses, many are seeking more effective systems to obtain bill payments prior to patients leaving facilities. As a result, companies are focusing their efforts on self-pay or patient bill collection solutions to combat the trend, including point-of-purchase alternatives, Web-based programs and third-party arrangements.
Since many patients cannot afford to pay an entire bill at one time, accepting credit card payment at the point-of-purchase can be a practical solution for both patients and providers. Paying with a credit card is fast and convenient for the patient and, with good merchant services support and efficient processing, also fast and convenient for healthcare companies. All merchant card services are not equal, though, and health providers should consider these features when selecting a service:
by Allison Jones - Posted: Friday, January 7, 2005 3:43 pm |
Making the Move
How Tennessee Hospitals Are Incrementally Introducing New Information Technology
It's been a year and a half since disgruntled physicians at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles forced the hospital to pull the plug on its massive new computerized physician order entry system, but the event still sends shudders through those working to introduce information technology into the healthcare system.
"Doctors demanded that it be taken down because it was harming patients," says Dr. Neal Patel of Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. In fact, Cedars-Sinai physicians said that the massive paperless system slowed down the process of filling their orders, and that some orders regarding patient care were lost altogether.
by Sharon H. Fitzgerald - Posted: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 2:19 pm |
Deadly Habits
Physicians Struggle With One of the Unhealthiest States for Men
When it comes to health, men in general start life with one strike against them. In Tennessee, it may be closer to two.
Many men are just too macho to seek regular care. Playing hurt is a tradition that goes back a long way, and in Tennessee men can take it to an extreme. On top of that add a big portion of southern fried everything in a diet heavy on fats and low on vegetables and fruits. And then mix in a common avoidance of exercise.
The lethal result: "Average life expectancy of a male is significantly shorter than a woman's," says Dr. Jim Jirvis, assistant chief medical officer for Vanderbilt Medical Group and director of the adult primary care center. "We males are still dying seven to eight years earlier."
by John Carroll - Posted: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 1:00 am |
Jack Bovender, HCA Chief Executive Officer |
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HCA Sees Clear Skies Ahead After Weathering The Storm of a Medicare Scandal
By the end of 2002, Nashville-based HCA Inc. was still reeling from a deal to pay a total of $1.7 billion in civil and criminal penalties to resolve a long-running Medicare fraud probe — a stinging fine that fell on top of more than a dozen guilty pleas that had already snared top executives in the company.
Eighteen months later, the cloud of scandal is long gone.
At the end of the second quarter of this year, HCA was reporting second quarter income of $352 million, a 56 percent rise over the year before, when it had paid off $250 million in penalties. Its 190 hospitals and 91 freestanding surgical centers had $11.8 billion in revenue for the first six months of the year — compared to $10.7 billion the year before.
by Tracy Staton - Posted: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 1:00 am |
ASCO Session Unveils Promising New Cancer Treatments
For three days in June, cancer specialists were focused squarely on New Orleans as a mountain of new trial data on some of the most promising oncology treatments were unveiled at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. In report after report, researchers displayed real zeal in trumpeting new advances that - if they couldn't cure cancer - held immense promise for delaying death.
by John Carroll - Posted: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 1:00 am |
Assisted Living Offers Seniors Independence They Want, Help they Need
Sometimes life doesn't go as planned. A married couple has dreams of one day retiring to their beach house to live out their golden years by the sea. Just when the dream is within their reach, one of the spouses shows early signs of Alzheimer's or suffers a mild stroke, and suddenly they must face the fact that they need help. For people in this situation - in need of some assistance, but still able and wanting to live independently- assisted living offers a suitable option.
by Kathy Whitney - Posted: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 1:00 am |
Next Steps
Once you are comfortable with Bondware's powerful features, there are some optional services you might consider purchasing.
Bondware Product Team - Posted: Friday, June 23, 2000 2:40 pm |
Getting Started
Click link above for important information about your new Bondware site. Once you are comfortable with Bondware, you can close these articles and add your own.
Bondware Product Team - Posted: Friday, June 23, 2000 2:24 pm |
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