H1pc 2013,q4

Todd Evans CEO Continental Division

Happy Fall to everyone in the Continental Division!

As we roll into the last part of 2013, I wanted to thank everyone for participating in our Employee Engagement survey. We had a very good turnout this year. Now comes the question: what do we do with the information that we received from you?

From the survey, we deter-mined the top opportunities that need to be addressed.

Employees 1. Kept well informed 2. Pay is competitive 3. Seek opinions of others 4. Clear picture of direction 5. Actions taken from last survey

Providers 1. Kept well informed 2. Efficient work processes 3. Support work/life balance 4. Actions taken from last survey 5. Clear picture of direction

We are working hard to address these opportunities. One of the common themes that we have across both employees and providers is

our need to improve in our communications. This newsletter is one of those methods that we use to keep everyone informed on what we are doing through-out the division.

Another initiative that we are implementing are Town Hall meetings at each of our hospital campuses. Thanks to Linda Reynolds at Front Range Internal Medicine for this great idea! I have had the opportunity to meet with several hundred of you in these forums. It is a tremendously helpful and informative process for me to learn about you and your concerns (and your favorite songs)! We want to take this information and learn from it on how we can im-prove the workplace. We will host these Town Hall meetings each quarter at each hospital campus.

I also appreciate all of the feedback from those of you who filled out our online survey on how you wanted to be communicated with.

H e a l t h O N E P h y s i c i a n C a r e a n d H C A P h y s i c i a n

S e r v i c e s , C o n t i n e n t a l D i v i s i o n

V o l u m e 2 ,

I s s u e 5 ,

4 t h Q u a r t e r , 2 0 1 3

E m p l o y e e E n g a g e m e n t

I n s i d e t h i s i s s u e :

I m p r o v i n g

C o m m u n i c a t i o n

2

B u s i n e s s

D e v e l o p m e n t

2

H u m a n

R e s o u r c e s ’

C o r n e r

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O c c M e d U p d a t e 3

N e w

E m p l o y e e s

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P h y s i c i a n ’ s

C o r n e r

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R i s k

M a n a g e m e n t

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B r o n c o s T i c k e t s 5

F a c i l i t y

S p o t l i g h t

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P r o v i d e r &

P r a c t i c e

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D i d Y o u K n o w ? ? 7

B e a u t i f u l C a u s e 8

P h y s i c i a n

A c c o l a d e s

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P h y s i c i a n

A c c o l a d e s

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Email Brandi Radella to nominate an em-

ployee for the Spotlight section of the Newslet-

ter. We want to hear from you!!

[email protected]

F r o m t h e C h i e f E x e c u t i v e O f f i c e r :

Q u a r t e r l y E m p l o y e e N e w s l e t t e r

We learned the top three communication mediums are: 1. Email 2. Regular Staff meetings 3. Town hall meetings

We will continue to work on being better in all of these forums.

Thank you for all of the hard work that you have done at each of our locations!

Without you, we would not have accomplished every-thing that we have in 2013.

-Best, Todd

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Announcements for June - September ‘13

New Providers June ‘13: Anna Cardinell, NP, Rocky Mtn Ped Surgery at PSL Paul Raford MD, Occ Med & Primary Care-Float Pool Michael Kenner, MD, Aurora Den Cardio Assoc

New Providers July ‘13: Kara Alexandrovic, MD, Met-ropolitan OB/GYN Vanessa Gilliland, MD, CO Complete Health for Women Bethany Slater, MD, Rocky Mtn Ped Surg at PSL Kenneth Tompkins Jr, MD, CO Internal Med Specialists Pamela Havlen, MD, Skyline Internal Med at PSL

Sara Corr, MD, Centennial Primary Care Nicole Cyr, AuD, Rocky Mtn Ped ENT Associates Christopher Smith, MD, CO Internal Medicine Specialists Leslie Tschan, PA, Orthopae-dic Physicians of CO

New Providers Aug ‘13: Ted Lin, MD, Occ Med & Pri-mary Care-Float Pool Michelle Ellis, NP, Mountain Vista Women's Care Janna Chibry, MD, Heartland Women's Group at Wesley Lauren Kauvar, MD, Aurora Nurse Midwives

Samuel Rougas, MD, Aurora Denver Cardiology Associates Benjamin Yang, MD, Aurora Denver Cardiology Associates Lori Muffly, MD, Colorado Blood Cancer Institute Reid Goodman, MD, Aurora Nurse Midwives

New Providers Sept ‘13: Lucy Esberg, MD, Aurora Den Cardio Associates Diane Yang, MD, Lone Tree Internal Med & Ped Rachel Kulick, CNM, Mid-wifery Group at Swedish Barbara Jones, NP, Rocky Mtn Ped Surgery at PSL

B u s i n e s s D e v e l o p m e n t

I m p r o v i n g C o m m u n i c a t i o n A m o n g s t S t a f f

Avenues of Communication The following programs be-gan as a result of the Em-ployee Engagement survey feedback requesting more ‘voice’ in the workplace.

The EAG (Employee Advisory Group) provides a forum for employees to voice concerns affecting them in their work-place, share ideas and sug-gestions for improvement, and work collaboratively with management to continuously improve the work environ-ment. The HOCS EAG meets monthly to discuss concerns brought to the group and to promote activities for em-ployee involvement. Please contact any of our members with questions or concerns you wish to have addressed. Presently, the Denver Physi-cian Services EAG Chairper-son is Sharon Watts, who is now working at Potomac Pri-mary Care. Our new scribe is Melanie Johnson, who works

in our Medical Review office at Division. Please contact Sharon or Melanie for more information on the EAG or how to become a member, they are always excited to recruit new committee mem-bers! You may also contact the EAG via the email box HOCS Clinics EAG or contact a member of the EAG.

The EAG “Gotcha” Program allows recognition of our co-workers for a job well done. Monthly, nominations are reviewed by the EAG and a winner is chosen. A special thank you to all who have been nominated for going above and beyond and to those who nominated them!

Our Employee Engagement Survey Committee provides an additional outlet for voic-ing satisfaction, issues, con-cerns, recommendations, etc. via electronic survey. The committee consists of Edie

Juracek, Nancy Rohr, Stephanie Shany and Celeste Tucker. Their recent satisfac-tion survey produced 308 responses of which the com-mittee members are sorting through at present. Thank you to all who participated in the surveys, and we look for-ward to releasing YOUR re-sponses.

Aurora Denver Cardiology Associates recently began their Employee Advocate Program as a way to improve communication between management and employees. An employee advocate was chosen, by their co-workers, from each location and CBO. These individuals are some-one to whom you may bring questions, concerns, ideas and suggestions. Employee advocates then meet monthly with Ina Roberts, Director of ADCA, to discuss the topics brought to them and trans-late them into improvement.

Announcements for June through Sept ’13

New Managers: Luke Orander is the Practice Manager at Rocky Mtn Peds Surgery

Departures: Tom Fender transferred to the Kansas City market

Lars Kjerengtroen transferred to the Mtn Division

Maria Herrera has termed

Anniversaries 40 Years: Arthur Heller, Orthopaedic Physicians of CO

25 Years: Vickie Mallon, Aurora Outpa-tient Rehab

20 Years: Cheryl Fay, Mtn Vista Women’s Care

15 Years: Margaret Gerard, Float Pool, Outpatient Rehab Steven Atkins, Orthopaedic Physicians of CO Andrew Hajde, Managed Service Organization

10 Years: Angela Bleeker, Lone Tree Internal Medicine & Peds Lennart Abel, Behavioral Health Physicians Saundra Kay, Rocky Mtn Pediatric Surgery Kimberly Batton, Kansas Physician Group Sylvia Ludemann, Neuro-surgery Center of CO

5 Years: Florence Webster, Mtn Vista Women’s Care Frederick Rolingher, Colo-rado Limb Consultants Christy Mero, Lone Tree Internal Medicine & Peds Lanna Mauro, Lone Tree Internal Medicine & Peds Kimberly Farrell, Summit Women’s Care Camdyn DePlonty, Rocky Mtn Ped Hemotology Onc Cindy Hayes, Colorado Limb Consultants Veronica Mandonado, Metropolitan OB/GYN David Wise, Float Pool, Outpatient Rehab Donna Williams, Rocky Mountain Ped Hand Surg

Kristy Rutherford, Colo-rado Limb Consultants DeWonia Davis, Potomac Primary Care Cheryl Canale, Orthopaedic Physicians of CO Veronica Mosqueda Gon-zalez, N.Suburban Occ Med Russell Gimbel, Centennial Occ Med Tanya Hilfer, Rocky Mtn Ped Hemotology Onc Kristin Shipman, Rocky Mtn Ped Surg Giancarlo Barolat-Romana, Barolat Neurosciences Roberta Barolat-Romana, Barolat Neurosciences Georgette Koroloff, Barolat Neurosciences Nancy Vigil, Barolat Neuro-sciences Jessica Manzano, Kansas Physician Group James Smith, Kansas Physi-cian Group

New Hires: See the following pages to view the employees new to Physician Care through September 2013.

-Edie Juracek

H u m a n R e s o u r c e s ’ C o r n e r

Edie Juracek

HR Manager

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As a commitment to our commu-nity, HealthONE Occupational Medicine Clinics provide over 3,000 flu vaccinations to corpora-tions and their employees each year. Our commitment begins with vaccinating our own Health- ONE employees. We are commit-ted to educating the public about the benefits of the flu immuniza-tion and ensuring that the vaccine is widely accessible.

Growing public awareness regard-

ing the dangers of influenza has created a great demand for flu shots. Every fall, millions of peo-ple across the nation get vacci-nated since it's still the very best way to stay protected from the flu. Whether you're at high risk of complications from the flu, look-ing to reduce health care costs for your company, or just wanting to stay healthy this flu season, we encourage you to learn more about the flu vaccine.

H e a l t h O N E O c c u p a t i o n a l M e d i c i n e

Pictured above: Dusten Dean, DeAndra Dean-Carter, Donna Tomerlin

E m p l o y e e E n g a g e m e n t Page 4

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Last Name First Name Process Level Desc Position Description Hire Date

Gregg Ramona Rocky Mountain Pediatric Hand Clinic Front Office 06/10/2013

Anderson Carol Englewood Occupational Medicine Rad Tech Registered 06/18/2013

Cornett Anitra Metropolitan OB/Gyn Medical Asst II 06/18/2013

Townsend Leslie Orthopaedic Physicians of CO Coord Front Office 06/20/2013

Lansverk Victoria Denver Center for Bariatric Med Coord Case Care 06/25/2013

Alexandrovic Kara Metropolitan OB/Gyn Physician 07/01/2013

Castro Sonia Managed Service Organization Medical Asst II PRN 07/01/2013

Chibry Janna Heartland Women's Group at Wes OB/GYN - 26048 07/01/2013

Gilliland Vanessa Colorado Complete Health for Wo Physician 07/01/2013

Slater Bethany Rocky Mtn Pediatric Surgery Physician 07/01/2013

Jaramillo Victoria Centennial Outpatient Rehab Clinic Front Office 07/08/2013

Lumley Heather Managed Service Organization Medical Asst II PRN 07/08/2013

Smith Charles Managed Service Organization Financial Analyst 07/08/2013

Bennett Simrit Occupational Health Services Patient Account Rep 07/15/2013

Chua Rochelle Aurora Denver Cardiology Medical Asst II 07/15/2013

McAtee Elizabeth Denver Center for Bariatric Med Coding Auditor/Trainer I 07/15/2013

McVicker Teri Occupational Health Services Patient Account Rep 07/15/2013

Rose Denise Rocky Mountain Pediatric Hand Rad Tech Registered 07/15/2013

Tompkins Jr Kenneth Colorado Internal Medicine Spec Physician 07/15/2013

Havlen Pamela Skyline Internal Medicine Physician 07/16/2013

Platek Sylvia Managed Service Organization Clinic Front Office PRN 07/16/2013

Pearston Elizabeth Centennial Primary Care-Denver Medical Asst II 07/17/2013

Cyr Nicole Rocky Mountain Pediatric ENT Audiologist PRN 07/18/2013

Corr Sara Centennial Primary Care-Denver Physician 07/22/2013

Lowman Diane Colorado Internal Medicine Spec Medical Asst II 07/22/2013

Rojas Maria Colorado Internal Medicine Spec Clinic Front Office 07/22/2013

Smith Christopher Colorado Internal Medicine Spec Physician 07/22/2013

Tschan Leslie Orthopaedic Physicians of CO Physician Asst 07/22/2013

Campos Romero Maribel Whole Family Health at Belmar Clinic Front Office 07/29/2013

Easterby Debra Heartland Womens Group at Med Med Off Spec - 26225 07/29/2013

Little Danell Aurora Denver Cardiology Patient Account Rep 07/29/2013

Rodriguez Petra Midwifery Group @ Swedish Med Medical Asst II 07/29/2013

Finney Cheryl Centennial Primary Care-Denver Lead Biller EMC 07/30/2013

Fenly Jessica Front Range Internal Medicine Clinic Front Office 08/05/2013

Lacabe Danielle Rocky Mountain Pediatric Hand Coord Case Care 08/09/2013

Blackwell Sara Orthopaedic Physicians of CO Rad Tech Registered 08/12/2013

Robles Evelyn Metropolitan OB/Gyn Medical Asst II 08/14/2013

Noland Cindy Kansas Physician Group Med Off Spec PRN - 26331 08/19/2013

Thomas Bejoy Mtn Orthopedic Trauma Surgeons Coord Case Care 08/27/2013

McMillan Sunny Managed Service Organization Medical Asst II PRN 08/28/2013

Kirkham Ashley Heartland Women's Group at Wes RN - 26048 09/01/2013

Yang Diane Lone Tree Internal Medicine & Physician 09/01/2013

Johnson Morgan Rocky Mtn Pediatric Surgery Coord Marketing 09/09/2013

Kulick Rachael Midwifery Group @ Swedish Med RNS Midwife-Cert-E 09/23/2013

Ross Miller Karyl Colorado Limb Consultants Medical Asst II 09/25/2013

Bunting Natalie Heartland Women's Group at Wes Med Off Spec - 26048 09/26/2013

Ellison Catherine Aurora Denver Cardiology Medical Asst II 09/27/2013

Orander Luke Rocky Mtn Pediatric Surgery Mgr Practice II 09/27/2013

Jones Barbara Rocky Mtn Pediatric Surgery RNS Practitioner E 09/30/2013

Weigant Flinn Kathleen Kansas Physician Group Coder CPC Spec - 26331 09/30/2013

E m p l o y e e E n g a g e m e n t Page 5

P h y s i c i a n ’ s C o r n e r

R i s k M a n a g e m e n t / S a f e t y An engaged employee is one who is fully involved in and enthusiastic about their work. Patient and employee safety is one of our most important missions. All of us are ex-tremely busy and it’s easy to bypass a step or two in the interest of time constraints. Don’t be the person that doesn’t want to put on a face shield and utility gloves when cleaning instruments. If you feel there is an unsafe situa-tion in your practice, call or e-mail Ed or Nancy. We are here to help.

We welcome questions. Whether it is what to do if

you have a blood borne exposure or have concerns on what type of personal protec-tive equipment you should wear for a certain procedure. Regarding blood borne patho-gen exposures: Dr. Updike, our Employee Health Medical Director, is updating the drug regimen for post exposure prophylaxis, ensuring that all of our Occ Med Clinics are up to speed with the new protocol.

Occurrence Reporting: Ac-cording to our safety manual, an occurrence report should be filled out when “anything out of the ordinary, which

results in the potential for or actual injury to a patient, visi-tor or staff member or dam-age to facilities or property”. Remind your coworkers that a report should be filled out; the reporting process is online now so it is easier than ever. A report can be filled out by anyone in the clinic, not just by the manager and the pur-pose is to refine our “best practices”. The reporting is by no means meant to be punitive. It takes all of us to ensure a safe environment for our patients, visitors and coworkers.

-Ed Soulliere

Ed Soulliere

Safety Coordinator

What time is it? You guessed it…it’s time for the 6th Annual Medical Emergency Drill! We have requested all of the practice administrators of HealthONE Physician Care to pick one of the suggested office emergency scenarios (or invent their own that might better suit their spe-cialty) and target getting it done within the first two weeks of December. Every scenario that we have sug-gested through the years is modeled after a real occur-rence. We have covered everything from: sudden car-diac events to severe allergic reactions to patients fainting in locked bathrooms to evacuations due to smoke and fumes to armed intruders

demanding drugs or prescrip-tion pads. This led our safety coordinator to expand “Ed’s Emergency Flip Chart” to the top 12 emergency scenario procedures “at-a glance” with every site receiving a copy.

The goals here are to make sure all of our temporary, new and established employ-ees know what to do in an emergency, whether or not there is a physician/provider/manager in the office, how to get help, where the AED and any needed supplies are kept, and that all of these supplies are usable and in-date. These events are intended to be fun and informal. Staged re-enactments, sometimes done as a surprise with no notice, and with pictures of the

events, are great learning experiences. Meetings and discussions work well also, especially when the scenario chosen is very complex or unique.

Each year we all learn a lot from these various experi-ences, but one thing is crucial and common to all emergen-cies: The first person on the scene often thinks they are in over their head or they do not want to make a mistake, so may shy away from action. That is understandable, espe-cially when the thinking is “I am managing a crisis!” If your first thought is “We have a problem. We need some help here. Call 911. Go get the AED and some oxygen while we assess the vitals.

Grab Ed’s Flip Chart.” then you are off and running as a team.

-Alan Burgess, MD

Alan Burgess, M.D.

Medical Director, Occ Med & Primary Care

Congratulations to the winners of the Broncos tickets!

Michelle Crone at Breast Cancer Consult-ants won three tickets to the HealthONE suite plus a parking pass. Dr. Martin

Kalevik at LODO won two tickets, and Pam Rampi at Breast Cancer Consultants has also won 2 tickets to the game. We had tremendous participation and thank each of you for trying your luck!

G o B r o n c o s ! !

Pictured left: Margaret Ireland, Valerie Curtis and Todd Evans drawing for the tickets.

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H e a l t h O N E F a c i l i t y S p o t l i g h t s

REHAB LOCATIONS

Swedish Acute Rehab 501 E. Hampden Ave. Englewood, CO 80113 303-788-5963 www.swedishhospital.com

17 beds

Spalding Rehab 900 Potomac St. Aurora, CO 80011 303-363-5146 www.spaldingrehab.com

40 beds including a Neuro-Rehab Controlled

Stim Unit

Spalding at P/SL 1719 E 19th Ave. 6B Denver, CO 80218 303-839-6293 www.spaldingrehab.com

13 beds

Four HealthONE Hospitals Named Top Performers by The Joint Commission:

Rose, Sky Ridge, North Suburban and The Medical Center of Aurora Recognized for Safety, Quality and Patient Care

Today, HealthONE announced that four of its hospitals - Rose Medical Center, Sky Ridge Medical Center, North Suburban Medical Center and The Medical Center of Aurora - were named Top Performer on Key Quality Measures® by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of healthcare organi-zations in America.

These HealthONE hospitals are four of 1,099 in the U.S. earning the distinction of Top Performer on Key Quality Measures for attaining and sustaining excel-lence in accountability measure performance. The ratings are based on an aggregation of ac-countability measure data re-ported to The Joint Commission during the 2012 calendar year.

“We understand that what mat-ters most to patients at our hospitals is safe, effective, com-passionate care. That’s why HealthONE has made a commit-ment to positive patient out-comes through evidence-based care processes. We are proud of

the efforts of our physicians and staff that brought the dis-tinction of being a Joint Com-mission Top Performer on Key Quality Measures,” said Sylvia Young, CEO of HealthONE and HCA’s Continental Division.

This is the first year that The Medical Center of Aurora has been named a Top Performer, the third year for North Subur-ban, Sky Ridge and Rose .

In addition to being included in this year’s release of The Joint Commission’s “Improving Amer-ica’s Hospitals” annual report, Rose, Sky Ridge, North Subur-ban and The Medical Center of Aurora are recognized on The Joint Commission’s Quality Check website: (www.qualitycheck.org). The Top Performer program will be featured in the December is-sues of The Joint Commission Perspectives and The Source.

About HealthONE HealthONE is the largest health-care system in the metro Den-ver area with more than 10,000 employees. As part of the HealthONE family, The Medical Center of Aurora, Rocky Moun-tain Hospital for Children, Spalding Rehab Hospital, Rose, Sky Ridge, Swedish, North Suburban, Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Centers work together to provide a higher level of care. In addition, our family of services includes four hospital outpatient emergency departments and numerous ambulatory surgery centers, occupational medicine & rehab clinics, diagnostic centers, phy-sician practices, radiation oncol-ogy centers, and AIRLIFE DEN-VER, which provides critical care air and ground transportation across a 10-state region. -Jill Thompson, HealthONE PR

HealthONE Acute Rehab Ser-vices provides acute care rehab to aggressively help individuals progress toward their recovery after a serious injury or illness. We offer a continuum of care from inpatient to outpatient rehab services to meet a variety of needs.

Our acute rehab programs spe-cialize in the treatment of post-trauma, stroke, brain injury and neurological care utilizing an intensive team approach to

help patients reach their maxi-mum level of functioning ena-bling them to return home. Our interdisciplinary teams include rehab nursing, physical, occupa-tional and speech-language therapies lead by our Physiatrists (physicians special-izing in rehab).

The purpose of rehab is to re-store physical, sensory, and mental capabilities that were lost due to injury, illness, dis-ease, or assist the patient to

compensate for deficits that cannot be reversed medically. Each rehab program is tailored to the individual patient’s needs to achieve maximum independence.

With a focus on outstanding patient outcomes and a high discharge rate to home, our rehab teams are proud of the unique service they provide. Swedish Acute Rehab was ranked in the top 10% of rehab facilities in the United States

according to UDSMR (Uniform Data System for Medical Re-hab). Spalding Rehab, celebrat-ing 45 years as the first licensed acute rehab in Colorado, was nominated for the third con-secutive year for Best of Rehab by Rehab Management Magazine.

We have three convenient loca-tions and 70 beds to meet the HealthONE System acute rehab needs, which are listed below.

Page 7 E m p l o y e e E n g a g e m e n t

It is always a pleasure to rec-ognize a valuable member of our Physician Care commu-nity, and this quarter we would like to take a moment to highlight an exceptional practice with an exceptional team.

Lone Tree Internal Medicine & Pediatrics is a refreshing blend of modern day medi-cine and old fashioned care. A vital part of the physician staff responsible for this com-plete approach to caring for families is Dr. John D. Scala. This seasoned family physi-cian provides care for all ages from infancy to mature adult, and he naturally recognizes the unique scenarios of every

individual he treats.

Along with Dr. Scala,

Dr. Yang, Catherine Mennick, NP, and practice manager Angela Bleeker, the Lone Tree team prides themselves on being the primary care home for all of their patients, and believe that an educated pa-tient has the best chance at optimal health. For this rea-son, they feel it is paramount to provide the resources and education to allow their pa-tients to make the best life-style and health care deci-sions. Regardless of age or condition, this group is com-mitted to providing for your primary care needs.

We would like to congratu-

late this impressive team for their successes to date, and wish them a prosperous and healthy road forward in this growing practice.

10103 RidgeGate Parkway, Aspen Building, Suite G21, Lone Tree, CO 80124.

www.lonetreeimandpeds.com

P r a c t i c e S p o t l i g h t

P r o v i d e r S p o t l i g h t

Pictured above (from left to right): Diane Yang, MD, Catherine Mennick, NP, and John D. Scala, MD

D i d Y o u K n o w ? ? Congrats to the Float Em-ployees who transferred to clinics full time!

September: Tiffany Thoreson, MA, Lone-tree Internal Medicine

Terri Kippes, MA/FO, Ad-vanced Laparoscopic Surgery

Chrissy Romero, FO, Rose Medical Center

October: Joe Burner, MA, Aurora Den-ver Cardio Assoc

Sami Stokes, FO, Skyline In-ternal Medicine

Tiffany Gash, FO, Colorado Internal Medicine

Jennifer Alamillo, FO, Centen-nial Occupational Med

Oct Front Desk Utilization: 2688 requests, 2383 covered, 89% Utilization

Oct MA Utilization: 1577 requests, 1437 covered, 91% Utilization

5280 is the Denver, Colorado city magazine with more readers than any other local magazine in Colorado. One of the annual cover stories is the community feature "Top Doc-tors", listing Denver’s top-rated physicians by specialty, “the city’s best physicians, as chosen by their peers”.

In this year’s August issue, “334 of the very best physi-cians Denver has to offer, in 95 specialties” were recog-nized. Eleven of our Denver physicians were named in total:

Mindy Banks - Rocky Moun-tain Pediatric Kidney Center

Jerry H. Greenberg - Aurora Denver Cardiology Associates

Steven R. Leonard - Rocky Mntn Pediatric Heart Surgery

Thomas M. Li - Advanced Internal Medicine

Jeffrey V. Matous - Colorado Blood Cancer Institute

David Mellman - Denver Internal Medicine

Susan A. Moison - Consult-ants in Obstetrics and GYN

Sheri Poznanovic - Rocky Mntn Ped ENT Associates

Benjamin A. Ross - Rocky

Mntn Ped Neuro & Sleep Med

Steven S. Rothenberg - Rocky Mntn Pedc Surgery at P/SL

Julie D. Zimbelman - Rocky Mntn Ped Hematology Onc

The Wichita Business Journal yearly features the “Best Doctors” list. Compiled for over 20 years, Best Doctors conducts an extensive physi-cian survey to identify the doctors that other doctors trust most. It’s the largest ongoing, peer-reviewed sur-vey in the medical industry. As a result, they have a pro-prietary database of more

than 53,000 medical experts in over 450 specialties and subspecialties worldwide. Best Doctors are reviewed and elected by their peers, clinically and academically accomplished, affiliated with national and global centers of excellence, leading medical practitioners, and research-ers and teachers. This year, one of our Wichita physicians were named:

Calvin G. Olmstead - Neurol-ogy Associates of Kansas

Congrats to our doctors for this achievement!

Page 8 E m p l o y e e E n g a g e m e n t

I t ’ s a B e a u t i f u l C a u s e

D e n v e r S a f e H o u s e

On behalf of EAG (Employee Advisory Group) and Denver SafeHouse, we would like to thank you for your contributions. An entire carload of donations were collected , in-cluding bed linens, toys, clothes, food, cooking supplies, personal items and gift cards. Denver SafeHouse serves victims of domestic violence and their children through both an emergency shelter and a non-residential Counseling and Advocacy Center. All of the women, children and youth who come to SafeHouse Denver have access to a full range of bilingual programming, including individual counseling, group sessions, advocacy and safety planning.

2 0 1 3 K o m e n D e n v e r R a c e f o r t h e C u r e

The 2013 Komen Denver Race for the Cure event took place September 29, 2013 at the Pepsi Center. Thank you to all who participated in this meaningful and critical cause.

Just about everyone has been touched by breast cancer - through personal experience, supporting family or friends with the disease, or caring for our HealthONE patients. Breast Cancer is the most common type of cancer treated at HealthONE hospitals.

This year, HealthONE was a sponsor of the Denver Race for the Cure, which raises money for education, screening, and treatment in our community, while also supporting national research for a cure.

Pictured Above: Participants of the Community Walk for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

T r e b o l C o l o r a d o S h o o t o u t

Tina Crosley’s, Patient Account Representative at Aurora Denver Cardiology Associates, daughter competed in the Trebol Colorado Shootout Tournament sponsored by HealthONE. Her team won the U14 Bronze 1 girls division. Tina stated, “...what great things HealthONE is sponsoring. What a great thing HealthONE did to make these kids feel special. I know my daughter felt special.”

Pictured right: Participants of the Trebol Colorado Shootout Tournament

The race event raised $2 million that will be used to support uninsured or

under-insured breast cancer victims in the Komen Denver 19-county service area & fund breast cancer research.

Pictured left (from left to right): Amanda Chavez, Donations Coordinator at Safehouse Denver, Melanie Johnson, Office Coordinator, and Elizabeth Lochtefeld, Sr. Administrative Assistant - Sales

O u t o f t h e D a r k n e s s C o m m u n i t y W a l k

Liisa Anderson, Surgery Scheduler at Specialized Vein Care, along with her family, partici-pated in a community walk raising funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Preven-tion to remember their son’s friend, Travis, who took his own life 5 years ago as a high school junior.

This year's walk was the best ever for Travis' team with 37 walkers and $1,485 raised thus far. The total of the ‘13 walk has yet to be calculated, but the ‘12 South Metro, Out of the Darkness Community Walk raised over $126k. Half of the net proceeds benefit our com-munity by:

Providing the suicide awareness training, More Than Sad: Teen Depression to Colorado high schools

Providing funding for ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training)

Providing the peer leader/suicide awareness training - Sources of Strength - to multiple Colorado High Schools

Providing community suicide awareness trainings– safeTALK with funds raised from this year's walk, we can continue to support the initiatives above and the work of the AFSP Colorado Chapter.

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P h y s i c i a n A c c o l a d e s Fox 31 Denver Article: Spinal pacemaker’ helps some with chronic pain By: Brook Wagner

For children and adults living with chronic pain, life can seem hopeless. That’s how Greenwood Village teenager Ashlee Lipinski felt after a knee injury and subsequent surgery left her with searing pain across her body. “It was something you couldn’t get away from,” said Ashlee. “It was disheartening.”

Ashlee dislocated her knee while doing a simple house-hold chore - emptying the dishwasher. She had surgery, but the burning pain intensi-fied and spread. She was di-agnosed with a mysterious illness called Reflex Sympa-thetic Dystrophy, or RSD. It causes the nervous system to misfire impulses, resulting in shooting pain. “We couldn’t go to the mall, walk the dogs,” Said Ashlee’s mother, Kim Lipinski. “We couldn’t do

anything because it made her sore.”

For this athletic, outgoing teenager, life virtually stopped. Then, Ashlee’s mom had an idea. What if a proce-dure that had helped her own neck pain, might help her daughter, too? “I had hope that she could be normal again…have a normal life as a kid and teenager; every mom’s dream,” Kim said. So Ashlee made an appointment with her mom’s doctor neu-rosurgeon Giancarlo Barolat.

“This girl was in agony. She was a good student, very athletic, and she had to give up on everything,” Barolat said. “Her life was nothing.”

For 30 years, Barolat has fo-cused on fighting pain with a pacemaker. Not the kind we associate with the heart - but for the nerves. The pace-maker is half machine, half battery; a metal device that fits in the palm of your hand. In a relatively non-invasive

procedure, Barolat implants a neurostimulator on the spine, nerves, or under the skin - at the source of the pain. He can then direct the current, and even wake the patient during surgery to find the right spot.

The procedure is reversible, the pacemaker can be ad-justed, and more devices may be added. “This is not the doctor doing something to the patient. This is the doctor and the patient working to-gether,” said Barolat. One of his main goals is to provide an alternative to pain medica-tion or major surgery. “We’re basically trying to eliminate the bad signals and let the good signals go through,” Barolat said. He figures, about 75 percent of his pa-tients, like Ashlee, get 50 to 75 percent pain relief.

Barolat says the neurostimu-lator can also help people with chronic headaches and back pain; patients who have

not responded to conven-tional treatments. Insurance often covers at least a portion of the surgery. Still, he’s clear, it does not work for everyone. It did work for Ashlee, who just started col-lege. She plans to study medi-cine, so she can help others in pain. In the meantime, she has some advice: “Don’t give up. You will find something that will change your life, that will make it better.”

Improving Children’s

Concussion Outcomes

By: Karen McAvoy, Psy.D.

Children who return to school too quickly after a concussion may heal more slowly, face lingering symptoms and have trouble focusing on school-work. Thanks to research and advocacy happening here in Colorado, children across the U.S. will be better equipped to return to school after a head injury.

In October, the American Academy of Pediatrics re-leased new recommenda-tions for how and when stu-dents should return to the

classroom. The recommenda-tions, which were recently featured in The New York Times, were based on the REAP concussion treatment and management guidelines developed at Rocky Mountain Youth Sports Medicine’s (RMYSM) Center for Concus-sion. RMYSM is affiliated with Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in Denver.

The four essential elements of REAP include:

R - Reduce physical and cog-nitive, or mental demands.

E - Educate the student ath-letes, families, educators, coaches and medical profes-

sionals on all of the potential symptoms.

A - Accommodate for the student athlete academically.

P - Pace the student athlete back to activity, play and learning.

RMYSM treats sports injuries in kids of all ages. Dr. McAvoy is director of the Center for Concussion at RMYSM. She is considered a national author-ity on concussion treatment in children and adolescents and has served on a concussion panel for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Her research and advocacy has led to the

development of national guidelines for concussion management in children and adolescents.

Learn more about REAP: www.rockymountainhospitalforchildren.com

Giancarlo Barolat, M.D.

Karen McAvoy, Psy.D.

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P h y s i c i a n A c c o l a d e s RMHC and our CV surgery team

Colorado Baby Gets Heart Surgery From Doctor Who Invented Procedure

DENVER (CBS4) - A baby boy is recovering from open heart surgery after being born with life-threatening heart defects.

CBS4 Health Specialist Kathy Walsh met Issac Foster and the doctors who operated on him. In fact, one of the doctors invented the procedure.

Dr. Hisashi Nikaidoh was in Denver for the delicate op-eration. The procedure was named after him and Issac was his 25th case. Issac is an inquisitive, adorable baby. He looks like a healthy 8-month-old, but his use of oxygen gives him away. “He is a pretty sick little boy,” his mother Amy Foster said.

Isaac was born with a com-bination of severe heart defects. Two major vessels were reversed, he had a hole where he shouldn’t,

and a valve that was too narrow. “He’s just all boy, and a little warrior is the way I kind of see him,” his father Tom Foster said.

Isaac’s fight has just begun. The Fosters of Steamboat Springs came to Denver for Issac to have the open heart surgery. “I’m scared to death for him,” Tom said. “It is what it is, but we’re in good hands,” Amy said.

Issac was in the hands of Nikaidoh and pediatric heart surgeon Dr. Steven Leonard. They worked to-gether for 20 years in Dal-las. They were in the oper-ating room at the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Chil-dren. Nikaidoh supported Leonard as he performed the so called “Nikaidoh Pro-cedure.” “My first patient, he had this operation when seven years of age. He’s now either 34 or 35,” Nikaidoh said.

It was a complicated combi-nation of operations - switching the arteries, mak-

ing surgical moves and re-pairs, and replacing the narrow valve with the jugu-lar vein from a cow. It took more than six hours.

The doctors emerged opti-mistic. “He’s very stable and looking very good right now,” Leonard said. Isaac’s parents know there may be problems ahead, but they have big plans for him. “Just like any other little boy, playing and having fun,” Tom said.

Tom and Amy have been by Isaac’s side the whole time. He is still in the pediatric intensive care unit, but he’s off the ventilator and doing well.

Steven R. Leonard, M.D. http://rmpediatrichearts.com/

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Pictured above: Issac Foster (credit: CBS)