December 9, 2014

121014AAOCAconf640

Texas Children’s Hospital hosted its second national conference December 4 and 5, addressing a series of fatal conditions known as coronary artery anomalies.

Coronary artery anomalies are a group of rare congenital heart defects that have been associated with coronary ischemia, myocardial infarction, and sudden death. It is the second most common cause of sudden death in young healthy athletes.

Diagnosing this can be challenging because many individuals with the condition have no symptoms. Those who are symptomatic complain of fainting, chest pain, or palpitations, especially with exercise.

How to best treat a child or young adult with cardiac artery anomalies is a subject of debate in the medical community. Most physicians agree that surgery is necessary for patients who show evidence of decreased blood flow to the heart tissue, but how to treat those these patients who have no physical complaints and who show no evidence of reduced blood flow to the heart is unclear.

Such issues were discussed at the Coronary Artery Anomalies Symposium at the Pavilion for Women. Almost 90 people attended the conference and speakers from 16 leading heart institutions provided a dedicated forum to discuss the diagnosis and management of patients with coronary artery anomalies.

A panel discussion with families affected by the condition brought special attention to the psycho-social needs of patients with cardiac anomalies as well as their parents and siblings. Other talks focused on the most appropriate imaging modalities, identification of risk factors, different management strategies based on best available evidence, surgical techniques, and counseling of patients and families regarding treatment and exercise recommendations.

December 2, 2014

12314givingtuesday640

Following Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Tuesday was a day to give back and you helped us reach more than 400 online gifts on Giving Tuesday.

The Tuesday after Thanksgiving is known as Giving Tuesday – a global day dedicated to giving back. Now in its third year, this day was founded with a simple purpose: to celebrate generosity and give. More than 10,000 organizations have engaged in the movement since it was started, and Texas Children’s was happy to make this a new tradition of giving back to our patients.

Texas Children’s celebrated this day of generosity with an online fundraising drive in honor of our patients. Our goal was 500 online gifts in honor of each of the patients staying with us each day – one child, one gift.

We are happy to see the community give back to our organization helping us set a record-breaking day for online donations, but the holidays are still upon us and we hope the generous donations will continue to pour in as we think of the families still in the hospital this holiday season.

We are very close to reaching our goal! You can still make a donation toward this effort to help the patients at Texas Children’s. Give today.

1231410minutemassage640

Need a few minutes to unwind? We at Texas Children’s have got you covered.

The organization understands that to lead tirelessly, you must be healthy and strong. Therefore, we are committed to supporting your health and well-being by offering opportunities for wellness in the workplace. That’s why the Employee Health and Wellness team has partnered with Integrated Health, Inc., a Houston-based health and wellness company, to offer free 10-minute chair massages to Texas Children’s Hospital badge-holders.

The massages will be performed by licensed massage therapists at different locations throughout the organization. This wellness perk will be offered December 3 through Saturday, December 13. As a courtesy to your co-workers, please sign up for only one massage. Most locations encourage appointments, yet walk-ins might be accepted if a therapist is free. A few select sites and times will be walk-in only, with massages offered on a first-come, first-serve basis.

How do I schedule my 10-minute chair massage?

  • Click here to access the Appointment Scheduler and create an account. Please opt to create an account even if you participated last year. The process takes approximately two minutes.
  • Select your preferred site and date on the calendar.
  • Select an appointment time and mark your calendar.
  • You will receive a reminder email 24 hours prior to your massage.
  • Please arrive five minutes prior to your appointment to sign a consent form.

Scheduling details for employees with Texas Children’s Pediatrics, Health Centers and Facilities Operations will be provided by their leadership. Click here for the full schedule of available times and locations as well as Frequently Asked Questions, including how to cancel or reschedule your appointment. For all other questions, please contact Integrated Health, Inc. at therapeutic@ihiwellness.com.

Thank you for leading tirelessly and helping Texas Children’s advance health care. We hope you will accept this small gift and treat yourself to a massage.

12314WCleapfrog640

Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus has been recognized as a top children’s hospital by the Leapfrog Group for the second consecutive year.

The Leapfrog Group is an organization that provides the only national, public comparison of hospitals across safety, quality and efficiency dimensions.

Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus is among an elite group of only nine children’s hospitals selected out of more than 1,400 rural, urban and children’s hospitals surveyed, and the only children’s hospital in Houston to be recognized with this prestigious distinction.

“We are honored to again be recognized as a top performing children’s hospital,” said Michelle Riley-Brown, president of Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus. “Our physicians, nurses and employees continuously strive to provide high quality care for our patients and families while keeping their safety our top priority.”

This year’s list of recognized hospitals includes 60 Top Rural Hospitals, 25 Top Urban Hospitals and nine Top Children’s Hospitals. To be selected as a Top Hospital, organizations must meet or exceed Leapfrog criteria in three critical areas of hospital care: how patients fare, resource use and management structures in place to prevent errors.

The Leapfrog Group was founded to work for improvements in health care safety, quality and affordability. The annual survey is the only voluntary effort of its kind. The Top Hospitals will be honored at Leapfrog’s Annual Meeting on December 2 in Arlington, Virginia, which gathers key decision-makers from Leapfrog’s network of purchaser members, industry partners, health care stakeholders and national collaborators.

For more information, or to see a complete list of The Leapfrog Group’s 2014 Top Hospitals, visit www.leapfroggroup.org/news.

12314littlecouple640

Texas Children’s Neonatologist Dr. Jennifer Arnold, her husband, Bill Klein, and their two children, Will and Zoey, are back for another season of their hit reality show, “The Little Couple” on TLC, December 2.

The family’s adventures begin again with a trip to Washington, D.C. as the family represents Texas Children’s to advocate on Capitol Hill for the ACE Kids Act which stands for “Advancing Care for Exceptional Kids Act.” The proposed legislation will ensure that children with medical complexities who rely on Medicaid are able to receive the care they need from a center equipped to provide comprehensive care, even if they are required to cross state lines to receive the appropriate care.

12314littlecoupleinsideThe Kleins joined other families from across the nation for Children’s Hospital Association’s (CHA) Family Advocacy Day, which supports a grassroots initiative called Speak Now for Kids. The family visited the offices of members of congress where they spoke about their personal experiences and asked them to support the legislation by signing on as co-sponsors for the bill. ACE Kids Act, H.R.4930, currently has 97 cosponsors.

Watch the first episode and join the efforts to Speak Now for Kids:

  1. #Speaknowforkids. Use this hashtag and saturate social media with your stories about why children’s hospitals matter.
  2. Get social with your policymakers. Find the social media pages for your representatives and senators and post messages on their pages about why you want them to Speak Now for Kids. Encourage them to sign on as co-sponsors for this important piece of legislation.
  3. Call, write, and reach out. Lawmakers are elected by you to stand up for you. Make your voice heard. Contact their offices and let them know why you care about Medicaid reform for medically complex children. Click here to find out who represents you.

H

Texas Children’s cares for some of the country’s most critically ill patients, and safe, quality care for every patient is the most important responsibility of each staff member and employee here. Equipping our staff and employees with the knowledge and tools to take preventive action is key to creating an environment of safe patient care.

In an effort to illuminate the importance of everyone’s role, each month we will share patient safety stories that help heighten staff and employee alertness and accountability and, ultimately, reduce harm. This month’s story is a reminder that being familiar with your surroundings and knowing what to do in an urgent situation can help improve the outcome.

Jason* was a relatively healthy 9-year-old boy when he was admitted for a routine operation. After the procedure, he went to the PACU for recovery. There, a PACU nurse noted Jason’s ECG monitor tracing looked unusual. An electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) is a test that checks for problems with the electrical activity of the heart and then translates the heart’s electrical activity into line tracings on paper.

The nurse asked the anesthesiologist to review Jason’s ECG tracing, and shortly afterward, Cardiology was called. Jason was evaluated and diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome, a rare heart condition that causes rapid heartbeat and has been associated with sudden death.

The nurse’s attentiveness made the diagnosis of WPW possible. Jason had a corrective procedure this summer. The subsequent evaluation and the procedure will help ensure that he does well with this diagnosis and has the best possible outcome.

Actions everyone can take:

  1. Ask a question. If something doesn’t look quite right – whether it’s an issue with a patient, coworker or a process – question it.
  2. Request a change. Identify the person who can help you change the situation, and bring the matter to their attention.
  3. Voice a concern. Don’t dismiss your intuition or assume someone else will notice the problem. Your voice might be the life-changing difference for a patient.
  4. Go up the chain of command. Always know that you can go up the chain of command if necessary to bring the matter to someone else’s attention.

* Patient safety stories are based on events at Texas Children’s Hospital. Patient names and some of the circumstances of the event may have been changed to protect patient privacy.

For the latest quality and safety information, visit the Patient Safety website on Connect.

12314GreenparkR2110

Texas Children’s Pediatrics recently welcomed a new practice to the inner loop and merged two others in the Houston area.

The new practice, Texas Children’s Pediatrics Green Park, opened November 18 and is located at 7505 S. Main St., Suite 450. Three new physicians – Dr. Michael Connelly, Dr. Shannon Hayes and Dr. Jackie Wanebo – are seeing patients at the location.

Connelly, a Houston native, earned his medical degree from and completed his residency with the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. Connelly specializes in fitness, healthy eating, and infants and newborns.

Hayes is from Katy and earned her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine. Hayes completed her residency at Baylor as well, and trained at Texas Children’s Hospital.

Wanebo came to Texas from Charlottesville, Va., earned her medical degree from the University of Virginia and completed her residency with the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She specializes in asthma, healthy eating, teenagers and children with special needs.

Dr. Angela Mazur will join the new Green Park practice next summer after shutting the doors to her Texas Children’s Pediatrics Brasewood office at 7515 S. Main St. Mazur earned her medical degree from and completed her residency with Baylor College of Medicine. She specializes in asthma, breastfeeding, healthy eating, safety, sleep, toddlers, teenagers, and infants and newborns.

At the end of the year, Dr. Vinona Vohra will close her Texas Children’s Pediatrics practice at 17115 Red Oak Drive in north Houston and merge it with the Texas Children’s Pediatrics practice at 17030 Nanes Drive. Vohra – who specializes in asthma, allergies, breastfeeding, healthy eating, infants, keeping fit, teenagers, toddlers and tweens – will become the fifth physician at the Nanes Drive location.

Texas Children’s Pediatrics is a group of board-certified, expert pediatricians who have extensive training in children’s health care. With convenient locations throughout the greater Houston area, the group provides the finest pediatricians dedicated to meeting the health care needs of infants to teenagers.

For more information about Texas Children’s Pediatrics, visit http://www.texaschildrenspediatrics.org/.