July 19, 2016

72016fetalconference640The International Fetal Medicine and Surgery Society (IFMSS) led by co-presidents Doctors Oluyinka and Olutoyin Olutoye, will convene for its annual meeting in Kasane, Botswana from August 2 to 7, 2016. This is the second time the meeting has been held on the African continent in the society’s 35-year history.

The IFMSS is an international gathering of fetal medicine practitioners from all over the world,” said Dr. Oluyinka Olutoye, co-director of Texas Children’s Fetal Center. “The annual meeting is the forum where innovations in fetal therapy are discussed even prior to general dissemination.”

Topics that will be discussed at the meeting include updates on the management of fetuses with spina bifida, innovative therapies for congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), advances in the management of complex twin problems, as well as topics on ethics, anesthesia, genetics, cardiology, diagnostics, neonatal care and long-term outcomes amongst others.

Anesthesiologist-in-Chief Dr. Dean Andropoulos is one of the invited keynote speakers. The other keynote speaker is the Executive Director of the BIPAI Center of Excellence in Botswana, Prof. Gabriel Anabwani. Other Texas Children’s physician attendees include Dr. Darrell Cass, co-director of the Fetal Center, who will present the hospital’s experience with the management of CDH, Texas Children’s neurosurgeon Dr. William Whitehead who will deliver a presentation on the fetal management of spina bifida and Texas Children’s maternal-fetal medicine specialist Dr. Alireza Shamshirsaz who will present on fetal intervention for non-immune hydrops.

Other meeting attendees include Drs. Karolina Adam and Joanie Hare of Houston Perinatal Associates, and research fellows Drs. Stephanie Cruz and Patricio Lau who will also present at the meeting and are two of the seven recipients of the young investigator travel award. Kristen Kaiser, PhD, of Texas Children’s Pediatric Surgery Division together with Adam Gibson and Taylor Napier Earle of Texas Children’s Global Health have graciously provided administrative and logistical support for this international meeting.

In addition to the IFMSS meeting in Kasane, Botswana, a pre-meeting symposium will be held in conjunction with the Botswana Pediatric Association and the University of Botswana in the capital city, Gaborone, Botswana from July 31 to August 1. This symposium, also involving international speakers, will address issues in prenatal diagnosis, pediatric anesthesiology, obstetrics, pediatric surgery, cardiology and critical care, and is targeted at Botswana physicians not involved in fetal therapy.

“Serving as co-presidents of an international society is an honor and privilege,” said Dr. Olutoyin Olutoye, director of the Fetal Anesthesia Service at Texas Children’s. “It acknowledges our participation in the society’s activities over the years, reflects our contributions to the field, and places Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine amongst elite institutions whose faculty have led such a prestigious organization.”

The logo for the 35th IFMSS meeting was designed by Beth Sumner of Texas Children’s Department of Surgery, with inspiration from the co-presidents. The elephant acknowledges the region of Botswana where the meeting will be held, which is home to the largest concentration of elephants in the world. The fetus encased in the elephant trunk acknowledges the care of the fetus that is the focus of the meeting.

71316CynthiaGrace175Cynthia Grace, care manager at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, died unexpectedly along with her husband on July 8, 2016. She was 41 years old.

Cynthia joined Texas Children’s Hospital in 2011. She was well-respected, admired by her peers and consistently provided exceptional care to her patients and families. Everyone who worked alongside Cynthia will miss her smile, quick wit and sparkling personality.

Cynthia is survived by her children, Ariel and Alex; her father, Richard; her mother, Lumduan; and her brother, Brandon. To her many extended family and friends, she will be greatly missed.

72016Wadhwa175All Department of Surgery researchers have an in-house resource available for tissue banking. The Children’s Surgery Biobank (CSB) is an experienced tissue banking resource set up for surgery researchers interested in banking tissue specimens for their specific research projects in collaboration with the Texas Children’s Research Tissue Support Services. The biobank is supported by the Texas Children’s Hospital Department of Surgery.

The CSB provides services for consenting, tissue collection, banking and database management. The biobank can store blood (for DNA, plasma and serum), urine, tissue and other biofluid specimens, along with fully annotated clinical and phenotypic data from patients undergoing surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital.

This central repository was developed to save surgery researchers time and effort in collecting and storing specimens. It also serves as an important means of tracking research samples across all divisions of surgery, helping to accelerate pediatric research and to promote collaborations within and outside the institution.

For information on the program or protocols around tissue banking, contact Dr. Lalita Wadhwa at lxwadhwa@texaschildrens.org.

July 12, 2016

71316MostWired640Texas Children’s has received the 2016 “Most Wired” designation for outstanding health care-based technology from Hospitals Health Network Magazine – the flagship publication of the American Hospital Association. This is the third time Texas Children’s has won this award.

Health Care’s Most Wired Survey, conducted between January 15 and March 15, asked hospitals and health systems nationwide to answer questions regarding their information technology (IT) initiatives in the areas of infrastructure, business and administrative management, quality and safety, and clinical integration. The survey of 680 participants represented 2,146 hospitals – more than 34 percent of all U.S. hospitals.

“This designation is a tribute to the hard work of our Information Services team and clinical and operational partners at Texas Children’s,” said Myra Davis, senior vice president of Information Services. “We use this survey as a benchmark to measure our progress against our peers in the implementation of information technology and to ensure we are making the right technology investments to guide our strategy for improving patient care and safety.”

Texas Children’s was noted for several IS achievements including the implementation of Epic Rover, a mobile software application that uses barcode technology to prevent medication errors and improve the quality and safety of medical administration. This new technology was implemented in September 2015 and its effectiveness in promoting patient safety was recently highlighted in a Voice of Nursing blog.

Epic Rover is an extension of the electronic medication administration record (MAR) in Epic. Once this software is downloaded to an iPod Touch equipped with a scanner or sled, the barcodes on both the patient’s wristband and the prescribed medication are scanned at the patient’s bedside. The medication documentation then flows real-time into the MAR in Epic to ensure that the “five rights” are confirmed – right patient, right medication, right dose, right time and right route of administration.

Texas Children’s was also commended for using innovative alarm management technology to make alarms more meaningful and actionable for direct care providers while eliminating alarm fatigue within patient units. This new application resulted in the organization receiving ECRI’s 10th Annual Health Devices Achievement Award in 2016.

Other IS accomplishments include:

  • Optimizing clinical workflows – Since mobility is a critical factor in optimizing work flows, Epic’s mobile application suite allows providers to e-prescribe medications. Implemented in March 2016, this electronic feature improves the safe and secure transmission of patient health information among providers and optimizes patient experience by eliminating the need to drive to the clinic to obtain a prescription.
  • Advancing population health management – Health tools and registries were recently introduced within Epic for key patient populations such as those with asthma and diabetes. By leveraging data analytics, physicians can track and address patient needs, and easily pinpoint unmet needs and gaps in data or service delivery. Proactive steps can then be taken to ensure patients and their families receive the services they need to make a difference in their care and improve clinical outcomes.
  • Streamlining physician/patient communications – Voalte technology used by nursing, shared services and physicians has streamlined communication across the care continuum by enabling highly mobile staff to receive key notification alerts that require prompt action. The MyChart patient portal continues to grow in usage and capabilities. New options have been added making it easier for patient families to schedule appointments, send non-urgent messages to their care team and pay their bills online via MyChart billing.

“In health care today, health IT maturity is key in advancing outcomes and experience,” said Julie McGuire, director of Enterprise Systems for Information Services. “The Most Wired designation shows that Texas Children’s is leading not only in clinical care but in the use of technology to support and advance clinical care.”

The 2016 Most Wired Survey is published by Health & Hospitals Network. The July H&HN cover story detailing results is available at www.hhnmag.com.

71316Dreileenbrewer175Medical Director of Renal Transplantation Eileen Brewer, MD, recently received an achievement award for her work on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) Pediatric Transplantation Committee.

Brewer has been a member of the committee since 2009 and was chair of the committee in December 2015 when, after decades of hard work, the UNOS Board passed pediatric bylaws that establish specialized guidelines for surgeon and physician leadership for all hospitals with pediatric transplant programs.

“Dr. Brewer faced many tough questions about the bylaws and handled these questions with the mettle of a seasoned practitioner and diplomat,” said Christopher Wholley, a UNOS policy analyst. “It’s been a pleasure to work with her.”

Dr. John Goss, the medical director of Transplant Services at Texas Children’s Hospital, said Brewer’s work on the Pediatric Transplantation Committee has yielded some great work for the pediatric transplant community.

“This was a huge undertaking and we are very proud of her,” he said.

Brewer is an internationally known expert in pediatric renal diseases, dialysis, transplantation and hypertension. She is past president of the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology, former Council Member of the International Pediatric Nephrology Association and organizer of International Workshops on Hypertension in Children and Adolescents in 2001, 2004 and 2007.

She has been an active clinician and clinical researcher throughout her career, publishing more than 90 journal articles and 30 book chapters. She is frequently invited to speak at scientific meetings and workshops nationally and internationally.

71316kelvindillard175Kelvin Dillard, senior neurodiagnostic technologist in the Neurophysiology Department, died June 16 at the age of 59.

Kelvin joined Texas Children’s Hospital in 1981 and provided excellent patient care for the next 35 years. He was known for his dependability and hard work – always the one who was more than willing to share his knowledge, wisdom, and spiritual advice with others on the job. Everyone who has known Kelvin will miss his understanding smile, distinctive calm, peaceful demeanor, and remarkable humility.

He is survived by his wife of 32 years, Debra; daughter, Jessica Allyce Dillard; mother, Johnnie Dillard; brother, Herbert Dillard and his wife Denise; and sister, Allean Jones.

71316AmyArrington175Amy Arrington, MD, medical director of Texas Children’s special isolation unit, was recently named one of Healthcare Design magazine’s 4th Annual HCD 10 winners.

The HCD 10 is an elite group of design and architect professionals who represent the most exciting, inspirational and influential health care work of the previous year. Nominations were accepted earlier this year and were reviewed by the Healthcare Design editorial staff, which determined the final winners.

Arrington was recognized under the clinician category for her work in the design of Texas Children’s Special Isolation Unit, which opened in November 2015 and is the only one of its kind in Texas and the southwest region. Designated just for children, the eight-bed unit is located on the fifth floor of Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus and is fully equipped to care for any infant or child with a serious communicable disease and has all of the measures available to assure safety of the health care team, other patients and their families.

Arrington was involved in the development and design of the special isolation unit from the beginning of the project, including the initial concept planning, facility design, construction, and ultimately the staffing of the unit. She and several of her colleagues traveled to other biocontainment units in the United States, including units in Nebraska and Georgia.

“As a team, we designed a unit that incorporated all necessary requirements for true biocontainment, while adapting this unit to fit the needs of pediatric patients and the community,” Arrington said. “Additionally, I led a mid-construction patient simulation, which was performed in a to-scale mock up space to recognize and address latent safety threats and design needs prior to the completion of construction.”

The simulation identified 48 unique recommendations: 33 were related directly to physical space and design, while 15 were recommendations related to systems and processes, as well as clinical performance and procedures. Arrington currently oversee all training of the unit’s special response team, and full patient simulation exercises are performed four times a year in the unit in order to practice safe patient care and unique unit workflows. She also is the section chief of Global Biologic Preparedness and she is an attending physician in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine.

Healthcare Design magazine serves an audience of architects, interior designers, hospital administrators, facility managers, engineers and key members of the construction community as a premiere source of insight, information and inspiration for planning, design and constructing new or renovated health care facilities.

Click here to read more.