March 2, 2020

Texas Children’s Neurosciences Program is all about improving patient outcomes. Every day, our team of neurologists, neurosurgeons, geneticists, physician-scientists and researchers are working together tirelessly to pioneer innovative therapies to improve the lives of children with neurological disorders.

On February 21, neuroscience leadership at Texas Children’s together with faculty and staff convened for the inaugural Neurosciences Retreat at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI). This informative and engaging event provided our multidisciplinary team of neurologists, neurosurgeons, clinicians, researchers, behavioral health experts, and more the opportunity to reflect on past successes, discuss areas of possible improvement, identify transformative goals and actively plan for the future.

After welcome remarks from Executive Vice President Dan DiPrisco, the retreat began with a moderated panel discussion with two patient families who shared their inspiring stories that brought them to Texas Children’s Hospital. One of the guests was Debbie Sukin, the daughter of the late Dr. Ralph D. Feigin.

Sukin’s two sons, 18-year-old Jacob and 15-year-old Eli, were born with neurological challenges. Jacob was diagnosed with Angelman’s syndrome and Eli was diagnosed with a very rare neurological disorder caused by a CASK gene mutation diagnosed through genome DNA sequencing at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine.

“Texas Children’s holds a very special place in my family’s heart,” Sukin said. “We always knew about the hospital’s focus on clinical care and research, and didn’t quite know at the time that it would be so beneficial and important to our family. We are very much involved, on both the basic science and clinical sides, and the multidisciplinary components that are necessary to care for a child with neurological issues.”

The Sukin family’s journey, like so many other patient family stories shared at the retreat, highlight our clinical and research partners’ collaborative efforts in advancing neuroscience research, ultimately leading to the development of novel treatments and discovery of cures for neurological disorders.

“We’re always striving to do things better, and I think this retreat is one step towards getting us there,” said Texas Children’s Chief of Neurosurgery Dr. Howard Weiner. “Everyone here is ready to embrace a new idea if it’s going to advance the field forward. The key to our success is the ability for everyone – in Neurosurgery and our amazing colleagues in Neurology and the NRI – to work together for our patients.”

Weiner, along with Dr. Gary Clark, chief of Neurology and Developmental Neuroscience, and Dr. Huda Zoghbi, director of the NRI, participated in a panel discussion that highlighted the organization’s bench-to-bedside achievements in neuroscience research and neurological care over the last 20 years, and outlined collaborative opportunities to accelerate innovation and research to improve patient outcomes.

“We’re entering the renaissance of neuroscience in pediatrics,” Clark said. “Neurology and neurosurgery are not the same programs they were five or 10 years ago. Neurological diseases that we thought for years were not treatable, have become approachable with new DNA therapies, enzyme replacement therapy to treat lysosomal disorders, and minimally-invasive surgical approaches like laser ablation, that was pioneered at Texas Children’s, and has yielded successful outcomes for treating epileptic seizures.”

The panel also discussed strategies to ensure a seamless flow from bench to bedside, that will help researchers accelerate the discovery behind the causes of neurological diseases so that effective therapeutic interventions can be developed to improve the quality of life and outcomes for patients.

“At the NRI, our teams have identified the causes of about 66 different neurological disorders, some degenerative, others developmental or psychiatric, and have identified the path for therapeutics,” Zoghbi said. “Together, with our collaborators and trainees, we are charting new paths towards viable therapies that will have an immeasurable impact on families suffering from unexplainable neurological diseases.”

After the panel discussions, attendees split up into pre-selected breakout groups. The teams chose their groups based on the topic, and were tasked with helping to establish neuroscience goals and collectively chart the path for treatments, discoveries and cures to be realized over the next five years

The breakout groups facilitated lively discussion and engagement around these topics:

  • Operational Excellence: Facilitating support for clinical care and research
  • Translating Discoveries to Therapies: Overcoming barriers in order to accelerate the translation of research discoveries into effective patient care and better outcomes.
  • Population Health: Strategizing on how to deliver better care to the large population of people with neurological diseases in Texas by preparing and empowering pediatricians to handle straightforward simple cases so Texas Children’s experts have band width to see more complex cases promptly.
  • Educating for the Future: Training the next generation of physicians, physician-scientists and scientists who will care for patients, enroll them in studies, push the research forward to discover new paths for interventions.
  • Research Funding: Increasing NIH funding to support the basic, clinical and training missions and to advance the agenda of discovery and therapeutics development.

“One of our goals coming into this retreat was to simply facilitate discussions,” said Senior Vice President Matthew Girotto. “We have world renowned clinical and research teams that, too often, do not connect with each other. By simply bringing everyone together, we were able to uncover several opportunities that could not only help accelerate discovery to improve patient care but also increase our collaboration with Texas Children’s Pediatrics in addressing many of the common neurological needs of children.”

February 10, 2020

Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine pediatric ophthalmologist Dr. Evelyn Paysse and Baylor College of Medicine refractive surgery specialist Dr. Mitchell Weikert have spent nearly two decades giving children with certain eye conditions hope of better vision.

The work they are doing focuses on children with amblyopia, a condition that if left untreated can lead to permanent vision loss.

“Amblyopia is a condition where the vision, in either one eye or both eyes, does not develop normally,” Weikert said. “If one eye has a lot more need for glasses, the brain may ignore that eye, and focus on the eye that’s creating a clearer image. If that happens, and it’s not discovered, or isn’t treated optimally, a child may never develop the vision they could have had in that eye and might end up with what we call a lazy eye, or amblyopia.”

The solution Paysse and Weikert are offering to patients who have not had success with traditional therapies such as wearing glasses or contacts, and patching the better-seeing eye, is a procedure called photorefractive keratectomy or PRK.

“Photo refractive keratectomy is a surface ablation of the cornea using an excimer laser,” Paysse said. “The laser shaves away, or somewhat sculpts, the cornea, taking away a certain amount of it to reduce the refractive error.”

The desired outcome of PRK is that the child’s refractive disorder will be improved or corrected and that their brain will then be able to better develop the vision in the weaker eye. Thus far, the majority of the more than 180 patients Paysse and Weikert have operated on have had excellent results.

“We find that the patients respond better if they are treated at a younger age,” Paysse said. “The reason is that amblyopia is a time-sensitive problem that you really must treat before the patient is visually mature in the brain.”

One patient who had success with PRK is 8-year-old Lila McLaughlin. Lila was born three months early with a myriad of vision problems that eventually led her and her mother, Laura, to Paysse, who performed PRK surgery on Lila just before her second birthday. The surgery, and a subsequent procedure, changed Lila’s life.

“She went into surgery and came back with what I say was a new set of eyes,” said Lila’s mother, Laura McLaughlin said.

Prior to PRK surgery, Lila’s vision was deteriorating quickly causing the toddler to become legally blind in one of her eyes. After undergoing PRK, Lila could see almost perfectly.

“This surgery has given her a healthy outcome,” Laura McLaughlin said. “Lila has blossomed into a phenomenal, fun-loving, feisty firecracker of a third grader.”

Lila herself is extremely thankful for the care she received from Paysse and others at Texas Children’s who have participated in her care.

“She’s a really great doctor,” Lila said. “She successfully helped me see way better than I used to.”

Currently, PRK surgery is not approved by the Federal Drug Administration in children. All the patients Paysse and Weikert have treated are part of a study led by the Institutional Review Board of Baylor College of Medicine, a consortium of committees that checks doctors’ protocols making sure they are designed safely.

February 4, 2020

Texas Children’s is always searching for innovative ways to improve the experience for our patients and their families while in our care, especially for those patients and families who are unable to go home.

Seeing the impact that our Pawsitive Play Program’s beloved therapy dogs – Elsa, Bailey, Pinto, Cohen and Pluto – have brought to countless patients and their families, Texas Children’s recently embarked on a virtual adventure that will further enhance the healing environment that animals can provide to our patients.

On January 30, Texas Children’s hosted a special celebration to announce the arrival of San Diego Zoo Kids, a closed-circuit television adventure channel, that will provide educational wildlife programming to children and families who call Texas Children’s and the Ronald McDonald House Houston “home.”

“At Texas Children’s Hospital, we are committed to the holistic care of children and families,” said Texas Children’s Physician-in-Chief Dr. Mark Kline. “Outstanding partners, like the San Diego Zoo Kids Channel, can help to normalize the hospital experience for the children and families that we serve.”

This groundbreaking event included remarks from Paul Baribault, president and CEO of San Diego Zoo Global, Major General Richard Noriega, CEO of Ronald McDonald House Houston, Jackie Wallace, senior director of Public Relations for the Houston Zoo, and Denny Sanford, a businessman and philanthropist whose vision and generous donation made this program possible for children and families around the world.

“Denny Sanford has given us this meaningful opportunity to share the joy and wonderment of animals with children who may be unable to visit their local zoo or aquarium due to injury or illness,” said Baribault, president and CEO of San Diego Zoo Global. “We hope the inspiring stories of the San Diego Zoo Kids channel can be a source of comfort and inspiration when young patients need it most.”

The program’s launch at Texas Children’s marks the San Diego Zoo Kids’ 300th facility location which is broadcast across 44 states and 12 countries. The channel will feature animal stories from the San Diego and Houston Zoo, and more than a dozen accredited zoos and aquariums in North America. A generous grant from The Institute of Museum and Library Services made the channel available on TV monitors at Texas Children’s and Ronald McDonald House Houston.

More than a dozen patients, their families, hospital staff and invited guests attended the groundbreaking celebration, and met some amazing animals including a screetch owl and rabbit from the Houston Zoo, which was a big hit for the crowd.

Mercy Lopez, whose daughter is a patient at Texas Children’s, is grateful to Texas Children’s for bringing this new programming to patients and families.

“My daughter loves watching the Discovery Channel, so I know she will benefit from this programming,” Lopez said. “Since she can’t visit the zoo right now, she can experience it in her room.”

February 3, 2020

Texas Children’s Family Fertility Center has opened a clinic in The Woodlands bringing care closer to home for women and men north of Houston.

The clinic is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and is located at 17350 St. Luke’s Way, Suite 300, which is near Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands in the MAC2 Building at CHI St. Luke’s.

Dr. Paul Zarutskie and his staff are leading the clinic. Zarutski is a long-standing member of Texas Children’s Family Fertility team and also is an assistant professor with Baylor College of Medicine. Throughout his 30-year career he has treated more than 15,000 patients and has consistently been named one of the Best Doctors in America.

A pioneer in reproductive endocrinology, Zarutskie has developed innovative treatment protocols, drugs, devices and laboratory procedures, including intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and cryopreservation techniques. He was one of the first infertility specialists in the United States to introduce preimplantation genetic screening services into clinical practice, and Zarutskie’s early research in male fertility established him as a thought leader in the field and continues to guide treatment strategies.

“We are extremely excited about being able to serve women in The Woodlands area closer to home,” said Jennifer Dalton, the clinic’s manager. “One of our main goals here at Texas Children’s is patient access and providing that access closer to home.”

Services offered at The Woodlands clinic includes:

  • Fertility consultation and evaluation
  • Male fertility services
  • Ovulation Induction
  • Ultrasound
  • Intrauterine Insemination
  • Endometrial Receptivity Array
  • Reproductive Genetics
  • Reproductive Psychiatry

Services not offered at this clinic are:

  • In Vitro Fertilization
  • Egg Retrieval

Patients can make an appointment with the clinic by calling 936-271-8000. For more information about the clinic, click here.

January 28, 2020

The sixth Cutting Edge of Pediatrics conference sponsored by the Department of Surgery was held January 25, providing 110 front-line pediatric practitioners an opportunity to learn how to treat surgical issues in the primary care setting and to know when to refer to a pediatric specialist.

From the first speaker to the last, Texas Children’s surgeons and pediatric providers from across the Houston area engaged in lively discussions of the topics, which included anesthesia, ethics, adolescent gynecology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, otolaryngology, pediatric general surgery, plastic surgery and urology.

Following a welcome from Surgeon-in-Chief Dr. Larry Hollier and Associate Chief of Clinical Affairs for the Department of Surgery and Chief of Pediatric Surgery Dr. Allen Milewicz, presenters included Drs. Daniel Curry, Robert Dempsey, Kelsie Morrison, Chimsom Oleka, Tiffany Raynor, James Riviello, Abhishek Seth, Vinitha Shenava and Shawn Stafford. Jodie Gonzalez with Bo’s Place led an ethics discussion on children and bereavement for the primary care provider.

“This is a great way for us to educate pediatricians, family practice physicians and advanced practice providers on specialized care in the primary care setting,” Hollier said. “We want to arm these front-line providers with knowledge they can use every day to provide the best care for their patients.”

If you missed the Cutting Edge of Pediatrics conference, you can click here to view all presentations given at the event. Many, if not all of the presentations, also will be posted on Texas Children’s Hospital: Medically Speaking, a series highlighting the latest advancements in medicine.

The City of Houston’s bike share system, BCycle, has recently added a new bicycle station near Texas Children’s that can help employees stay in line with their New Year health goals.

The BCycle station located at the METRORail stop on Fannin & Dryden, is a solution for work commutes, short trips around the Texas Medical Center, and after-work/weekend outings throughout Hermann Park and a variety of other neighborhoods across Houston.

There are 14 BCycle stations in the Texas Medical Center area, and more than 20 in Rice Village, Hermann Park and the Museum District. For convenience, you can take a bike from one BCycle station and ride it to any other station as well. You can check out a full map of BCycle stations by clicking here.

Houston BCycle is operated by Houston Bikes Share, a local nonprofit, whose mission is to provide equitable access to bike share that fosters recreation, mobility and personal wellness.

There are 109 BCycle stations and 700 bikes available across Houston. To use the bicycles you begin by signing up on the free BCycle mobile app, then purchase a membership for just $13 per month (or $79 per year) and get you unlimited hour-long trips. The app also allows you to check out bikes, track your trip history, and navigate from station to station. If you’re not ready to commit to a membership, you can test out a bike as a guest user for $3 per 30 minutes at any station.

Bike share is an effective alternative to driving and parking hassles, and also helps with your overall health and the environment. Click here for more information about how you can snag one of those red BCycles that are seen across the Medical Center.

January 26, 2020

A new system will soon allow Texas Children’s Health Plan to better integrate data for an improved member and provider experience.

Epic Tapestry, a module within Epic health care management, will help make this possible by first providing better information and improved work processes for employees who treat our more than 400,000 customers.

With the launch of Epic Tapestry – set for February 1, 2021 – employees who must now use up to ten systems to do their job, will be able to use just one or two. They will have access to more information, need to ask fewer questions and will be better prepared to offer comprehensive service.

“This is going to be very exciting for our workforce, allowing us to be much more efficient in our processes and therefore better able to meet the needs of our members,” said Justin Loudon, assistant vice president at Texas Children’s Health Plan. “The promise for Epic’s impact is enormous and we are enthusiastic about what this means for our future.”

The Benefits of Epic Tapestry

Epic Tapestry is an overarching application that will replace a variety of applications currently used. Its goal is to integrate the business of Texas Children’s Health Plan. It will:

  • Ensure a comprehensive, integrated enterprise solution with a common look and feel
  • Reduce manual work and provide a better data source for information
  • Incorporate evidence-based decision-support tools and better data entry at point of care
  • Optimize the patient/family experience across the enterprise
  • Challenge current practice—streamline and simplify

Reinforcing One Amazing Team

Project leaders also note that the current applications used at Texas Children’s Health Plan have no integration or communication with applications used at Texas Children’s Hospital.

“This is something that has to change,” said John Turner, assistant vice president at The Health Plan. “Thousands of Health Plan members are also Texas Children’s Hospital or Texas Children’s Pediatrics patients. Many of our providers also work within both worlds. Introducing Epic at The Health Plan will ensure that all systems can talk to one another.”

Texas Children’s Hospital implemented Epic in 2008 and now it’s The Health Plan’s turn.

Money Saved = Increased Member Care

Loudon added that this implementation is also a cost savings measure as The Health Plan spends over $7 million each year on maintenance and hosting for all of its many applications. This annual cost will be significantly less once those applications are replaced by Epic.

Applications to be replaced include QNXT, Vital, Impact Pro, Maccess, Formworks, Harmony/WellSky, Member Portal, Provider Portal, MicroDyn and Altegra. Once full implementation takes place, only Epic and Onbase will be in use.

Employees will be trained for the change

All essential groups will be trained beginning in October of this year. Watch Connect for a separate story on training details.

Want to know more?

All employees, providers and members who are affected will receive targeted communications from a variety of sources, including: managers, supervisors and corporate communications.