September 10, 2018

What happens when 32 specialties at Wallace Tower, 16 specialties at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, and 51 Texas Children’s Pediatrics practices take part in their own “Shoot for the Stars” MyChart challenge? It means more patients and their families are signing up for My Chart, the hospital’s online patient portal.

Due to the tremendous success of the 5-week MyChart Madness Challenge in March – which generated close to 2,000 same-day MyChart activations across the hospital system – clinical staff launched a second competition to add to these successes, while engaging their teams around Texas Children’s Patient Access Initiative.

MyChart Instant Activation is one component of the Patient Access Initiative, which essentially pushes a text or email notification to patient families that allows them to sign up for a MyChart account via phone instead of having to use a computer to sign up. Patients are then able to access their personal health information, communicate directly with their care team at any time, and schedule their clinic appointments online.

The Shoot for the Stars My Chart Challenge began on July 23 and ended on August 31. The competition generated impressive results across the organization which has helped to improve access for our patients and their families.

Wallace Tower and The Woodlands

Over the course of five weeks, Wallace Tower generated a total of 979 same-day MyChart activations. Of the 32 participating clinics at Wallace Tower, the neurology team won with 204 same-day activations. Over the course of four weeks, The Woodlands campus generated 100 same-day activations with Dermatology winning the challenge.

Texas Children’s Pediatrics

Texas Children’s Pediatrics (TCP) conducted their own competition which began on July 23 and ended on September 2. TCP generated a total of 11,206 My Chart activations. Several practices won weekly and overall raffles including TCP Baytown, Cy-Fair, Lakewood, Pasadena, PMG and Sterling Ridge.

Texas Children’s Pediatrics also conducted a creative competition where each TCP practice designed a creative campaign to display the benefits of MyChart and encourage MyChart activation.

Here are the top three creative campaign winners:

  • TCP Pasadena – “MyChart is Out of this World”
  • TCP Heights – “Be Incredible…Sign Up for MyChart
  • TCP Rayford – “MyChart-Land”

Click here to view all of the MyChart campaign posters.

Patient access: Opening the door at Texas Children’s

Since launching this initiative in March, Texas Children’s has seen significant improvements in patient access across the hospital system. Several enhancements were implemented in waves across specialties which included:

  • Standard clinic sessions: After evaluating 944 provider templates, extra slots were found where physicians could see patients for a duration of four hours. By standardizing clinic sessions for all specialties across Texas Children’s, over 53,000 new appointments have been added to the system.
  • MyChart activation: In October 2017, the organization had less than 8,000 monthly MyChart activations. To date, we have now exceeded over 60 percent activation for MyChart throughout the system.
  • Direct scheduling: More than 100 patients have used this online feature that allows current patients to quickly and easily schedule appointments online on MyChart.
  • Electronic waitlist: This MyChart feature automatically offers up available appointments to patients desiring a sooner appointment. Since its implementation, over 300 patients have accepted an appointment on average 52 days earlier than their prior appointment.

Click here to watch this video that highlights our patient access journey and our recent accomplishments.

On Tuesday, September 25, Texas Children’s No. 1 ranked Heart Center will open in Legacy Tower. To prepare for this historic milestone, multidisciplinary teams recently conducted simulations in the cardiovascular intensive care unit and cardiovascular operating room to test out the new patient care spaces before real patients are seen.

“Today, we are doing systems testing in our cardiovascular intensive care unit,” said Dr. Cara Doughty, medical director of Texas Children’s Simulation Center. “During these simulations, we have a number of different patients both receiving care as well as receiving escalations in care that can happen in the intensive care unit.”

In addition to multidisciplinary staff, patient families from Texas Children’s Family Advisory Committee participated in the CVICU simulations and provided their perspective on how much this space is going to change the way that care is provided to heart patients and their families at Legacy Tower.

“It’s really nice and comforting to me as a parent to see how much thought goes into it,” said Texas Children’s Family Advisory Committee member Christine Hanes. “I know that they aren’t just making a random decision on how to take care of my child. They’re actually testing it and making sure that they follow all the right procedures and that they do everything to optimize their care.”

Following the CVICU simulations, Texas Children’s conducted patient care simulations in the CVOR to test the system, the work flow processes, the placement of surgical equipment, as well as test the communication among multidisciplinary teams to ensure everyone and everything is ready before the first CVOR in Legacy Tower.

“For the CVOR, we had one patient but that patient was going through all of the different aspects of being a patient from registration to preoperative care to arrival to being in the operating room,” Doughty said.

Following each simulation, a one-hour debrief was held where staff from different disciplines came together to discuss what went well and what system processes need to be corrected before actual patients are seen.

“We want to make sure we’re well prepared, that the space is in tip top shape to be able to provide what we need for these critical patients,” said Kerry Sembera, assistant director of clinical practice for the Heart Center.

In preparation for the opening of Texas Children’s No. 1 ranked Heart Center on September 25, a series of systems testing was also conducted last month for acute care cardiology, the Heart Center Clinic and the Cath lab/HCRU.

Employees and staff can see more of Legacy Tower on Connect throughout the month. Texas Children’s Corporate Communications Team will feature a series of stories and videos on Connect promoting the Heart Center and sharing how we are preparing for this historic move into Legacy Tower.

September 4, 2018

On August 23, an excited group of Walmart and Sam’s Club employees visited Texas Children’s for a special presentation and ribbon cutting for the Walmart and Sam’s Club Waiting Room on the 20th floor of Legacy Tower and part of the new Texas Children’s Heart Center®. They were welcomed by Chief of Pediatric Cardiology Dr. Daniel Penny, Vice President Judy Swanson and Texas Children’s Executive Vice President Mark Mullarkey, who spoke about Texas Children’s special partnership with Walmart and Sam’s Club through the Children’s Miracle Network.

“We couldn’t be more appreciative of the support we’ve had from Walmart and Sam’s Club over the years,” Mullarkey said. “Your generosity has made it possible for us to provide families with critically ill children the space they need to be together and to be comfortable.”

Even with a crowd of more than 30 attendees, there was plenty of room to move in the expansive new waiting area, which was specially designed as a haven for families with children who are dealing with some of the most complex medical issues – children like 11-year-old Jhett Skaggs, a Texas Children’s patient from Oklahoma, who with his dad, Brian, attended the event. Brian shared their story.

Jhett was born with cardiomyopathy, a rare heart disease. Doctors told Brian and his wife, Audra, that Jhett needed a life-saving heart transplant. They began researching options for treatment and decided Texas Children’s was the best choice. Experts from Texas Children’s flew to Oklahoma to transport Jhett to Houston, where he received a heart transplant at just 10 months old. For years, everything seemed to be okay, until at age 5 Jhett developed coronary artery disease. He would require another transplant. In 2012, Brian and Jhett moved to Houston to be closer to Texas Children’s. And though they had to wait nearly six years, Jhett finally received his second heart this past July.

“Everything worked out perfectly,” Skaggs said. “I wouldn’t change one single thing about our decision to come to Texas Children’s.”

After Brian’s moving story, Mullarkey turned the floor over to Trina Greer, Walmart Regional Vice President of Human Resources, who presented Texas Children’s with a check for nearly $1 million.

“It’s always my pleasure to watch our employees get excited about raising money for children who need our help,” Greer said. “I’m proud of the work we do and the funds we raise in the Greater Houston area to help Texas Children’s.”

Since 2005, Walmart and Sam’s Club have contributed more than $9.2 million. Last year, in addition to the funds raised in Houston area stores, the Walmart Foundation also gave Texas Children’s a gift of $500,000 for Hurricane Harvey Relief. In appreciation of this generosity, Texas Children’s leadership decided to dedicate the Heart Center’s new waiting area in honor of Walmart and Sam’s Club.

The new Heart Center – set to open on September 25 – will occupy eight floors and will feature four cardiac catheterization labs including integrated MRI scanner, four cardiovascular operating rooms, three cardiovascular ICU floors with 48 private rooms, two cardiac acute care floors with 42 private patient rooms, and a dedicated space for families.

In 2002, Dr. George Mallory helped establish Texas Children’s Lung Transplant Program and has built it into one of the world’s preeminent pediatric programs, with a reputation for collaborative, patient-centered care. This year, Mallory is passing the torch of medical leadership to Dr. Tina Melicoff, who will lead the program in partnership with surgical director Dr. Jeffrey Heinle.

“We all share Texas Children’s vision of taking care of children with complex lung conditions,” said Melicoff. “Cases that would be too complex to treat elsewhere are common at Texas Children’s. With our amazing team, and our focus on clinical and basic research, we can continue to build on Dr. Mallory’s incredible legacy of compassionate care and clinical excellence.”

Under Mallory’s distinguished leadership, the program has reached some extraordinary milestones. It is one of the largest lung transplant programs in the world – and the most active, with the highest clinical volume of any program over the past five years. Experts at Texas Children’s have performed more than 200 lung transplants, completing more in the past five years than any other pediatric program. Over the past ten years, the program has been one of only three that consistently performs transplants in infants and young children. It is also one of only two programs performing 10 or more pediatric transplants per year. And even with high volume, the program has a pristine record of below-average wait list times, with a median wait time of less than four months, shorter than most other programs.

Mallory, who is transitioning to the role of Medical Director Emeritus, attributes the program’s success to the collaborative and comprehensive approach to care, which includes surgery, pulmonary medicine and immunology services, infectious disease expertise, social work, nutrition, psychological care, basic and clinical research, and more.

“One of the things I’m most proud of that we’ve achieved is a fabulous multidisciplinary team,” he said. “That’s common language in modern medicine, but we really have a great team”

As the program moves forward under new leadership, that team will continue to work together for the same shared goals: improving outcomes, delaying chronic rejection and keeping children where they should be – with their families.

“Easily, the single best thing is to have engaged honestly and deeply with patients and families and see the majority of them capture years of quality of life,” Mallory said. “What we do here is much more than a dry scientific pursuit; it’s an amazing opportunity to see miracles happen.”

To learn more, watch the video.

The Southwest Pediatric Device Consortium (SWPDC), anchored at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, recently received a prestigious P50 grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The five-year, $6.75 million grant will begin on September 1 and will allow SWPDC to leverage ongoing activities to expand and accelerate the development of much-needed pediatric medical devices. The five principal investigators include Drs. Chester Koh and Henri Justino of Texas Children’s and Baylor, Dr. Balakrishna Haridas of Texas A&M University, Dr. Maria Oden of Rice University, and Dr. Michael Heffernan of Fannin Innovation Studio.

SWPDC supports pediatric device innovators with the goal of addressing the shortage of needed novel medical devices for children, a public health problem that has been acknowledged by the FDA.

“A great need currently exists for medical devices designed specifically for children,” said Koh, founder of SWPDC and lead principal investigator, as well as a pediatric urologist at Texas Children’s and professor of urology, pediatrics and Ob/Gyn at Baylor. “Pediatric device development is challenging, but with this support from the FDA, our consortium will continue to assist pediatric device innovators along all stages of development with the goal of improving our care of pediatric patients.”

The past decade has been a period of growth in adult medical device innovation. Advances in devices for children, however, have lagged far behind. Why the disparity? Economics are partially to blame. The market for pediatric devices is smaller, and thus the return on investment lower. Then there are the clinical and regulatory challenges. Pediatric device projects may need an extended life cycle before they can be approved and exposed to the external market. As a result, pediatric surgeons and pediatricians have had to make do with what’s available, often using retooled adult medical devices, and without adequate testing in children.

“Significant technical (design and manufacturing), preclinical testing, clinical and regulatory testing challenges exist in the field of pediatric devices,” said Haridas, co-founder and co-PI of SWPDC (lead PI at Texas A&M) and professor of practice in biomedical engineering at Texas A&M. “This FDA-funded SWPDC is uniquely positioned to address these challenges across the pediatric device development and clinical translational cycle to deliver significant advances in treatments tailored for pediatric patients.”

Support from the P50 grant will enable SWPDC to provide services in several areas: unmet needs assessment, prototype development, product and technology acceleration services, and business acceleration services. Consortium members will evaluate and support projects, as well as advise innovators throughout the total product life cycle. Based on individual project needs, the consortium will direct investigators to specific resources, collaborators and industry experts, and will coordinate the services offered by its member programs to identify, evaluate and assist pediatric device projects.

SWPDC includes clinical, scientific/engineering, investment, regulatory and academic partners in the Texas Medical Center, the Greater Houston area and the southwestern U.S. Primary partners include Texas A&M University, Rice University, University of Houston and Fannin Innovation Studio, and includes others such as Biotex Inc., Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, Children’s Health in Dallas and Phoenix Children’s Hospital, with additional future sites. SWPDC was selected as one of five national consortia that are addressing the shortage of pediatric devices.

To learn more about the Southwest Pediatric Device Consortium, visit swpdc.org.

August 27, 2018

At Texas Children’s, we feel strongly that it is our responsibly to educate patients about the health plans we are in network with and how they can access our expert care. Therefore, we want to make sure Amerigroup members are aware that Texas Children’s is not a participating provider with Amerigroup. Those patients have the right to change health plans to ensure continuity of care.

Amerigroup currently insures 9,500 past and present Texas Children’s patients under Amerigroup STAR, Amerigroup STAR Plus, Amerigroup STAR Kids, or Amerigroup Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) plan.

To make sure these patients receive uninterrupted access to care at Texas Children’s, we are recommending they change their coverage to a health plan that Texas Children’s is in-network with. As an eligible STAR, STAR Plus, STAR Kids, or CHIP plan member, they have a choice in the plan they select for coverage. They also have the right to change plans.

“We have been treating these patients out-of-network for the past five years hoping Amerigroup would work with us to either become an in-network provider or educate their customers about the options available to them,” said Kabby Thompson, director of managed care contracting. “It is clear that’s not going to happen. We feel it is in our patients’ best interest to educate them about the plans we are in network with and to help them transition into an in-network plan if that’s how they want to move forward.”

A similar plan of action worked well last November when Texas Children’s became an out of network provider to 6,000 Molina members. More than half have switched to an in-network plan.

A letter has been sent to patient families who have been a Texas Children’s patient within the past year and whose records say they are covered by Amerigroup. Depending on your role at Texas Children’s, you could receive questions from patient families and others about this change. Below is information to help you answer those questions and to places to direct people if you cannot.

“We appreciate your help in getting these patients and families the help they need,” Thompson said. “Their health care is important to us.”

Click here to access the information below and more.

How can Amerigroup patients and families change their health plans?

For Amerigroup STAR, Amerigroup STAR Kids and Amerigroup STAR Plus members: The Texas Medicaid program allows people to change their or their child’s health plan.

  • Patients and their families can learn more by calling the Texas STAR Program Helpline at 1-800-964-2777.
  • Patients and families can request to change their health plan at any time for any reason. If they call to change their health plan on or before the 15th of the month, the change will take place on the first day of the next month.
  • If they call after the 15th of the month, the change will take place the first day of the second month after that. For example:
    • If they call on or before October 15, their change will take place on November 1.
    • If they call after October 15, their change will take place on December 1.

For Amerigroup CHIP members: The Texas Medicaid program allows patients and their families to change their or their child’s health plan.

  • Patients and families can learn more by calling CHIP toll-free at 1-800-647-6558.
  • During the first 90 days after they or their child are enrolled in a health plan, they can change to another plan once for any reason.
  • If they show good cause, they can also change health plans at any time. An example of “good cause” is when they or their child can’t get the care you need through the health plan. An inadequate network or a change in the network status of their treating provider is also considered “good cause.”
  • They can also change health plans during the annual CHIP reenrollment period.

The Texas Medicaid program allows patients and families to change their or their child’s health plan every 30 days. They can learn more about how to do this and begin to make the change by calling the Texas STAR Program Helpline at 1-800-964-2777 (STAR or STAR Plus) or CHIP toll-free at 1-800-647-6558.

Questions patients and families might have about care at Texas Children’s:

As an out of network member, will patients still be able to receive care at Texas Children’s Hospital?

Rescheduling: In cases where Amerigroup has not responded to requests for both out-of-network authorizations and Single Case Agreements before the scheduled visit, Texas Children’s will contact patients/their families before their scheduled visit to reschedule once Amerigroup has responded.

Emergency Medical Care: Amerigroup advises that you go to an in-network provider for emergency care. Texas Children’s Hospital will treat children in the event they have an emergency. If a child is seen in the Emergency Center for emergency care, the medical team will work with the patient and their family to decide how to provide care after the doctor’s medical evaluation. Amerigroup will help find follow up care with a provider who is in network.

Urgent Medical Care: In order to receive urgent care at a Texas Children’s Urgent Care location, Amerigroup must approve an out-of-network authorization. This could be difficult because of the urgent nature of a patient’s condition and the time it takes to get an authorization. Amerigroup may also redirect care to another in-network provider.

Routine Care: In most cases, Amerigroup will require patients and their families to receive routine or urgent care from a network provider. In order to receive care at Texas Children’s, Amerigroup must approve an out-of-network. Amerigroup may also redirect care to another in-network provider.

Who should I contact if I have further questions?

If you want to learn more about changing your or your child’s health plan, you can call the Texas STAR Program Helpline at 1-800-964-2777 or CHIP toll-free at 1-800-647-6558.

If you have questions for Amerigroup, you may call their Member Services department toll-free at 1-800-964-2777. If you are not satisfied with the response from Amerigroup, you can contact the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) by calling toll-free 1-866-566-8989.

If you have questions for Texas Children’s Hospital or Texas Children’s Physician Services Organization, you may call us at 832-824-1000 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central time. Texas Children’s Pediatrics can be reached at 832-824-2999.

What Medicaid Health Plans is Texas Children’s in-network with?

Texas Children’s Hospital and Texas Children’s Physician Service Organization are in-network with the following Medicaid Health Plans


Texas Children’s Pediatrics is in-network with the following Medicaid Health Plans

Five years ago Texas Children’s Health Plan celebrated the grand opening of The Center for Children and Women, a patient and family-centered medical home for Health Plan members. Now with two locations, one 50,000 square-foot facility located in the Greenspoint area of Houston, and another in the Southwest area, the center has flourished and continues to provide high quality community based primary health care.

“It is actually unbelievable, frankly. Going from a concept to what we have today, and being able to serve so many patients and members and families of Texas Children’s Health Plan,” said Assistant Vice President Tangula Taylor. “It is humbling, quite honestly, just to think about the impact that we’ve been able to make on the lives of so many.”

The Center for Children and Women is designed to ensure that all patients have access to proper care by providing extended hours to accommodate the families’ busy schedules. The Center’s health care model provides comprehensive care for the well-being of the whole patient. This is done with the help of many medical professionals on site every day such as pediatricians, advance nurse practitioners, OB/GYNs, certified nurse midwives, optometry, imaging, a laboratory and an onsite pharmacy, and behavioral health specialists. The medical home provides a means to address the shortage of primary medical care for families enrolled in government health care programs.

“The idea was really to create a comprehensive one stop shop for health care,” Taylor said. “We know that families that we serve have precious time, and when they come in seeking healthcare, we wanted to be able to maximize the time we have with them and bring forth a holistic approach to address all of their care needs in that moment.”

On August 17, the Center celebrated its anniversary with a party open to the community. The event included ice cream and cake, face painting, information booths and goody bags. During the celebration employees gathered along with a patient who was brought into this world by Center providers and has been a patient at the Center for the last five years. The group sang a special birthday song as she and her sister blew out candles.

“It’s like the Center has become part of our family. We come here for everything,” said Ivonne Solis, mother of the patients. “There are days when I feel like I spend the whole day here because one has a dentist appointment, the other is seeing the eye doctor and the other has a general checkup. And I know if she gets sick at school, for example, they see us quickly.”

Across the room enjoying the celebration with her children was Yesenia Cervantes, a former patient of the Center. For Cervantes, the phrase “you will like it so much you will not want to leave” can’t be more accurate. Today, she works as a patient access specialist at the Greenspoint location.

“The first time that I had my appointment I really loved my care, so then I said, I have to be part of this, of the Center,” said Cervantes. “I would love to work with the people here and I would like to be part of this organization.”

Cervantes is just one of the many patients who has experienced first-rate care at the Center. Over the course of five years the Center’s membership has gained over 35,000 distinct patients and nearly 400,000 total visits.

“It was our intention when we opened to grow the Centers to a point where they were completely sustainable, and we have been able to do that,” said Medical Director for Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Lisa Hollier. “And in the process, we are delivering on better outcomes for women and children.”

The Center has received several awards and recognitions since it opened such as; The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Level III Recognition four years in a row. The Center is NCQA Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) and Patient Centered Specialty Practice (PCSP) recognized. The Center for Children and Women was the first OB/GYN practice in Texas to receive PCSP designation. In addition, the Center is COLA Certified for clinical laboratory compliance and received COLA’s Laboratory Excellence Award and acknowledged by Centering Healthcare Institute as an accredited Centering Pregnancy site, to name a few.

“I see this center continuing to grow and serve the Greenspoint and Southwest communities, but I of course see a third center, a fourth and fifth and a six,” said Chief Medical Officer for Pediatrics, Dr. Heidi Schwarzwald. “Not just in the Houston area, but across our state, serving the needs of Medicaid families.”

With 11 total service lines, the Center for Children and Women has exceeded initial expectations and continues to serve patients with the highest quality care possible with a focus on healthy mothers, healthy babies and children, and healthy communities.

“We are very proud of what we have accomplished in the past five years, and the support we have received at The Center for Children and Women from the community has been energizing,” Lou Fragoso, president of Texas Children’s Health Plan, said. “We know the incredible impact The Center has on helping families stay healthy—it is a privilege to serve our plan members in the Greenspoint and Southwest Houston areas. As we cross this milestone, we are committed to continuing to expand access to the highest quality primary care possible for our plan members.”

View a photo gallery of pictures from the event below.

For more information about Texas Children’s Health Plan The Center for Children and Women visit www.JoinTheCenter.org.