March 25, 2008

PROFESSIONAL STAFF BANQUET: Regrettably, the blizzard of 2008 forced us to cancel the banquet scheduled for March 7, 2008.  Please block off May 15, 2008 on your calendar.  That is the night we will honor the Taggart Award winner for 2008 as well as the professional staff service award recipients for 20 or more years of service.  We will also acknowledge the winners of the professional staff elections.  Finally, we will present awards to the winners of "A Child's Voice" awards—the advocacy award for a professional staff member as well as a winner at the state level.  The meeting will take place at NCR Country Club.  Invitations will be mailed in April.  Please come and celebrate with your colleagues.  Questions?  Call Tom Murphy, MD, at 937-641-5871.

MEDICAL IMAGING AND ANTHEM:  Anthem Imaging Denials – Dayton Children's has experienced some recent problems precertifying certain imaging scans for Anthem patients.  We have had Anthem suggest an alternative facility with a reported lower cost.  We have been successful insisting that the procedure be done at Dayton Children's due to the quality of the scan and the need for a pediatric-trained radiologist to interpret the image.  Should you have similar issues precertifying scans for your patients you may be able to take a similar approach.  If you continue to have problems, please contact Ruthie Laux or Kim Grant, your physician marketing representatives, at 937-641-3498.

CENSUS: The inpatient census continues to be high with the NICU, PICU and all inpatient units staying very busy.  Influenza is clearly on the wane.  RSV has diminished dramatically. The Synagis clinic will close down for the season at the end of March.  Rotavirus has yet to appear.  We appreciate your patience and your help during this time.

EPIC UPDATE: The gastroenterology clinic and lipid clinic went live on EPIC the first week of March.  During the first several weeks that a clinic goes live, productivity drops dramatically.  This is inherent in learning a new system.  Unfortunately referrals to the clinic do not decrease.  Dr. Mezoff and his colleagues are working very hard to get EPIC up and running, while trying to maintain their usual high level of service.  If you notice any snags, please contact Dr. Mezoff at 937-641-5585.

Activity on the inpatient and pharmacy side is beginning to pick up as well.  We have started to build the inpatient implementation products.  We are planning a go-live date of midyear 2009.  This will involve substantial training for all of our staff, including the professional staff.  We will keep you posted.  Questions? Call Tom Murphy at 937- 641-5871.

GREAT NEWS FROM THE PEDIATRIC RESIDENCY TRAINING PROGRAM:  Last week was a very good week for the Pediatric Residency Training Program. We were notified that over 90 percent of our categorical pediatric residents passed the certifying examination (ie, 'the Boards') on their first attempt! This pass rate places our residency training program in the top tier of the country. Also, we received the results of this year's residency match and we filled our program with six outstanding civilian residents (who will join the eight military residents matched to our program in December through the military).  Feel free to contact Ann Burke, MD, or Arthur Pickoff, MD, with any questions.