“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that
one has reached in life as by the obstacles which have been
overcome while trying to succeed.”
~ Booker T. Washington
June 10, 2011
Dear Colleagues and Friends:
Synchronicity….We Have ‘lift off’ …
The pilot go-live of Internal Medicine, Geriatrics, General Pediatrics, and Neuroscience was on Tuesday. We appreciate the support of many in making this huge transition in these clinics. Inevitably, the implementation has slowed down clinic operations and it takes time to become familiar with Syncronicity in each clinic. Many thanks for all of your patience and support. Issues such as medical student documentation are being addressed and solutions found. A command center has been set up on the 5th floor of the Medical Office Building (MOB) and the phone number is 1-6202. Buttons, stickers, and posters are being given out and you should see them in and around our clinics and staff. Training continues for all providers which includes physicians, residents, fellows, NPs, PAs, etc., in readying for the ‘big-bang’ go live on June 28 and all other providers in the ambulatory arena need to be trained by June 21. Please see this link for the training calendar http://hi.georgiahealth.edu/trainMe/Default.asp?pickDate=5/1/2011. Please visit our website at http://ehr.georgiahealth.edu/ for the FAQs. The link for the PowerNote tutorials can be found here http://hi.georgiahealth.edu/trainmedia/. We would like to say thank you to all of you that have put so much effort into making this very important initiative a success.
We also want to say thank you to Dr. Davison Freeman, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Dr. Philip Coule, Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine who have agreed to be our Physician Champions. They will continue to work with our physicians and ensure the needs and concerns of the physicians are being looked into as well as helping to insure all physicians are trained on the system.
Congratulations … We value your leadership…
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Amyn Rojiani, Chair, Department of Pathology on his recent selection as a Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar. This is a testament to Dr. Rojiani’s commitment and dedication to this very important statewide, public health project.
We would also like to congratulate Dr. Mike Madaio, Chair, Department of Medicine on being selected to serve on the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) Research Committee. The research committee is charged with developing way to enhance the connection between the U.S. medical research enterprise and the departments of internal medicine. Dr. Madaio will begin his two-year term on July 1.
Savannah Open House …
This coming Wednesday is the open house and ribbon cutting for the Southeast (SE) Georgia campus in Savannah. We would like to thank Dr. Kathryn Martin, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs for SE Georgia, and her colleagues who have worked tirelessly to ready this campus for our students. St. Joseph/Candler hospital has graciously provided outstanding facilities for our educational, conference, and office needs. We very much appreciate the partnership that we have with our colleagues in Savannah.
New Residents In Town …
Our new residents’ orientation is scheduled for June 27 in the Alumni Center. We have a full day planned to welcome our new residents onto campus. If you see them wandering around, please join us welcoming them to GHSU and the community.
Many Women Forgo Physician Visits …
A recent Commonwealth Fund survey revealed that women are not only struggling to afford health insurance but nearly half don’t get the healthcare they need. According to the report, forty-eight percent of women don’t go to the doctor when ill, don’t fill a prescription, or skipped a test, treatment or follow-up visit because they couldn’t afford it. Women have greater health care needs than men and more often play a bigger part in the health care of family members. Rising health care costs combined with none to little income growth in many sectors has contributed to health insurance losses among women. The Affordable Care Act is bringing changes for women through required free coverage which will include preventive care services, small business tax credits, new affordable coverage options and insurance market reforms, including a ban on gender rating. It is estimated that when the new law is fully implemented in 2014, nearly 27 million working-age women who went without health care coverage in 2010, will then have comprehensive care benefits.
Children’s Miracle Network …
In last week’s Dean’s Diary, we told you of the Children’s Miracle Network telethon on June 5. This week we want to follow up with you with the news of the telethon bringing in over $857,000 in donations and pledges. This year’s total is nearly $100,000 more than the pledges last year. We are so proud and thankful of our community that gave of themselves this year to make this telethon a success. The CMC relies on community support to provide patient care to our children.
Another way of donating to the CMC and having some fun at the same time is the ‘Movies Under the Stars’ at the Columbia County Amphitheatre. No admission fees but all donations go to the CMC. Gates open at 7 pm and movies start at dusk. You can bring your own lawn chairs and coolers and enjoy the huge 30 foot screen. All movies are rated PG. ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ is playing tonight.
Dancing Stars of Augusta …
We also told you last week of the inaugural Dancing Stars of Augusta which will be tonight at 6 pm at the Bell Auditorium. There is still time to donate money and vote for your favorite dancer along with purchasing tickets to attend. Please visit the website http://dancingstarsofaugusta.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=461344&lis=1&kntae461344=951BF26BDF4E4B6CBED1BE1B5E788914 for more information. Local ‘dancing stars’ which include Don Bailey, Deanna Brown-Thomas, Terra Carroll, Sean Franton, Julian Osbon, Austin Rhodes, and others are raising money for the Alzheimer’s Association.
Thank you for your feedback and all your continued support.