Reminder: AOA Visiting Professorship Lectures

Dr. Molly Cooke, professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, will be presenting two Alpha Omega Alpha Visiting Professorship lectures at the University of South Alabama. All USA College of Medicine faculty members are welcome to attend.

The first lecture, titled "The Physicians of 2030: We Are Training Them Now, Are We Doing It Right?” will be held June 18, 2012, from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. The second lecture, titled "The New Professionalism," will be held the same day from noon to 1 p.m. Both lectures will take place at the USA Medical Center Richards Room.

To read more about the lectures, click here.

Patient Care Network Program Being Implemented for Mobile, Washington Counties

Laura O'Connor

Last year, the Alabama Medicaid Agency created the Patient Care Networks program, which consists of independent, nonprofit patient-centered health networks that provide coordinated care to Medicaid recipients.

Initially piloted in three areas – East Alabama, West Alabama, and North Alabama – the program has demonstrated a 7.7 percent decrease in the total cost of providing care to Medicaid patients in these areas. A statewide rollout of the networks has begun, and beginning July 1, 2012, Mobile and Washington counties will be associated with the Gulf Coast Patient Care Network, Inc.

Laura O’Connor, executive director of the new Gulf Coast Patient Care Network (GCPCN), said the network provides a system of care coordination, including care management and pharmacy services, to serve Medicaid patients in our area with chronic disease and/or mental illness.

“We are developing a patient-centered network that facilitates access to and coordination of the full array of community-based health care services in partnership with local providers,” said O’Connor, who is responsible for overall operations of the network and serves as liaison between the network and the Alabama Medicaid agency.

With this network, members of the health care team work together to provide a high level of coordinated care that accomplishes the simultaneous goals of higher quality, greater patient access and lower costs.

“In a time of tightening budgets and a push at both the state and national level to control costs, this project is invaluable because it identifies areas where we can reduce costs while maintaining or improving care,” O’Connor said. “At the same time, we’re providing enhanced services to the neediest patients, and it ensures that each individual patient is getting the appropriate resources.”

The new network is based on an existing patient-centered medical home initiative within the Alabama Medicaid program known as Patient 1st, which gives Medicaid beneficiaries access to medical homes. Patients either choose a primary care practice to be their medical home or Medicaid officials assign them to one.

GCPCN will partner with all Patient 1st providers in Mobile and Washington Counties, including the University of South Alabama Health System, the Bayou La Batre Health Development Board, Franklin Primary Health Center, the Family Oriented Primary Health Care, and private practice physicians. GCPCN will also provide case management services in support of these partners.

According to Becky Tate, chief executive officer of the USA Health Services Foundation and president of the board of directors for GCPCN, the USA Health System is excited to be part of this innovative program.

“We look forward to working with our network partners in improving the health of our community,” Tate said.

According to O’Connor, the USA Center for Strategic Health Innovation will provide medical informatics services to Medicaid for use in this program. “All providers will participate in quarterly medical management committee meetings.” O’Connor said. “They will review trends and patterns of care delivery to identify best practices, as well as areas needing follow-up.”

USA Chairs Honored by Via Center

USA Family Medicine Chair Dr. Allen Perkins, USA Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work Chair Dr. Roma Hanks and USA Trustee Arlene Mitchell at the recent Via awards ceremony.

Dr. Allen Perkins, professor and chair of family medicine at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, recently received a leadership award at the Via! Health, Fitness & Enrichment Center's annual awards luncheon in Mobile.

Dr. Perkins has worked to secure HRSA Title VII grant funding for improving the geriatrics education of family medicine residents at USA. The project is a 5-year, $700,000 grant that began last year.

According to Dr. Perkins, residents participate in activities to enhance social-behavioral and community-based service issues in gerontology/geriatric care and care evaluation in partnership with the Center for Generational Studies. "This will allow them to experience team-based activity as a team member as well as a team leader," Dr. Perkins said.

In conjunction with this training, the family medicine department has been able to deliver care on-site at the Central Plaza Towers and provides on-site health education and screening services at Via.

"The residents spend half a day per week at Central Plaza Towers and half a day per week at Via in two one month blocks and longitudinally during the third year of training," Dr. Perkins said. "Seeing folks in community settings such as this allows the residents to better understand the aging process and to see aging as natural and not a disease to be treated.”

In addition to Dr. Perkins' award, Dr. Roma Hanks, chair of sociology, anthropology and social work, was named the 2012 recipient of the Arlene F. Mitchell Award by Via at the luncheon. Dr. Hanks is also the community engagement core co-director for the USA Center for Healthy Communities-Center of Excellence.

According to the organization, the award is “given each year in recognition of exceptional support and generosity by those who share Mrs. Mitchell’s spirit and dedication to older adults and the success of the Via Center.”

Mitchell, a USA trustee, also has been a long-time board member of Via Center.

Dr. Hanks also leads the USA Center for Generational Studies, which is headquartered at Via Center and works in partnership with the group.

USA College of Medicine Scientists Receive Historic $9 Million Research NIH Grant

Dr. Troy Stevens, lead scientist on the PPG grant, speaks at a press conference announcing the grant on June 7, 2012.

A team of scientists at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine has been awarded a $9,191,785 research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to examine the causes and consequences of pneumonia, a lung infection that is a major source of illness and death for children and adults over 65 years of age around the world.

The NIH grant, which is termed a program project grant or PPG, marks the largest competitive research grant award in the history of USA, second to only a $14.5 million grant awarded to the USA College of Medicine in 2010 from NIH to fund construction of a state-of-the-art specialized infectious disease research laboratory.

“The renewal of this grant by Dr. Stevens and his colleagues is particularly impressive in light of the highly competitive nature of research funding from the National Institutes of Health during tough economic times,” said Dr. Samuel J. Strada, dean of the USA College of Medicine.

According to Dr. Troy Stevens, the lead scientist on the PPG grant, this funding will allow investigators to focus on translational models and moving the knowledge gained from USA’s research labs toward the clinical care environment.  The grant will also support training experiences for both student physicians and researchers at the USA College of Medicine.

“In previous PPG grant awards, our projects examined broad aspects of lung injury on a basic science level,” said Dr. Stevens, who serves as professor of pharmacology and also directs the Center for Lung Biology at USA.  “During this funding cycle, we will focus upon a preclinical model of pneumonia that progresses to sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome, applying what was learned in previous research to develop a deeper understanding of lung injury that will enable development of improved treatments for patients.”

Pointing to the success demonstrated by work supported in this PPG, one of the research projects associated with an earlier funding cycle recently led to the formation of a start-up company, Exscien.  This company will work to develop first-in-kind treatments for infection and trauma-related lung injury.  This is among the first biotech companies to be launched along the Gulf Coast region.

Pneumonia is a form of acute respiratory infection.  It is a life-threatening illness among children and adults who are 65 or older.  It is the leading cause of death in children worldwide – leading to an estimated 1.4 million deaths in children under the age of five years.   In Alabama, pneumonia causes 830 deaths each year.

“Our tremendous depth in lung biology expertise at USA is complimented by the extensive clinical capability that directly relate to this research – services such as the Level I Trauma Center, the Burn Center, the adult and pediatric intensive care units as well as the neonatal intensive care unit,” said Dr. Stevens.  “Our goal is to build on these programs and help them enhance both their educational training experiences and patient outcomes.”

Life-threatening consquences of infection and trauma are acute lung injury and multiple organ system failure.  There are currently no drugs available to prevent or reverse these disorders.  Exscien, the start-up company linked to the PPG, is a collaboration between USA College of Medicine investigators and local business leaders.   The company – founded on the discovery of new drugs to repair DNA and prevent and reverse acute lung injury - has plans to rapidly extend its research in model systems to human patients.

The positive impact of medical research funding goes beyond the expansion of knowledge and the improvement of care.  In addition to the Exscien endeavor, research funding has a direct and indirect positive economic impact on our community. Including this grant award, NIH has invested approximately $27 million in this PPG during the course of 15 years.  Using the established standard research multiplier impact of 2.3, this translates to approximately $70 million in economic stimulus directly related to the 3 funding award cycles of this PPG grant at USA.

A press conference announcing the grant was held June 7, 2012. For more news coverage, click the following links:

Mobile Press-Register
WALA-Fox10
Local 15

Community Leaders, Residents Meet at USA Medical Center to Discuss Crichton Beautification Initiative

Business leaders and residents from the Crichton community, as well as city and county officials, met at the University of South Alabama Medical Center on June 1, 2012, to initiate a community effort toward beautification of the neighborhood, particularly Mobile Street.

The initiative was organized by Mobile City Councilman Fred Richardson and the USA Health System.

During the luncheon, attendees discussed potential landscaping plans and efforts to maintain the medians along Mobile Street.

"Everyone is excited about the possibilities," said Elmer Sellers, assistant hospital administrator at the USA Medical Center. "The next step is to formalize plans and work together to improve the neighborhood of which we are a part of."

"It was an enthusiastic meeting that generated lots of great ideas," added Becky Tate, chief executive officer of the USA Health System. "We look forward to continuing discussions as we formalize action plans."

In addition to the luncheon, the event also provided an opportunity for guests to tour areas of the USA Medical Center.



Mobile City Councilman Fred Richardson discusses community beautification plans with Becky Tate, chief executive officer of the USA Health System.

Luncheon attendees tour the new epilepsy monitoring unit at the USA Medical Center.