The Bulletin: June 2006

The Bulletin is a monthly newsletter for Children's and community providers.

New Medical Staff

Ramasamy Bakthavatsalam, MD, Transplant Surgery, UW
Elaine L. Chuang, MD, Ophthalmology, UW
James L. Kinyoun, MD, Ophthalmology, UW
Alastair John Mark, MB, ChB, Anesthesia, Children’s
Fiona McConnell, MD, Children’s After Hours Clinic
Kyle B. Nagle, MD, Pediatric Associates, Factoria
Marisa Lyn Reichmuth, DDS, Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic

Transplant Center Online

Children’s new Transplant Center Web site features information for parents and providers about our organ transplant programs and transplantation-related services, including a section about what to expect while receiving transplant care at Children’s.

The Web site highlights Children’s exceptional interdisciplinary transplant team and our internationally recognized transplant specialists and leaders, including Drs. Jorge Reyes, Simon Horslen, Ruth McDonald, Patrick Healey, Robert Boucek and Gordon Cohen.

The site also includes information about transplantation research at Children’s and links to helpful Web sites and recommended reading.

Specialty Clinics: Beyond Seattle

If your practice is in the Puget Sound area but not in Seattle, Children’s has specialty clinics closer to you and your patients. We have clinics in Bellevue, Federal Way, Everett and Olympia.

New patient referrals should be made through the Clinical Intake Nurses at (206) 987-2080 or faxed to (206) 985-3121.

Cowan Receives Duncan Award

Congratulations to Dr. Charles A. Cowan, clinical director of Care Coordination Services, who has been awarded the 2006 Duncan Award for his work in developmental pediatrics.

The award recognizes people who have made outstanding contributions to the well-being of children with disabilities in Washington.

Improving Patient Safety

Medication reconciliation is the process of collecting medication information when a patient is admitted to Children’s, comparing the information to new orders to identify discrepancies and communicating changes in medication regimens to patients, families and community providers when patients leave Children’s.

Children’s has new forms to assist with medication reconciliation. One of these, the “Outgoing Medication List” (OML), provides information about which medications a patient was taking before hospitalization and which to take post-hospitalization.

Patients receive the OML upon discharge; a copy is sent to the patient’s primary provider with the patient’s discharge summary.

This new patient safety initiative, fostered by Children’s Continuous Performance Improvement process, has already helped us to avoid medication errors.

For answers to questions about medication reconciliation, contact Joanie Blanchard at (206) 987-3350.

Radiology Goes Digital

With the implementation of our Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS), Children’s has gone “filmless.”

Referring physicians who request radiology images will now receive them on CD. Children’s is no longer archiving film images, so please do not return any hard copy film that was printed at Children’s after April 17, 2006.

Instead, please properly dispose of the films (not in the normal trash, for HIPAA regulation compliance, and because the films contain chemical compounds that require special disposal methods).

For more information about how to view images on CD or how to dispose of film, please contact the Radiology Imaging Library at (206) 987-2731.

For answers to questions about the PACS process, please contact the Radiology Department at (206) 987-2134.

Smith Human Rights Honor

Dr. Mark Scott Smith, chief of Children’s Division of Adolescent Medicine and professor of pediatrics and chief of the Adolescent Medicine Section at the University of Washington School of Medicine, is the recipient of the 2006 Health and Human Rights Leadership Award from Doctors of the World, a New York-based international health and human rights organization.

Dr. Smith was honored last month for his service at the Hospital San Carlos in Chiapas, Mexico, where he has volunteered for a month each year since 1997. Dr. Smith will retire next month, after nearly 30 years at Children’s.

In that time he trained dozens of experts in adolescent medicine who now work in every part of the country. “He taught us to roll up our sleeves,” says Dr. Cora Bruener, who will be interim chief of the division. “Mark makes working with teenagers fun for both doctors and patients.”

Ambulatory Ordering Online

Children’s will implement Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) in our specialty clinics this month. As of June 5, ambulatory orders and fee sheets will be completed entirely online.

Referring physicians with access to Children’s Clinical Information System (CIS) will have immediate access to information about patients seen in our specialty clinics.

The switch to CPOE for ambulatory care is key to our evolution toward fully electronic medical record-keeping.

“Moving more of our information online allows providers to use CIS to view physician orders, diagnostic images, lab results, scheduling information, and other details of their patients’ care online anytime, from anywhere.

The change facilitates better and simpler remote information sharing with our community and referring providers,” says Dr. Mark Del Beccaro, clinical director of Information Services.

The transition to CPOE is a major transformation for Children’s ambulatory clinics. During the adjustment period, clinics may not operate at peak capacity and patients might notice a slight increase in the number of days waiting for an appointment.

However, we plan to add capacity in July and August in selected clinics to assure continued improvement in our overall wait times for new appointments.

If you have patients whose need for care is urgent, please call the Clinical Intake nurse directly at (206) 987-2080 so we can accommodate their needs.

Dermatology Closes Temporarily

Children’s has temporarily closed the Dermatology Clinic and all inpatient dermatology services. Our clinic chief, Dr. Robin Hornung, is on a pregnancy leave.

We have contacted all patients who were scheduled for appointments. We are actively recruiting additional pediatric dermatology faculty, and plan to re-open the clinic and resume inpatient services when we know we can provide the very best care.

The Vascular Anomalies Clinic will continue to manage patients with lesions such as hemangiomas, port wine stains and venous and arterial malformations that had been co-managed with Dermatology.

If you have any questions about the transition of care for current patients, please contact Shannon Fitzgerald, ARNP, at (206) 987-4650.

Grand Rounds

View the schedule of upcoming Grand Rounds.

Grand Rounds Online

View online versions of recent Grand Rounds.

On-Call Schedule

The on-call schedule for inpatient services can be found in the secure area of the Medical Staff Web site. It is updated on a daily basis.