The Bulletin: May 2007

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

Improved New Appointment Request Form

Children’s has revised the New Appointment Request Form (NARF) to meet regulatory requirements. The new NARF is available on the Medical Staff Web site, and it has been sent to your offices.

Children’s has revised the New Appointment Request Form (NARF) to meet regulatory requirements and expedite consults and referrals to ambulatory clinics. The new NARF asks only for information Children’s needs to process your requests, including information required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

In early 2008, Children’s will implement an online appointment request form. Until then, the most efficient way to request new appointments is by calling the Clinical Intake nurses at (206) 987-2080.

Children's Plans for Expansion

Patients and families can look forward to improved access to services at Children’s as the hospital hires more than 80 doctors and expands its facilities in Laurelhurst and other locations in the Puget Sound area.

Children’s major goals in the strategic plan include ensuring timely access to pediatric subspecialty care and improving service to families and referring providers. By hiring additional providers in most specialties during the next five years, Children’s will reduce wait times and prepare to meet the increasing demand for appointments at the main hospital and in the regional clinics and outreach sites. Ultimately, the hospital’s goal is to see all patients within one day.

Children’s is preparing for clinical growth due to the increasing regional population, complexity of care and acuity of patients. The main hospital facility is expected to double in size in the next 20 years to accommodate more patients while maintaining a safe, comfortable environment that supports family-centered care.

Children’s is embarking on a two-year planning process to develop a second Major Institution Master Plan (MIMP) that will outline facility expansion options.

“We need to offer plenty of space for families, including more single rooms that reduce the risk of spreading infection and ensure privacy for patients and families,” says Dr. Sandy Melzer, senior vice president for Strategic Planning and Business Development at Children’s.

Children’s also plans to build a new 50,000-square-foot outpatient facility in Bellevue that will offer specialty clinics, urgent care, laboratory, radiology and outpatient surgery services. This new facility will allow Children’s to offer many of the same high-quality services available at the main campus in Seattle to families on the Eastside. Children’s also plans similar facilities for Snohomish and south King County locations.

Stapleton Named Chief Academic Officer

Dr. Bruder Stapleton has been named senior vice president and chief academic officer (CAO) of Children’s.

Dr. Bruder Stapleton

In this new role, Stapleton will lead education programs for residents, fellows and faculty and guide the expansion of research at Children’s. Stapleton will remain the chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

“Bruder was the guiding force behind the development of our first research vision and the growth of our training programs over the past 10 years,” says Dr. Thomas Hansen, CEO. “As CAO, he will build on his past success and continue to cultivate our partnership with the University of Washington as we grow our research and academic programs.”

Families Satisfied with Ambulatory Improvements

In the past year, Children’s increased the total volume of patients seen in specialty clinics by nearly 9% while keeping wait times down and achieving an increase in family experience survey scores.

“Opening the Melinda French Gates Ambulatory Care Building last year gave us the opportunity to increase our efficiency in order to see more patients,” says Cindy Evans, vice president of Ambulatory and Regional Services at Children’s. “Our physicians and staff worked hard to take full advantage of the new facility and make improvements that help patients access care.”

Families are reporting higher levels of satisfaction with the service at Children’s. In the past year, the family experience survey scores have shown statistically significant improvements in the following areas: overall clinic organization; the handling of calls for appointments; and reduced waits and delays in registration and in the waiting and exam rooms.

Overall, the survey shows that more than 90% of families say that they would recommend Children’s clinics to their family and friends.

Children's Creates Quality Improvement Chief Position

Children’s has created a new position called the chief of quality improvement for perioperative services. This new leader will work across surgical disciplines to improve safety, quality of care and outcomes.

The chief will report to Dr. David Fisher, medical director, and will have responsibilities for perioperative services that are comparable to those of the pediatrician-in-chief for pediatric services.

The position was created by Drs. Lynn Martin, director of the Department of Anesthesia; Ernest (Chappie) Conrad, director of the Department of Orthopedics; Robert Sawin, surgeon-in-chief; and Fisher. Martin is leading the search for the new chief; interested parties should contact him for more information at lynn.martin@seattlechildrens.org or (206) 987-2052.

Radiology Report Distribution Problem Solved

Radiology implemented a new system at the end of April to ensure ordering physicians receive reports of their patients’ radiology studies. This system will solve problems with the auto-fax system, which was not working properly because of an issue related to the implementation of Ambulatory Computerized Provider Order Entry. The system will process reports daily at 7 p.m. If you have any problems receiving reports from the tests that you ordered, please send an e-mail to docfeedback@seattlechildrens.org.

Pediatric Bioethics Conference

The third annual bioethics conference, “Navigating Conflicts When Parents and Providers Disagree About Medical Care,” will take place on Friday and Saturday, July 13 and 14, at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center in Seattle. To register, visit the Pediatric Bioethics Web site.

The Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (WCAAP) annual meeting and continuing medical education event, “Answering Today’s Challenges in Pediatric Practice,” coincides with the bioethics conference. The WCAAP event will be held July 14 and 15. To register, visit the WCAAP Web site.

Rawlings Elected to Association of American Physicians

Dr. David Rawlings, section head of Immunology and director of the Research Center for Vaccines and Immunity at Children’s, has been elected to the Association of American Physicians.

Dr. David Rawlings

The association is dedicated to the advancement of medicine through experimentation and the application of discoveries to clinical practice.

Each year the council of the association elects 55 individuals who have shown excellence in achieving that goal. Only a few pediatricians have received this honor.

Cohen Receives Award from WTSA

Dr. Gordon Cohen, co-director of the Children’s Heart Center and chief of the division of cardiothoracic surgery, was selected as the 2007 recipient of the Donald B. Doty Education Award of the Council of the Western Thoracic Surgical Association (WTSA).

Dr. Gordon Cohen

Cohen received the award for his proposal, “Developing an Interactive Computer-Based Teaching Model of Congenital Cardiac Surgery.”

The WTSA created this award to foster innovative educational initiatives in cardiothoracic surgery by association members.

Massagli Honored

Dr. Teresa Massagli, an attending physician at Children’s, received the Association of Academic Physiatrists (AAP) Outstanding Service Award at the association’s annual meeting in April.

Dr. Teresa Massagli

The association recognized Massagli for her contributions to graduate medical education in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation.

She is a professor of rehabilitation medicine and pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine, where she has directed the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency Training Program since 1992.

Scott Honored by FDA

Dr. C. Ronald Scott, a biochemical geneticist at Children’s and the University of Washington School of Medicine, received the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner’s Special Citation.

Dr. Ronald Scott

Scott was honored for his work to get approval for the commercial use of a drug called Orfadin (nitisinone) to treat tyrosinemia type I. Before the use of Orfadin, a majority of children with this rare genetic disease died of liver failure in infancy or of hepatocellular carcinoma in late childhood.

Scott submitted an Investigational New Drug application to the FDA in 1993 and led clinical trials in the United States for nearly 10 years to gather the data used to approve the drug for commercial use.

Now, by combining the use of Orfadin and a low-tyrosine diet, more than 90% of children survive.

New Medical Staff and Allied Health Professionals

Children’s welcomes these new medical staff members and allied health professionals:

Gabriel Berson, MD, Virginia Mason Medical Center
Eric J. Demers, MD, Neonatology, Pediatrix Medical Group
Keith R. Loeb, MD, PhD, Pathology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Amir A. Rafii, MD, Otolaryngology, Larrabee Center for Facial Plastic Surgery
Roy J. Simms, MD, Yakima Pediatric Associates, Inc.
Karen E. Aitken, ARNP, Endocrinology, Children’s

Seminar: "Dwarfs in Perspective"

The Little People of America (LPA) National Conference, which will be held at the Doubletree Hotel in SeaTac, will feature a seminar called “Dwarfs in Perspective” on Sunday, July 1, from 9 a.m. to noon.

The seminar will feature medical, surgical and genetics specialists, a primary care provider, and an individual with a dwarfing condition. Dr. Michael Goldberg, director of the skeletal dysplasia program at Children’s, will moderate the seminar.

The seminar is open to all LPA conference attendees and local providers. For more information, visit the Little People of America site.

Speakers include:

Rich Pauli, MD, PhD, professor of medical genetics and pediatrics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Deborah Krakow, MD, faculty physician, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, University of California Los Angeles
Michael Ain, MD, assistant professor, Division of Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery and Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University
William Mackenzie, chairman of Orthopedics, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children and clinical assistant professor, Thomas Jefferson University
Laura Zirpolo Stout, director of Financial Services, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts (patient perspective)

Grand Rounds for Children's 100th Anniversary

On May 31, Grand Rounds will feature Dr. John Neff, director of the Children’s Center for Children with Special Needs, who will present “History of Children’s Hospitals and the Care of Children, a Peripatetic and Amateur Approach.”

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.