Children’s University Medical Group (CUMG)
CUMG Mission
Children’s University Medical Group (CUMG) is the non-profit pediatric group practice established to support the academic, research and clinical missions of its corporate members, University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM) and Seattle Children’s Hospital (Seattle Children’s). CUMG physicians are committed to preventing, treating and eliminating pediatric disease while training the next generation of pediatric physicians.
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CUMG employs the physician members who are appointed UWSOM pediatric faculty physicians, and provide services across the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) region, as well as other approved clinical sites of practice.
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CUMG physicians have the opportunity to provide care at sites of practice approved by the CEO of Seattle Children’s and the CEO of UW Medicine, who is also the executive vice president for medical affairs and dean of the University of Washington School of Medicine.
General sites of practice
All CUMG physicians are able to provide care at the following general sites of practice:
- Seattle Children’s Hospital
- Harborview Medical Center
- University of Washington Medical Center
Other sites of practice
Physicians interested in providing care outside of the major institutions listed above may request permission through a site of practice request. Types of sites may include:
- Summer camps
- School athletic events
- International medical center locations
- Telepsychiatry
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CUMG President Dr. Jack Salerno chairs the board of directors, whose role is to manage the affairs of CUMG, subject to the approval of the corporate members. The board is comprised of 14 voting CUMG physician members and advised by the non-physician representatives from Seattle Children's, UWSOM and CUMG administration. Niurka Vazquez, Executive Director, leads the business operations.
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The CUMG board of directors is comprised of 14 voting CUMG physician members. Eleven are appointed due to their leadership roles within Seattle Children's and UWSOM, and three are at-large members elected by CUMG faculty members. There are also three non-voting ex-officio physician members appointed to the board by the corporate members because of their particular expertise.
The board is advised by non-physician representatives from Seattle Children’s, UWSOM and CUMG administration. The role of the board is to manage the affairs of CUMG subject to the approval of the corporate members.
Faculty members:
- Jack Salerno, MD – Cardiology, CUMG President
- J. Elaine-Marie Albert, MD – Critical Care, CUMG Vice President
- Randolph Otto, MD – Radiology, CUMG Secretary/Treasurer
- Bhawna Arya, MD – Cardiology
- Mark Cain, MD – Urology
- Andre Dick, MD, MPH – Transplant Center
- Jeremy Geiduschek, MD – Anesthesiology
- Kenneth Gow, MD – General Surgery
- Soo-Jeong Kim, MD – Psychiatry
- Ken Gow, MD – General Surgery
- Amy Lee, MD – Neurosurgery
- Ndidiamaka Musa, MD – Cardiac Critical Care
- Stephanie Randle, MD, MS – Neurology
- Leslie Walker-Harding, MD – Pediatrics
- Burt Yaszay, MD – Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
Ex-officio members
- Joseph Flynn, MD – Nephrology, Chair, PEBC
Administrative member representatives
- Suzanne Beitel – Seattle Children’s SVP, Chief Financial Officer
- Sheryl Forrester – Compliance Officer
- David Green – UWSOM Associate Dean and Chief Financial Officer
- Ruth McDonald, MD – Seattle Children's VP and Associate Chief Medical Officer, Chief Medical Operations Officer
- Jeff Ojemann, MD – Interim Chief Medical Officer
- Lisa Phelps – Manager, Coding and Compliance
- Mike Tribble – CUMG Legal Counsel
- Niurka Vazquez – Executive Director
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There are several committees led by board members that focus on specific aspects of CUMG business.
CUMG/UWP Joint Retirement and Benefits Committee
The CUMG/UWP Joint Retirement and Benefits Committee, led by Dr. Howard Jeffries, provides oversight of the CUMG and UWP practice plan benefits packages, including evaluating and making recommendations to adopt, terminate or modify retirement and other benefits plans to ensure competitive offerings.
Finance Committee
TThe CUMG Finance Committee, led by Dr. Jeremy Geiduschek, is responsible for providing oversight, advice, and recommendations to the CUMG Leadership Group and Board regarding key CUMG financial activities including, but not limited to, the annual audit, annual budget, finance-related policies, investments, and contracted administrative services.
Physician Education, Billing and Compliance Committee
The Physician Education, Billing and Compliance Committee assures that there is a fully compliant structure of education, billing, coding, documentation and compliance and provides CUMG members the opportunity to bill for the full services they provide. This committee, led by Dr. Joseph Flynn, acts as advisors to the board on compliance issues, recommends compliance policies and procedures and coordinates compliance efforts with Seattle Children’s and UWSOM.
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The CUMG administrative office provides group practice operations services in support of the CUMG faculty members, Seattle Children’s and UWSOM, including:
- Payroll and benefits for faculty that receive pay through CUMG
- Coding and charge capture for professional fees
- Clinical practice compliance training and audits
- Oversight of payor contracting and enrollment through Seattle Children’s
- Financial reporting and budgeting, collaborating with Seattle Children’s and UWSOM
Payor contracting and professional fee billing are provided through Seattle Children's and UW Physicians (UWP).
