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MARCH 2015

 

This spring and summer there will be many occasions for us to make a difference for children. This month I am sharing opportunities that you may find interesting. Please join me for Doctor's Day on Saturday, March 21, at the Children's Museum in Jackson. May is National Arthritis Month and our pediatric rheumatology  care team has plans to serve more children and families. Read more in the Division Spotlight. Long before HB 389 made its way to state lawmakers, Dr. Nan Frascogna was helping teens see the consequences of distracted driving. Read about the impact she is making in the Research Spotlight. Are you planning to attend the Challenges in Pediatric Gastroenterology CME course next month? The Education Spotlight describes how faculty members are impacting healthcare literacy for medical students, practitioners and consumers.  This issue wraps up introductions to three new providers, an update on legislative bills related to healthcare for children; and a request for your help with future story ideas.

Sincerely,

eventsSPRING EVENTS

 

   

   

 

   

   

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Division Spotlight
Division of Pediatric Rheumatology

There will be more opportunities for the pediatric rheumatology care team to serve families and clinicians.  According to Dr. Linda Ray, division director, she is working with Children's leadership on plans for outreach clinics in Hattiesburg and Grenada. "We hope to become a trusted ally for local clinicians who may be attending to patients with auto-immune diseases," says Ray.  "We can manage referrals from pediatric specialties such as dermatology, gastroenterology, hematology, nephrology, neurology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, orthopaedics and pulmonology," she adds.  

 

In the last eighteen months the division has grown to include two physicians and one nurse practitioner. Dr. Nina Washington joined the practice and faculty in September 2013 and Lydia Walters joined the practice in October 2014. As a result, they have improved access to care and education for patients and their families. "Rheumatic diseases can be complex and can evolve over time. Quite a bit of detective work goes into identifying the problem and designing individualized treatment programs," says Ray.

 

The trio agrees that the best outcomes are initiated through early diagnosis and treatment. During a typical office visit they gather various data from patients to arrive at a diagnosis. "If a child has a rheumatic disorder or some other autoimmune disease, the symptoms will not totally resolve without treatment.  However, important clues for diagnosis can show up in the physical exam and blood work that we order," says Washington.  
 

May is National Arthritis Month and is focused on raising awareness about rheumatic disorders. While it is common for patients and their families to learn about their disorders and medications during clinic time, the care team feels it is equally important to do more. "We would love to do programs specifically for children in Mississippi," says Ray, who will be working with parents and children at an out of state summer camp. Jambalaya Jubilee is a weekend retreat for children with arthritis and other rheumatic diseases. Children participate in age appropriate activities and their parents go to workshops where they receive education and support from rheumatologists, psychologists and social workers.  

 

As plans for regional outreach clinics take shape, the care team is positioning themselves to make a significant difference in how Children's serves patients and families now and into the future. Walters, the division nurse practitioner brings specialized knowledge and credentials that are literally helping to extend the reach of the rheumatology practice. "In addition to seeing patients in clinic, she is partnering with Dr. Washington and myself to eliminate delays in assessment and treatment and to customize patient care. She's doing a great job," says Ray. 

Read more about our specialists, make appointments by clicking on their names and visit their website often

 
Ray

 
Linda Ray, M.D., completed medical school, residency training and an ambulatory fellowship at UMMC. She had rheumatology fellowship training at the University of Texas at Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and returned to UMMC in 1992 to specialize in pediatric rheumatology.





Nina Washington, M.D., completed medical school at UMMC where she was a Barksdale Scholar. She completed the pediatric residency program at University of Chicago and then had rheumatology fellowship training at Stanford University Medical Center. She has extensive knowledge about diagnosing and treating rheumatic disorders such as joint pain, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, juvenile dermatomyositis, vasculitis and periodic fever disorders.


Lydia Walters, CFNP, earned the masters degree from The University of Southern Mississippi School of Nursing. She has completed a rheumatology clinical care course and participated in the American College of Rheumatology meeting in Boston, MA. She is available to evaluate and treat patients.


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Education Spotlight
Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology


During morning rounds at Children's, all eyes are on Dr. Phyllis Bishop, professor of pediatric gastroenterology. She is responding to questions from medical students about orders for a hospitalized patient who recently received a multivisceral transplant of the liver, intestine and pancreas.

 

The Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology contributes to the University's education mission by impacting healthcare here in Mississippi and beyond. With a mixture of elbow grease and popular internet technologies, the faculty's reach extends well beyond the borders of the Jackson campus.

 

"We are educating tomorrow's healthcare providers today," says Division Chief and Professor Neelesh Tipnis, M.D. "Our charge is to develop and participate in efforts that impact healthcare literacy for students, residents, fellows, faculty, community providers, fellow gastroenterologists and healthcare consumers. Reaching the educational goals for each group of learners requires unique and varied methods of communication and teaching styles,"  says Tipnis. 

 

Since Tipnis' arrival in the fall of 2013, the division's faculty has grown to include five physicians, three nurses, and one nurse practitioner.

 

"We use multiple forums to meet the educational goals of our learners. For example, bedside rounds with Socratic teaching methods, case discussions and didactic lectures are used as traditional methods to transfer knowledge to students and residents at Children's of Mississippi," he says.

 

Internet technologies like webcasts and distance learning are being used to meet the needs of consumers who want learning "on-demand". Recently, Dr. Phyllis Bishop delivered a lecture on celiac disease for the UMMC Telehealth Lecture Series. Tipnis produced and published a four-part webcast on Esophageal Motility Disorders for the North American Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition YouTube channel. Find links to these lectures by clicking here.

   

Each year, the division hosts a continuing medical education event that draws practitioners from around the state. The event focuses on conundrums faced in managing common gastrointestinal disorders. The Challenges in Pediatric Gastroenterology CME course is scheduled for next month. Click here to register. Last month,  Dr. Michael Nowicki, professor of pediatric gastroenterology, traveled to San Antonio, TX to moderate the AAP PREP course which features case-based sessions, hot topics, and visual diagnosis components related to the latest information on clinical practice.

 

Faculty members are preparing for a new fellowship training program that is aimed to start in July 2016. Dr. Uwe Blecker and Dr. Sophie Lanciers will lead the program, training the next generation of pediatric gastroenterologists. Shanda Sandridge, division nurse practitioner, is working with fellow nurses to develop educational tools to help their colleagues at Children's with gastrostomy tube management.

 

"Our faculty members serve as reviewers for prominent national journals such as Pediatrics and Journal of Pediatrics to name a few," says Tipnis. He and six other world-renowned pediatric gastroenterologists will revise and publish the current guidelines on gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) next year. Healthcare consumers and practitioners can also look forward to a new video-blog series, according to Tipnis. 

 

Click here to send an email request for more information about the division.    

 

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Research Spotlight                                        
Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine

 
Teens meet with Nan Frascogna, M.D., for a mock trauma demonstration in the ER at Children's Hospital.

During the current legislative session lawmakers are deciding about House Bill 389, which seeks to prohibit texting and social networking while driving. Dr. Nan Frascogna, assistant professor of pediatric emergency medicine is encouraging teens to open their eyes to the realities of distracted driving.  "Speeding, texting while driving and failing to wear seat belts are among the factors that land patients involved in motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) in the emergency room," she says.

 

Drivers IMPACT, launched in 2011, is designed for young drivers and uses an eight-hour interactive course to arm participants with information about the factors that increase the risk of MVCs.  The program is distinguished from traditional defensive driving courses because it incorporates the National Safety Council's four-hour defensive driving curriculum and includes a clinical component in which participants:

  • see a mock trauma demonstration
  • talk and interact with an ED physician or nurse
  • tour the Emergency Department, helipad, and Intensive Care Unit
  • talk and interact with a MVC survivor
  • hear a presentation on MVC injuries & recovery 

 

Frascogna and her team use surveys to collect data on program participants. Pretest and posttest instruments measure attitudes about their driving practices before the course and then again at the conclusion of the course. Team members review participants' public driving records at intervals after the course to monitor for actual changes in driving practices.      

 

Frascogna and staff from Children's Safety and Community Outreach and Mississippi Safety Services collaborate to bring Drivers IMPACT to teens. "The course can potentially prevent serious injuries by exposing the realities of dangerous driving and providing education on the skills needed to become a safe driver," says Frascogna. They are currently working to expand the IMPACT course to other trauma centers throughout Mississippi.

 

Send an email to Nan Frascogna, M.D., for more information about this program.

 

 
providersNew Specialists                        
Request an appointment by phone or online.

Children's of Mississippi continues to add specialists to the staff to meet the growing needs of our patients. Call the dedicated referral line to make an appointment. New providers in divisions marked with an asterisk ,"*", staff our inpatient units and/or do not accept appointments. Learn more

 
 
Provider 
Division 
Jennifer Humphries, NNP
Amy Omara, NP
Oscar Rodriguez, M.D. 
Newborn Medicine*
Newborn Medicine*
Pulmonary 
MSAAPMSAAP Legislative Update

Mississippi American Academy of Pediatrics (MSAAP) has successfully lead a multi-year effort to create a law that bans texting while driving. With your continued help, more strides can be made for children during this session.   

 

Senate Transportation Chair Willie Simmons has asked for evidence that the medical community supports the proposed legislation in House Bill 389 (HB 389). Every step of the way pediatric faculty, residents and students responded. Dr. Claude Brunson, president of Mississippi Medical Association, was also instrumental in getting the bill passed. Governor Bryant voiced his support of the bill and promised to sign it.

 

HB 389 will prohibit texting while driving and levy a $25 fine the first year. The fine is raised to $100 the following year. Texting bans in other states help lower teen highway deaths and anticipations are that they will do the same in our state.

 

HB 910 will make a compound drug known as 17P more accessible to Medicaid recipients. Reducing infant mortality is an initiative of the Mississippi Department of Health. The agency's website lists preterm birth among the leading causes of infant death in the state. The pharmaceutical company that markets Makena, a competing medication, opposes the bill and is promising to lower the cost of their brand-name drug to get legislators to kill the bill.

 

The Mississippi Hospital Association is sponsoring two bills that may allow it to create a provider-sponsored managed health care plan that could compete for a Mississippi Coordinated Access Contract. The details of the plan are still not public, but predictions are that it should roll in-patient care into Division of Medicaid managed care and provide hospitals some relief for the loss of the upper payment limit.

 

By July 2015, Medicaid plans to roll 300,000 children into managed care from the fee-for-service Medicaid program. Families are expected to receive letters informing them about the change this month. 

  

E-mail Lynn Evans with Questions. 

suggestionsSuggest a Story

We want to hear from you!

  

If you are a faculty member, staff member or a student in pediatrics, you can help. 

 

  • publishing a paper in a professional journal,
  • presenting findings at a scientific meeting,
  • treating an unusual or interesting case,
  • conducting or planning interesting research,
  • receiving a prominent award or honor,  or
  • someone external to the department who is collaborating with a colleague inside the department in one of the ways listed above. 

 

Click here to leave your suggestions.

 

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