N E W S F R O M T H E R E G I O N ’ S P R E M I E R A C A D E M I C M E D I C A L C E N T E R

ADVANCES JULY 30, 2015

Interventional Pain ManagementProgram Spotlight

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Hospital continues as No. 1 in Kansas City and in Kansas

For the second year in a row, The University of Kansas Hospital is nationally ranked in all 12 data-driven adult medical and surgical specialty lists of U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals” 2015-16.

The hospital also earned Best Hospital in Kansas City for the sixth year in a row and Best Hospital in Kansas for the fourth year in a row. The hospital has been awarded both honors every year they have been offered.

“We made our first ‘Best Hospitals’ list in 2007 and have been listed every year since – the only area hospital that can make that claim,” said Bob Page, presi-dent and CEO. “To be 12 for 12 in the data-driven lists two years in a row shows a consistency in delivering quality patient care across all specialties.”

U.S. News evaluates approxi-mately 5,000 U.S. hospitals for its annual “Best Hospitals” lists. This year 137 were nationally ranked in at least one specialty. Just 16, including our hospital, were nationally ranked in all 12 adult medical and surgical categories.

“These rankings are a tribute to

the dedication of our physicians, nurses and other healthcare profes-sionals,” said Tammy Peterman, RN, executive vice president, chief operating officer and chief nursing officer. “Our hospital is a special place where patients know they will receive exceptional care from a dedicated team.”

12 for 12 in ‘U.S. News’ rankings – again!

By the Numbers: National RankingsU.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals” list has continued to recognize The University of Kansas Hospital for delivering high-quality care and making a difference in patients’ lives.

Number of our hospital’s specialties nationally ranked by U.S. News

Elite few named in all 12 categoriesOf approximately 5,000 U.S. hospitals, just 137 are ranked in at least one category.

Barely 11 percent of those are ranked in all 12 medical and surgical specialties.

To suggest a By the Numbers, email Advances@kumc.edu.

16 U.S. hospitals, including our hospital, ranked in all 12 medical and surgical specialties 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

1 13

6 6

10 912 12

6 Consecutive years our hospital has been named “Best Hospital” in Kansas City

National rankings• Cancer – Fifth straight year

on list• Cardiology & Heart

Surgery – Ninth straight year on list

• Diabetes & Endocrinology – Fourth year on list

• Ear, Nose & Throat – Seventh year on list

• Gastroenterology & GI Surgery – Fifth straight year on list

• Geriatrics – Fifth year on list

• Gynecology – Second year on list

• Nephrology – Seventh year on list

• Neurology & Neurosurgery – Fourth straight year on list

• Orthopedics – Second year on list

• Pulmonology – Sixth straight year on list

• Urology – Fourth year on list

Events Yoga in chairs – This yoga

class works the joints and muscles to increase flexibility, strength, balance and circula-tion. It goes beyond typical exercises by encouraging quiet reflection, proper breathing and better posture. The session is 10-11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 5, at The University of Kansas Cancer Center-Lee’s Summit. Call 913-574-0900 to register.

Jin Shin Jyutsu for the heart – Learn simple Jin Shin Jyutsu techniques to ease heart dis-comfort, pain, rapid heartbeat, heart palpitations and to lower blood pressure, reduce stress, increase energy levels and decrease anxiety. The class is 4-5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 5, at Turning Point: The Center for Hope and Healing in Leawood. Call 913-574-0900 to register.

Party with a purpose – Tickets are on sale for the 14th annual Treads & Threads, which is Friday, Sept. 11, at Kansas Speedway. Enjoy cuisine from more than 20 top area restau-rants, a concert by Barenaked Ladies and dancing to the Emerald City Band. Proceeds support The University of Kansas Cancer Center’s lung cancer program and surgical oncology in the Cambridge North Tower. Go to treadsandthreads.org for details and tickets.

Stroke Walk – Registration has started for the Stroke Walk, and The University of Kansas Hospital again is forming a team. The annual event, which benefits the American Stroke Foundation, is Saturday, Sept. 12, at Theis Park, just east of the Country Club Plaza. The event includes live music, a pancake breakfast, a Kids Zone and more. To register for our team online:• Go to americanstroke.org• Select “The Stroke Walk” • Select “Click to Find Teams Here” • Select “The University of

Kansas Hospital” from the drop-down menu

• Select “Join This Team”

Deadline to register is Sept. 1.

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT

Taking pain management to a new levelA team of anesthesiologists at

The University of Kansas Hospital is using innovative procedures to ease patients’ most extreme pain.

Known as interventional pain management, the outpatient treatments represent an emerging field within anesthesiology that focus mainly on patients’ spines. Devices are inserted to administer electrical currents or pain medica-tion directly into the spinal cord area, blocking pain signals and curbing the need for medication.

The procedures are especially helpful for cancer patients suf-fering from large tumors, which can compress nearby organs and impinge on nerves. “The pain from an aggressive tumor is the most intense pain we treat in our practice,” said Dawood Sayed, MD, part of the four-person team of anesthesiologists who specialize in interventional pain control. “It’s 10-fold more intense.”

Anesthesiology Chair Talal Khan, MD, said the department’s interventional pain management team is especially advanced in the field, due in part to the wide variety of illnesses the hospital treats. In addition to cancer, the team frequently sees patients with

chronic pain who have tried other healthcare facilities first.

Consider the intrathecal “pain pump” technique. The team performs 50 to 100 each year, more than any other U.S. hospital. The physician implants a small pump and catheter in the patient, which send pain medications into the intrathecal space near the spinal cord.

The hospital also is a pioneer of the STAR (Spinal Tumor Ablation with Radiofrequency) system, the only one in the region. Physicians use radiofre-quency to burn away a tumor near a patient’s spine. Once the tumor is treated, the remaining

space is filled with medical-grade cement to stabilize the spine.

The anesthesiologists offer traditional pain management treatments, such as nerve blocks and cortisone injections. Yet some patients need more advanced therapies, or they are too old or too sick for surgery.

For Sayed, the idea of alleviat-ing someone’s misery – especially from cancer or other long-term condition – through noninvasive treatment provides tremendous gratification. “When you have that type of pain, nothing else matters,” he said. “Just seeing the great improvement in patients’ lives is so satisfying.”

EXPOSURE

The M1s are back! University of Kansas School of Medicine last week welcomed 211 first-year students, known as M1s. During Orientation Week they participate in Community Service day, making minor home repairs and helping at nonprofit agencies around Wyandotte County. An Cao (left) and Britney Briscoe sorted supplies at Giving the Basics. Another highlight of the week is the White Coat Ceremony (far right), when students receive their medical coats and begin their next four years of medical education. Beaming White Coat recipients included Mathew Moreno (from left), Dihan Thilakaratne and Luis Barboza.

Dawood Sayed, MD (far right), last week conducted a rare STAR procedure, which uses radiofrequency waves to destroy, or ablate, a tumor in a patient’s spine.

Study: Exercise boosts brain healthNew research at the University of Kansas Medical Center

indicates older adults can improve brain function by raising their fitness level.

Jeffrey Burns, MD, neurology professor and co-director of the KU Alzheimer’s Disease Center, led a six-month trial with adults ages 65 and older who showed no signs of cognitive decline. The results were published last month in the journal PLOS ONE.

Some participants were placed in a control group that did not have monitored exercise. Others were put into one of three other groups – exercising the recommended 150 minutes per week, 75 minutes per week or 225 minutes per week.

All groups who exercised saw some benefit, and those who exercised more saw more benefits, particularly in improved visual-spatial processing. Exercise participants also showed an increase in overall attention levels and ability to concentrate.

“Basically, the more exercise you did, the more benefit to the brain you saw,” Burns said. “Any aerobic exercise was good, and more is better.”

The research also indicated the intensity of the exercise ap-peared to matter more than the duration. “For improved brain function, the results suggest it’s not enough just to exercise more,” said Eric Vidoni, PT, PhD, research associate professor of neurology and a lead author of the article. “You have to do it in a way that bumps up your overall fitness level.”

Scientists at the KU Alzheimer’s Disease Center have focused on the relationship between exercise and brain metabolism for years. They also are studying how exercise may help prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer’s.

Our ‘border showdown’ giving champs The University of Missouri Health System in Columbia this

summer challenged The University of Kansas Hospital to a “border showdown,” to see which hospital could raise the most money for solid organ and corneal transplant programs.

The results weren’t even close. MU: $126. Our hospital: $2,255.

Unit 64 accounted for $1,561 of the money raised. The unit sold raffle tickets for a gift basket filled with beach-themed items donated by staff.

Family and friends of Keith Briscoe, a liver transplant recipient, bought $500 worth of raffle tickets. The family, deservedly, won the raffle and gift basket.

The money will be used to buy roses for the Donate Life float in the 2016 Tournament of Roses Parade. (The hospital buys a rose for each donor family from the past year.) The donations also will support the hospital’s Rose Ceremony, held each spring to honor donor families at the hospital.

“Congratulations to Unit 64 staff and the Briscoe family, who almost single-handedly ensured the hospital has enough funds to recognize all our organ, tissue and cornea donors this year,” said Courtney Root, Midwest Transplant Network coordinator at our hospital.

New

s Br

iefsIn the News

A recap of recent articles, TV segments and other media coverage of the region’s leading academic medical center

Supporting childhood cancer survivors – Newsweek, July 23. As child-hood cancer survivor rates climb, more healthcare facilities are expanding services to treat the patients’ “late effects,” or secondary illnesses, related to chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Carol Bush, RN, oncology nurse navigator with The University of Kansas Cancer Center, discussed the psychological challenges related to late effects. Survivors also may face fear, anxiety, nutritional challenges, physical disability and financial burdens.

Elbow surgery for young pitchers – KMBC 9 News, July 23. The Royals Jason Vargas isn’t the only local pitcher suffering serious injury; so are many high school players. Royals team physician Vincent Key, MD, an or-thopedic surgeon at The University of Kansas Hospital, said it’s not worth the risk for youngsters to throw excessive fastballs and curves. And every pitch causes wear, like miles on a tire. “Smarter is better. Don’t have these kids playing baseball year-round,” Key said. “They have to have time off.”

Hospital gardens support rejuvenation – The Kansas City Star, July 21. Many area hospitals and medical facilities have installed green spaces the past few years. Research shows nature – walking among it or simply observing – can improve patient recovery and reduce stress. The article includes several photos of the Garden of Infinite Possibilities, part of The University of Kansas Cancer Center’s Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion at the Westwood Campus.

Advances in Interventional Radiology – KCMO Talk Radio, June 27. As part of the “Ask the Doctor” segment, Zachary Collins, MD, discussed interventional radiology procedures at The University of Kansas Hospital. It is one of the nation’s busiest and most advanced IR programs, offering an ever-wider range of noninvasive procedures. Upcoming guests on the radio show (1-2 p.m. Saturdays on FM 103.7 and AM 710) include Amie Jew, MD, and Marc Inciardi, MD, who will answer questions Aug. 22 about breast cancer imaging and surgery. Listen to the shows at mirabilemd.com/ask-doctor-radio-show.

Keith Briscoe (in hat) celebrated with his parents, wife and Unit 64 staff.

ADVANCES

is a biweekly publication produced by:

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Send story ideas to Advances@kumc.edu.

Bob Page, President and CEO The University of Kansas Hospital

Doug Girod, MD, Executive Vice Chancellor University of Kansas Medical Center

Kirk Benson, MD, President The University of Kansas Physicians

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Our People Awards honor nurses’ excel-

lence – The University of Kansas Hospital every spring honors outstanding caregivers with donor-supported awards. The awards were created by grateful patients, families, physicians and staff, often to pay tribute to the memory of loved ones.

Formal ceremonies for two new honors were held this month, both of them created to memorialize former employees who died too soon:

Angela Buisch Award for Excellence in Emergency Department Nursing. Angela Buisch, RN, started as a nurse at our hospital in 1992, spending 12 years saving lives in the ED.

Colleagues say she touched many people, her witty sense of humor and smile lighting up a room. To honor her memory, co-workers established the Angela Buisch Award for Excellence in Emergency Department Nursing.

“Angela was a truly giving person with an unwavering, resilient spirit,” said the ED’s Rick Blevins, RN. “And though she had reason to be discouraged, she always came to work upbeat and happy.”

Hospital leaders presented the inaugural award to Janet Dewey, RN, who has dedicated her entire 30-year nursing career to the hospital. Her ED co-workers say she

embodies the same compassionate care and sense of humor. 

“There is not a day that goes by when I don’t think of Angela,” said Dewey. “We miss her very much, so to receive this award means a lot to me. I am humbled to be the first recipient.”

Jenny West Award for Excellence in Continuum of Care Nursing. Jenny West, RN, helped pioneer the concept of care coordination for the hospital’s acutely ill patients.

During the ceremony unveiling the Jenny West Award for Excellence in Continuum of Care Nursing, speak-ers credited her natural leadership and ability to connect with others.

“Jenny was smart, experienced, careful and she was kind in a way that made a person just feel better,” said Michael Luchi, MD, associate professor in Infectious Diseases. “She had a remarkable gift and set the standard for the rest of us.”

Amy Stewart, RN, one of Jenny’s colleagues in Infectious Diseases, received the inaugural Jenny West Award for Excellence in Continuum of Care Nursing. As an outpatient antibiotic therapy nurse, Stewart cares for patients who are dis-charged on IV antibiotics.

“Amy represents the qualities essential to the management of our patients: She is intelligent, knowl-edgeable, caring, compassionate, comprehensive and of good nature,” one of her nominators wrote. “Amy exemplifies the best qualities of Jenny West.”

One of only a select few in the country ranked in all 12 medical and surgical specialties.

Learn more at kumed.com/rankings.

RankedBest.(Once again.)

© 2015 The University of Kansas Hospital

Matthew Wyatt, MD Anesthesiology

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Khaldoun Haj Mahmoud, MD Internal Medicine/Hospitalist

Andrew Sauer, MD Heart Failure

Mitchell Douglass, MD Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent

Paola Luna, MD Pediatrics/General

Kimberly Carter, MD Internal Medicine

Janet Dewey, RN (left), celebrated with IV Therapy’s Vanessa Oyler, RN.

Amy Stewart, RN, was honored by Infectious Diseases’ Michael Luchi, MD.