June 18, 1998

Currently there are a number of consulting firms and other visitors on campus who are involved in a variety of projects. Their presence, in my opinion, is an indicator of our continuing efforts as an organization to enhance our services within our competitive health care environment and to prepare for the future. Following is a brief summary of the various visitors on campus and their purpose.

The Deloitte and Touche consulting firm is working with us on updating our strategic plan. July 7 is the target date for completion of their fact-finding portion of the process. Our goal is, with the assistance of Deloitte and Touche and the strategic planning committee, to submit a draft proposal for consideration by the MUSC Board of Trustees in August 1998. (We hope to have final resolution of the strategic plan by Oct. 1998.)

The architectural firm of Perkins and Will is on campus working on a long-term master facilities plan for the university and Medical Center. Representatives from the firm are currently gathering information on space requirements. The target date for completion of the master facilities plan is spring of 1999.

Representatives from KPMG Peat Marwick also are on campus at the request of the State Budget and Control Board to study MUSC and provide options on how best to structure our organization and to identify cost savings opportunities. (KPMG Peat Marwick has also recently been involved in assessing other state government entities.) The firm’s consultants will look at how we operate, how similar academic health centers in other states operate and how our structure could change to better serve the interests of the state, the university and the Medical Center.

Lastly, members of the Legislative Audit Council will be on campus through December at the request of several state legislators who want an LAC evaluation of such things as the relationship between MUSC and University Medical Associates. More information on that audit and information needed from various areas will be provided as it proceeds.

W. Stuart Smith, Interim Vice President for Clinical Operations Interim CEO, MUSC Medical Center

Announcements

ClinLAN transition takes form

• Bill Rust, manager of Healthcare Network Services in the Center for Computing and Information Technology, introduced a new form that will be used by all employees when they convert to ClinLAN95. The form serves as a network account application and also as a way for employees to request the specific applications they will need above and beyond those automatically loaded onto their computer. The form requires a manager’s signature to approve the installation of ClinLAN95 and any requested applications.

MUSC Recruiting and Appointing Top Academic Leaders - Update From Dr. Ray Greenberg

• Raymond S. Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., vice president for academic affairs and provost, spoke to the management team June 16 on recent appointments and recruitments of senior academic leaders. Greenberg said the university has been able to recruit a number of highly qualified, nationally recognized scientists and clinicians because of the high quality of those already here at the university and the increasing national recognition of the institution, including the Medical Center.

Recent appointments and recruitments include:

• Joanne M. Conroy, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine. Conroy received her M.D. and completed a residency and chief residency at MUSC. Conroy, who has been on the department’s faculty since 1983, served as director of its residency program from 1987 to 1995, vice chairman of the department in 1992 and interim department chair in 1996. Being the first woman elected president of the medical staff is one of the many honors she has received.
• Susan I. DesHarnais, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Health Administration and Policy. DesHarnais received an MPH in medical care administration and her doctorate in medical care organization from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. She held the Slee Chair in Quality Improvement for the Department of Health Policy and Administration from 1995 to 1998. DesHarnais previously served on the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and as executive director of the Commission on Professional and Hospital Activities at that university’s health services research center. DesHarnais’ research includes work in evaluating the delivery of care with risk adjustment for the illness severity of patients a health care system serves.
• Stephen J. Haines, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery. Haines received his M.D. from the University of Vermont. He completed his neurological surgery residency at the University of Pittsburgh. Haines has received a number of national honors and awards and he continues at MUSC as the principal investigator for a large National Institutes of Health multicenter study comparing percutaneous discectomy to conventional techniques. He previously held faculty positions at the University of Minnesota.
• Yusuf A. Hannun, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the first occupant of the Ralph F. Hirschmann Chair of Biomedical Research. Hannun received his M.D. from the American University of Beirut and completed a fellowship in hematology/oncology and did postgraduate work in chemistry at Duke University, where he also held faculty positions. He has received a number of national honors and currently holds six grants, including two from the National Institutes of Health. He will contribute not only in the development of our biochemistry department but also in the further development of Hollings Cancer Center.
• William J. Hueston, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine. Hueston received his M.D. from Case Western Reserve University, and he completed his residency at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was previously on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and directed the residency program of University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire. Hueston has been instrumental in overseeing the relocation of the family medicine residency program and expanding the clinical and research base of the department.
• Peter W. Kalivas, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Physiology. Kalivas received his doctorate in pharmacology from the University of Washington at Seattle. He did postgraduate work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has received the Smith-Kline-Beecham Award for Research Excellence and the Daniel H. Efron Award form the American College of Neuropharmacology. Kalivas previously served on the faculty at Washington State University at Pullman and also as the director of its Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program. Kalivas will lead the development of MUSC’s neurosciences programs and contribute to the further development of our nationally recognized Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs.
• Marilyn Laken, Ph.D., associate dean for research and practice in the College of Nursing. Laken received an M.S. in nursing and maternal child health from Boston University. She received an M.A. in anthropology and her doctorate in biological anthropology from Wayne State University where she also received the Outstanding Scientist Award from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Laken, who previously directed community health programs at Wayne State, is active in community outreach activities and will be coordinating the 28 funded Healthy South Carolina initiatives.
• Lina Obeid, M.D., professor, Department of Medicine, and Boyle Chair in Geriatrics. Obeid received her M.D. from the American University of Beirut. She received the Clinical Investigator Award from the National Institute of Aging and was the Paul Beeson Physician Faculty Scholar from 1995-1998. Obeid previously held faculty positions at Duke University’s Division of Geriatrics and Department of Cell Biology. Dr. Obeid will be working on the development of MUSC’s clinical and research efforts on aging.
• Kenneth J. Roozen, Ph.D., executive director, Foundation for Research Development. Roozen received his M.A. from the University of South Dakota at Vermillion and his doctorate at the University of Tennessee’s Oak Ridge Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. He received the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine and Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship Award in 1983-1984. Roozen comes to MUSC from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His positions there included executive vice president and provost, dean and co-director of the graduate school and executive director of the UAB Research Foundation. Roozen will help promote new relationships between MUSC scientists and the private sector, fostering the transfer of intellectual property for societal benefit and commercial value.
• C. Frank Starmer Jr., Ph.D., associate provost for information technology. Starmer received his M.S. in electrical engineering from Duke University and his doctorate in biomathematics and bioengineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Patras in Greece. At Duke University, Starmer was funded by the National Institutes of Health for research in electrophysiology and also played a key role in developing the nationally recognized Duke Cardiac Data Book.
• James E. Warmoth, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Warmoth received his M.D. from MUSC and completed his residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Emory University. Warmoth was one of only three recipients of the Academic Physiatrist Society’s Award for Contribution. He also has received the Disabled American Veterans Performance and Recognition Awards and the MUSC Faculty Excellence Award. He has served on the MUSC faculty since 1986 and was the acting chair prior to his current appointment.

Positive Patient Satisfaction Results

• Karen Pellegrin, Ph.D., director of quality management, gave the management team results from the latest University HealthSystem Consortium/Picker Institute patient satisfaction survey. This survey, conducted every six months, lets us know how the Medical Center’s adult and pediatric inpatient services compare to those of other academic medical centers that participate in the survey and also to nonacademic hospitals.
• The survey asks patients how they would rate their care overall and also whether they would recommend the Medical Center to a family member or friend. It also tracks how patients feel about different areas of service (such as coordination of care, information and education provided, confidence and trust, and physical comfort) and a number of amenities, including patient rooms, food service, equipment and facilities and staff services.
• The number of patients who gave adult inpatient services an excellent rating went from 44 percent in the August 1997 survey to 50 percent in the February 1998 survey. In August 1997, 48 percent of patients rated pediatric inpatient services as excellent. This jumped to 65 percent in February 1998. For both the adult and pediatric surveys, these overall ratings in February 1998 were significantly better than the UHC comparison group.
• In the most recent survey, 79 percent of adult inpatients said they would definitely recommend MUSC to others; 83 percent would definitely recommend pediatric inpatient services. Again, for both adults and pediatrics, MUSC was significantly better than the UHC comparison on this indicator.
• On the adult survey, one area where we have seen marked improvement is in the availability of parking. In August 1996, 23 percent of those surveyed reported problems with the availability of parking. That percentage dropped to 12 in February 1998. Other relative strengths identified in the adult survey include continuity and transition, emotional support, telephone, television, bathing areas, the courtesy of staff members who transport patients to and from rooms, meal quality and room quality.
• The most striking improvements are in pediatrics. Significant trends include a drop in the number of problems reported in many areas, including noise levels, physical comfort, coordination of care and the partnership between families and clinicians. Relative to the UHC comparison group, MUSC pediatric inpatient services were rated significantly better on all dimensions and on many of the amenities.
• The survey helps us improve further by pinpointing areas that drive overall satisfaction (the “hot buttons” for patients) and areas where we have a 20 percent or more complaint rate. Those areas on the adult side are coordination of care, emotional support, continuity and transition, and information and education provided. On the pediatric side, confidence and trust, information and education provided, the perceived partnership between families and clinicians, surgery-specific and continuity and transition.
• Pellegrin said that while it is not possible to pinpoint exactly what has led to our improving scores, it is clear the emphasis on improving our service to patients and all the activities surrounding that are paying off.