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Currents To MUSC Employees: The Yearly Employee Support (YES) campaign recently was kicked off with Perry Halushka, M.D., Ph.D., dean, College of Graduate Studies and professor of pharmacology and medicine, as this year’s campaign chair. The MUSC goal is $235,000 and the campaign is expected to last until May.  As in the past, employees have a wide array of programs from which to choose to direct their funds. New this year is the opportunity to target gifts to meet specific Medical Center (Hospital) needs, such as staff development programs, medical equipment, the Palmetto Pavilion or Clinical Psychiatry. The Development Office has distributed brochures with instructions to employees. If anyone needs additional information, please contact Shelly Sinclair at 792-1973. Your support of MUSC is of great value and is very much appreciated.  At the April 10 communications meeting, I announced some organizational changes currently under way. Chris Malanuk’s expanded duties include directing the Strategic Planning Office and oversight of Risk Management, Quality Improvement and the Medical Staff Office. We hope soon to announce the appointment of a new risk manager. Also, a search committee has completed its work to select a new director of legal affairs for the Hospital Authority, as mentioned in a recent Currents. The individual selected will be announced soon.  It is important to note that while we have added some new positions to implement the Hospital Authority, the structure for Hospital Administration remains streamlined. We have the same number of administrators as proposed by the Ernst and Young consulting group for the 1994 change management organizational model, although duties among the administrators have been shuffled to meet changing needs.  Thank you very much. W. Stuart Smith Vice President for Clinical Operations and Executive Director, MUSC Medical Center     Call Center is important marketing tool for MUSC Hope Colyer, manager of the Call Center, up dated the management team on services provided by the Call Center, a component of the Marketing Department. The MUSC Referral Call Center, Health Connection and MEDULINE work to assist with patient referrals, ensure access to MUSC healthcare services and to serve as a resource for health information. The Referral Call Center is the primary access point for new patient business. MUSC Health Connection is the consumer referral line. New patients or those seeking the services of MUSC need only to call one number – (800) 424-MUSC or 792-1414 in the Charleston area. The call center also has two nurses available to talk with patients to help in making appropriate referrals. MEDULINE is the physician-to-physician referral line. South Carolina and out-of-state physicians who want to refer patients or consult with an MUSC specialist will be connected to that person through MEDULINE. “It’s all about servicing well those physicians who refer their patients to us,” Colyer said. The MEDULINE number is (800) 922-5250 or 792-2200 in the Charleston area. MUSC’s referral service receives substantially more calls than the average call center nationally, Colyer said. In year 2000, MUSC Health Connection received 100,000 calls compared to the national average of 16,000 calls. MEDULINE received 61,000 calls, compared to 7,500 nationally during year 2000.   Colyer encouraged departments to contact the Referral Call Center when changes or new developments occur so the center is up to date, and also so the MUSC website information is current. Employee billing training sessions set The Medical Center Compliance Office will begin holding new employee billing orientation sessions every other Monday (each Monday after general orientation) beginning Monday, May 14. Sessions will be held in 2 West Amphitheater from 8:30 - 10:30 a.m.  No prior registration is necessary. All new Medical Center employees who require billing training as part of the Medical Center’s institutional compliance agreement now have three options: 1. Monday new employee billing orientation 2. Clinical services orientation (only employees who attend the entire orientation – Wednesday, Thursday and Friday – will receive credit) 3. Departmental billing training sessions that have been pre-approved by the Medical Center Compliance Office. All new Medical Center employees who require billing training must receive this training within 30 days of hire. Questions about this new orientation session or any other aspect of compliance training for Medical Center employees should be directed to the Compliance Office at 792-6128 or 792-6169.