Medical DialogueSPRING 2023MEDICAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CORNERKEEPING PHYSICIANS ABREAST OF THE LATEST NEWS AND INFORMATION ATDIGNITY HEALTH – ST. BERNARDINE MEDICAL CENTERPremier of New Medical Staff Newsletter Justin Fu, MDChief of StaffIt is my honor to help introduce Dignity Health – St. Bernardine Medical Center’s new vehicle for communication, Medical Dialogue. With the help of the SoCal Dignity Health Communications Department, it is my hope that you will find this periodical informative and thought provoking. Inside each issue, you will find important information for physicians. Features include topics on quality and safety and highlights from Medical Directors meeting. You’ll also find alerts on documentation improvement and have a chance to see the list of physicians who recently joined our Medical Staff. For those of you who use Tiger Text, you will be pleased to learn that the CommonSpirit Health platform will soon allow multi-org functionality (see page 4). Please take a few minutes to read this issue; your comments and contributions are valuable and greatly encouraged.I’d also like to share some important requests as we prepare for multiple accreditation surveys: • For written notes, please remember to sign, date and include the time. • Physicians are responsible for entering their own orders into the Cerner system; verbal orders should be used infrequently and only used for emergencies. • Please respond to pages or calls from the nursing units in a timely manner.I have now had the pleasure of serving as your Chief of Staff for just over a year, and I am proud of what we, as an organization, have been able to accomplish. In the past few months, SBMC has been recognized by the system as a leader in sepsis care, physician communication, and patient experience. Let me encourage everyone who has Active or Provisional Status to become involved in Medical Staff governance by joining a Medical Staff committee. Contact Ann Flasschoen in the Medical Staff Office at (909) 881-4564 for a list of committees and calendars. On a sadder note, as many of you are aware we lost a peer and colleague in January. For many years, Dr. Gregory Harshbarger was a pillar of the Surgical Services Department of the hospital. Many called him mentor; many more called him friend. In honor of Dr. Harshbarger’s contribution to SBMC and the people of San Bernardino, a memorial fund has been set up. Proceeds from this fund will be used to purchase a memorial plaque that will reside in the Surgical Services area, as well as to benefit the Perioperative area. Donations can be made to: Dignity Health Foundation – Inland Empire, PO Box 2637, San Bernardino, CA 92406, Note: In memory of Dr. Harshbarger. Should you have questions, please contact Rebecca McDaniel at (951) 768-7783.Finally, I take great pride in belonging to St. Bernardine’s Medical Staff where physicians have been spreading humankindness to our community for decades. I thank each and every one of you for your dedication and commitment to providing quality patient care that makes us a beacon of hope here in the Inland Empire.
2 Medical Dialogue Spring 2023Physician of the Year Talal Samaan, MD (left), with Justin Fu, MD, Chief of StaffPhysician Champion of Quality Hari Reddy, MD (right), with Justin Fu, MDPhysician of the Year and Physician Champion of Quality At this past December’s Medical Staff Holiday Party, Jusin Fu, MD, Chief of Staff, proudly announced the honorees of St. Bernardine Medical Center’s Physician Champion of Quality and Physician of the Year. Nominations were evaluated based on the physician’s leadership traits, compassion, collaboration and innovation to improve patient care in the hospital. With over 60 nominations to choose from, it was not an easy task for the Medical Executive sub-committee to select the winners. Congratulations to our honorees.Physician of the Year Talal Samaan, MD, has been a member of the Medical Staff since 2013 and recently completed a term as the Chair of the Medicine Division. Dr. Samaan was also instrumental in increasing the “Physician Communication” component of our patient experience scores to the 90th percentile in August 2022.Physician Champion of Quality Hari Reddy, MD, has been a member of the Medical Staff since 2017 and is the Medical Director of the Intensivist Program. Dr. Reddy’s leadership and innovation was central to SBMC being recognized for excellence in the provision of sepsis treatment.Physician Survey Coming Soon The CommonSpirit Health MyVoice Physician and Advanced Practice Provider Survey is coming soon! We strongly encourage all practicing Physicians and Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) to take the survey to share your feedback about our organization. Watch for details and a link to the survey, which will be distributed to all physicians soon. 2 Medical Dialogue Spring 2023
3St. Bernardine Medical CenterPRESIDENT/ADMINISTRATION CORNERAwards and Accolades Doug KleamPresident & CEOThanks to our physicians’ steadfast commitment to excellent patient care, St. Bernardine Medical Center received several five-star ratings from Healthgrades, the leading marketplace connecting doctors and patients.To identify top-performing hospitals, Healthgrades evaluated patient mortality and complication rates for 31 of the most common conditions and procedures at nearly 4,500 hospitals across the country. Below is a list of our achievements.In addition, St. Bernardine Medical Center received the Blue Distinction Award for Cardiac Services and the Gold Award for Antimicrobial Stewardship from the State of California for appropriate utilization of antibiotics.Thank you to all of our physicians for your commitment to providing the exceptional care that made these awards possible.Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Diabetic Emergencies (2023)Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Heart Failure for 2 Years in a Row (2022-2023)Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Hip Fracture for 11 Years in a Row (2013-2023)Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Pneumonia (2023)Welcome New Physicians to the St. Bernardine Medical Center Family Anesthesia Young A. Suk, MD John Peckham, MDCritical CareElaine Cristan, MD Diagnostic RadiologyJeffrey Bisker, MDElectrophysiologyRonald Lo, MDFamily MedicineKenneth Ballou, MD Mayra Hernandez Schulte, MDFamily Medicine-HospitalistLaurentiu Israte, MDInternal MedicineYas Casey, MD Pallavi Kasukurthi, MDJames Mar, MDInternal Medicine-HospitalistAva Azimi, MD Gilbert Chen, MDHuda S. Khaleel, MDMichael Nguyen, DOTimothy Yaopruke, DONeonatologyJamie Powers, MDNephrologyAmin Motaref, MDChristopher C. Wong, DOOrthopedic SurgeryJason C. Tani, MDPediatricsAtalie Li, MDRadiation OncologyEric Radany, MDTelemedicine ProvidersTele-Neuro-monitoring (Medsurant)Saadat A. Khan, MDRobin Soffer, MDTele-Psychiatry (Asana Medical Group)Debbie Chang, MD Donghui Wei, MDTele-Radiologists (Envision Physicians Services) Richard W. Rieck, MDAnthony A. Terreri, MDVascular SurgeryCeazon T. Edwards, MDAbraham M. Kaslow, MDMEDICAL STAFF OFFICE CORNER
4 Medical Dialogue Spring 2023St. Bernardine Medical CenterMedical Staff OfficersJustin Fu, MD Medical Staff PresidentSamir Kubba, MD Vice Chief of StaffAlaa Beydun, MD Secretary/TreasurerSBMC Pharmacy Is Asking for “Time Outs” St. Bernardine Medical Center’s Pharmacy and Critical Care Unit have recently collaborated to initiate Antibiotic Time Outs (ATO) during multidisciplinary rounds. ATOs were highlighted as an effective way to call attention to antibiotics in the article “Impact of Antibiotic Time-Outs in Multidisciplinary ICU Rounds for Antimicrobial Stewardship Program on Patient Survival: A Controlled Before and After Study” by Shigemistu et al. ATOs encourage intensivists to review the need and appropriateness of current antimicrobial therapy and lead providers toward de-escalation when appropriate. The model centers around four questions: 1) What is the target of the antibiotic? 2) What is the planned duration of antibiotic treatment? 3) Is the antibiotic effective for the patient? 4) Can we de-escalate the current antibiotic regimen? Thank you to all of our physicians for your commitment to patient safety. With help from pharmacy students, ATO will hopefully be expanded to all patients in the hospital.Shigemitsu et al, Impact of Antibiotic Time-Outs in Multidisciplinary ICU Rounds for Antimicrobial Stewardship Program on Patient Survival: A Controlled Before and After Study. Critical Care Explorations, 2023.TigerConnect Replaces OnePassOur new secure (HIPPA-compliant) texting application, TigerConnect, is now live at SBMC. TigerConnect has replaced OnePass. The new application is easy to use and it has additional features such as pre-completed messages and a “do not disturb” feature. Your camera can send photos within the app and be used to send a document as a pdf file.To enroll, download the TigerConnect application from your app store (Apple) or Google Play (Android). To login, use your CommonSpirit email address (FirstName.LastName@CommonSpirit.org), network ID and password.