Campus closeup: Left to right, Dr. Carlos Clark of the Daniels Team in General Internal Medicine rounds on the tenth floor of Jennie Sealy Hospital with Ajit Koduri (MS4), Dr. Zaid Safder (PGY-1), Dr. Bryan Baker (PGY-2), and Claire Culbertson (MS3).
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The Faculty Group Practice Newsletter |
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New Internal Medicine Chair Shares Vision for Growth and a 'Learning Health System' |
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When Peter Cram, MD, MBA, stepped into his role as Chair of UTMB’s Department of Internal Medicine, he inherited a department with two obvious strengths, and several opportunities for further growth.
“My predecessors, Drs. (Randy) Urban and (Rex) McCallum, had done a great job (working with UTMB leadership) building up the Department of Medicine. And we still have lots of opportunity for growth,” Cram said. “Where are those opportunities? Virtually everywhere – and that’s phenomenal. That’s what’s exciting to me as a department chair.”
An alumnus of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Cram completed his Internal Medicine residency and General Medicine research fellowship at the University of Michigan. He earned his Master of Business Administration there as well.
Cram spent 12 years at the University of Iowa College of Medicine, where he rose in the ranks to become Division Chief for General Internal Medicine. He then went on to serve for seven years in Toronto at Mt. Sinai/UHN Hospitals and the University of Toronto, where he was Director of the Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics for three major teaching hospitals.
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Peter Cram, MD, MBA, serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. |
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When patients have chronic wounds or wounds that are not healing as expected, specialized care becomes an important part of their treatment plan.
Last year UTMB Health welcomed James Bridges, MD, to help meet this need. An internal medicine trained physician and longtime hospitalist with extensive wound care experience, Dr. Bridges sees inpatient cases at League City Campus and outpatient cases at the UTMB Health Wound Care Clinic at Bay Colony.
“A primary care doctor should send to us whatever (wound) they are not comfortable treating. We can consult and lay out a plan for them to monitor and manage it,” Bridges said. “Or we can do it ourselves and optimize the regular medical conditions for healing.”
The Wound Care team generally sees patients with lymphedema, edema, venous wounds, bedsores, or chronic foot wounds with chronic osteomyelitis. Venous wounds with edema and hyperpigmentation in the legs are the conditions most commonly seen – conditions that typically do not ever go away, and require ongoing expert care.
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James Bridges, MD, provides inpatient and outpatient wound care in League City.
For providers requiring an inpatient consult, send a consult request through Epic directly for Dr. Bridges. For outpatient appointments, please request a referral to him at his Bay Colony clinic.
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Timely Treatment of Uveitis Critical to Prevent Vision Loss |
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Uveitis is a condition characterized by inflammation inside the eye, with long-term effects that may range from slightly reduced vision to severe vision loss if left untreated.
The underlying cause of uveitis can be an infection, such as herpes simplex, varicella-zoster (shingles), syphilis, and HIV, to name a few, or it may be associated with a systemic autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis, sarcoidosis, ankylosing spondylitis, inflammatory bowel disease, or juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in children. Often it is an eye-limited, immune-mediated process.
It is important to thoroughly evaluate for the systemic cause of uveitis to target specific treatment. Non-infectious, autoimmune conditions often require prolonged immunosuppression to control inflammation to prevent visual morbidity. If not adequately treated, uveitis leads to significant visual morbidity and eventual blindness. Along with age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, uveitis is one of the leading causes of blindness in the world.
Uveitis can affect children; 12 to 17 percent of children with JIA experience chronic uveitis, often without symptoms, making ophthalmology evaluation by specialists a very crucial, integral part of the management of JIA patients.
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Renuka Mopuru, MBBS, MD, specializes in medical retinal diseases, uveitis, and comprehensive eye care with the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences.
She provides patient care at the UTMB Eye Clinics in Galveston and Friendswood.
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RCO Coding Clip: AVOID Unspecified Diagnosis Codes
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ICD-10 includes very specific diagnosis codes. Payors require diagnoses that show specifics and are denying unspecified codes. The diagnosis is a key piece of documentation for any encounter. It helps to establish medical necessity and continuity of care. It also helps when it comes to legal ramifications and reimbursement. These codes can demonstrate laterality, location, manifestations, complications, severity, trimester along with the visit as the initial, subsequent, or sequela encounter for injuries.
ICD-10 codes may include up to seven digits. Each digit has a meaning. The first three digits are the category for the diagnosis with the remaining digits illustrating the specifics.
Example: - H40.1131 – Bilateral Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma, mild stage
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It is important that your documentation include details to support the most specific code possible for the patient’s diagnosis.
Bottom line: 1.) Document the specifics of the patient’s problem. 2.) choose the diagnosis code to the highest specificity supported by your documentation.
Have coding questions or need additional training? Please reach out to the Education Team at codinged@UTMB.edu.
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RCO Coding Clip is a monthly feature in the FGP Newsletter, with educational and informational items for providers from our Revenue Cycle Operations Coding Team. |
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Our next FGP Tidbit Thursday will take place July 22, from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m. with Ashton Ehlers, DO, FAAQ, pediatric optometrist in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. She will discuss vision services for pediatric patients, the process for referrals, and answer questions. Via Microsoft Teams.
FGP Tidbit Thursdays take place every month with a different speaker/specialty featured each session.
View past sessions on Microsoft Stream here, and click "follow" to subscribe.
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APPs Essential to CBC Locations' Patient-Centered Care |
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UTMB's Community-Based Clinics (CBC) are focused on providing excellent, personalized care in convenient settings, close to where people live, study, and work.
The CBC employs more than 40 APPs in primary care, pediatrics, urgent care, women’s health, and orthopedics, all of whom are essential in helping to serve this mission.
"Having the opportunity to work for UTMB CBC clinics has been rewarding,” said Laura Ellender, MSN, APRN, CEN, FNP-C, Lead APP for UTMB CBC Clinics. “The environment has enabled me to fulfill my education and training, as well as encourage my personal growth throughout the years."
Several CBC clinics are recognized as having the highest level of patient-centered care. The National Committee for Quality Assurance gave them Level Three Patient-Centered Medical Home certification — its highest level of achievement. These locations are: the Pediatric and Adult Primary Care Clinics in Alvin, League City, Friendswood, Texas City, and Webster; the Family Medicine and Internal Medicine Clinics in Angleton; and the Pediatric Clinics in Webster and Lake Jackson.
This is a terrific testament to the outstanding care CBC clinics provide! Great work by our APPs who are critical members of the teams that deliver this care.
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Top: Kennikqua (Nikki) Thompson, FNP; Rania Ebrahim, FNP; Qunesha Scallion, FNP; Ellis Grimes, FNP; Omayemi Omaghomi, FNP
Bottom: Jillian Human, FNP, and Emily Smith, FNP
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APP Corner is a feature to share news from, for and about our Advanced Practice Professionals. |
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Please join us in welcoming our newest additions to the UTMB Health FGP family. |
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Richesh Guragain, MD
General Anesthesiology
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Elisha Jackson, MD
Urogynecology
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Morgan Jones, RN, MSN
Regional Maternal and Child Health Program - Conroe
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Kathy Smith, RN, MSN
Regional Maternal and Child Health Program - New Caney
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Linda Sun, MD, PhD
Neurology
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Frank Winsett, MD
Dermatology
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Bashar Zleik, MD
Neurology
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Can anyone guess where on one of our UTMB campuses this photo was taken?
In this section we feature sights across our UTMB campuses each month. If you think you know, email Robert with the location. We will share the location next month! |
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No one correctly identified last month's image, which shows artwork from the second-floor lobby of the Women's Healthcare Clinic in Friendswood.
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