BATON ROUGE — eQHealth Solutions has been selected by the Department of Health and Human Services to serve as a Regional Extension Center for Health Information Technology in Mississippi. The award comes from the nearly $1 billion in federal Recovery Act awards designed to assist health care providers adopt electronic medical records into their practices.

 

The award to eQHealth Solutions will allow thousands of providers in Mississippi including primary care practices, critical access hospitals and rural hospitals to add digital technology into their practices. eQHealth has clinical management contracts in Louisiana, Illinois and Mississippi, where it has worked for the past 13 years with the Mississippi Division of Medicaid.

 

The award to eQHealth is for $4,289,613. The grant is administered by HHS’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and is funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s (ARRA).

 

Currently, eQHealth Solutions works with nearly 1,000 providers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas who are adding an electronic health record to their practices. As a Regional Extension Center for health information technology, eQHealth will be able to offer these services to more providers at a discounted price.

 

According to HHS, the widespread adoption of health information technology is crucial to improving the efficiency and the quality of care. In an earlier notice, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, “These awards will help develop our electronic infrastructure and give doctors and other health care providers the support they need as they adopt this powerful technology.”

 

“I believe that our successful history of helping physicians add an electronic health record to their practice - work that we started right after Hurricane Katrina when thousands of medical records were lost - was instrumental in our being selected as a Regional Extension Center,” said Gary Curtis, president and CEO of eQHealth.

 

HAMMOND - North Oaks Neurology Clinic Physicians Bilal A. Choudry, MD, and Patricio S. Espinosa, MD, MPH, are now seeing patients at their newly relocated clinic at 16033 Doctors’ Blvd. across from North Oaks Medical Center in Hammond.

 

Hours of operation remain 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, while the phone number has changed to (985) 230-7525.

 

North Oaks Neurology Clinic provides treatment for neurological conditions, such as headaches, strokes, seizures, movement disorders and tremors, as well as treatment and management of diseases, including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis. In addition, Drs. Choudry and Espinosa specialize in the treatment of epilepsy.

 

Both Drs. Choudry and Espinosa completed their internships and residencies through the University of Kentucky in Lexington and epilepsy/sleep fellowships through Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass. They also are both board-certified in neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. In addition, Dr. Espinosa earned a master’s degree in public health through Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md.

 

Baton Rouge — The College is extremely pleased to announce that Katherine ‘Kitty’ Krieg, PhD, PT, has been named the Dean of the School of Arts, Sciences and Health Professions (ASHP). Dr. Krieg served as interim dean of ASHP starting in December 2009 and was named Dean in March 2010, following a competitive search.

 

“Dr. Krieg has always served with insight, hard work, and professionalism. We have every confidence that her personal qualities and valuable experiences insure she will be an outstanding leader for the College,” stated David A. England, PhD, Executive Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs.

 

Prior to beginning her academic career, Dr. Krieg practiced as a physical therapist, with a focus on developmental disabilities and neurological dysfunction. She completed a fellowship in developmental disabilities from UCP-NYC in 1986-87. Dr. Krieg developed the Physical Therapist Assistant Program at Our Lady of the Lake College in 1996, and served as Program Director until 2010. Before her appointment as Dean, Dr. Krieg served as Department Chair, Department of Health Professions from 2008-2009, and ASHP Associate Dean in 2009.

 

A 1975 graduate of University of Alabama in Birmingham, Department of Physical Therapy, Dr. Krieg received her PhD in 2009 from LSU in Educational Leadership and Research, with a focus on Educational Technology.

 

Dr. Krieg is an active member of the American Physical Therapy Association and Louisiana Physical Therapy Association, and currently serves as Baton Rouge District Chair of the LPTA.

 

NEW ORLEANS -CureSearch’s Inaugural New Orleans Milestones Walk will be held May 1st at 9:00 am beginning at the Newman Bandstand in Audubon Park.

 

Participating in the Walk will be 200-300 children who have fought childhood cancer, their families, their friends and their doctors. Corporate teams are also walking. The Walk is being held to raise awareness and funding to help fight cancer in children.

 

Cancer is the number one cause of death from disease in children. CureSearch funds the lifesaving research of the Children’s Oncology Group and has an intimate familiarity with these children in New Orleans and in Louisiana.

 

This group of medical professionals treats more than 90% of children with cancer at more than 200 hospitals in the United States. CureSearch provides funding for pediatric research programs at New Orleans area hospitals, including Children’s Hospital of New Orleans and Tulane University Hospital and Clinic. Interested parties may contact Pam Russell at (504)330-4388

 

BATON ROUGE — The seven hospitals of the LSU Health Care Services Division exceeded national and regional averages on an annual basis in the HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey summarizing inpatient perspectives on the general quality of hospital services. This national, standardized, publicly reported survey compares the quality of hospitals on a regional and national basis.

 

Most impressive is that University Medical Center, Lallie Kemp Regional Medical Center and Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center scored statistically significantly above the national and/or regional averages in all composite and individual survey items.

 

Nearly as stellar, Dr. Walter O. Moss Regional Medical Center scored statistically significantly above the national and/or regional averages in all but one item. In that one item, WOMRMC still scored above both the national and regional averages.

 

Besides comparing favorably with quality hospitals nationwide, LSU hospitals exhibited specific strengths in Key Drivers of Overall Satisfaction. These Key Drivers are of great importance to patients. Patients strongly associate them with the overall quality of the hospital.

 

For instance, Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center, Lallie Kemp Regional Medical Center, Earl K. Long Medical Center, University Medical Center and Dr. Walter O. Moss Regional Medical Center were significantly above national benchmarks in the areas of pain management and communication with nurses and doctors.

 

LSU Bogalusa Medical Center and the Interim LSU Public Hospital were also significantly above national benchmarks for Key Drivers in the areas of communication with nurses and doctors.

 

Conducted over the course of four quarters, August 2008 through July 2009, and with more than two dozen questions, the HCAHPS survey asked patients about their willingness to recommend the hospital, communication with doctors and nurses, responsiveness of hospital staff, pain management, communication about medicines, discharge information, overall rating of the hospital, and the cleanliness and quietness of the hospital.