Practice plan posts positive numbers
The Medical School’s practice plan is doing well in the first quarter of the fiscal year - $4.6 million ahead of a projected deficit of $1.1 million, reported Dean Giuseppe Colasurdo at the Dec. 10 meeting of the Medical Service, Research and Development Plan Board.
“This is very encouraging, very promising news,” he said. “We are engaging the department chairs in what we are doing, and we want faculty to join us in this effort so that in the next three months UT Physicians will be the best experience in the Texas Medical Center.
“We determine our future, and our mandate will be very ambitious,” Dean Colasurdo added. “The resolution of negative operating margins is only one component of our ‘success’ – emphasis will be placed on our academic mission. Our chairs will need to embrace this vision after we achieve sustained financial stability.”
“The practice plan is doing very well – better than it has ever done in my memory,” President James Willerson said.
The positive news is a result of increased billing and collections, as overall patient visits have been flat for the last six years.
“Our patient visits are up in the outreach areas, outside of the TMC, and our collection rates are up,” added Dr. Richard Andrassy, chair of the UT Physicians board.
Andrassy also said that the joint venture projects that UT Physicians has undertaken have “turned the corner,” with the dialysis center and the Memorial Hermann Plaza surgery center doing well.
Angela Hintzel, executive director of finance, reported that last year at this time the practice plan had a loss of $2.2 million, but now it is up $3.5 million, which includes $1.9 million in the financing mechanism used by Texas to provide supplemental payments to hospitals for the care of Medicaid patients.
Gross charges are up 6 percent over last year at this time, a fact that Hintzel attributes to filling faculty vacancies. Faculty salaries are up 12 percent this year over last year, and net collections are slightly up.
“Overall, it looks pretty encouraging,” said Kevin Dillon, executive vice president and chief operating and financial officer of the UT Health Science Center.
-D. Brown
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Faculty Senate Update – December meeting
The Dec. 20 meeting of the Medical School’s Faculty Senate began with the presentation of a gift to Dean Giuseppe Colasurdo.
It was not a fruit basket nor a gift certificate but rather a donation in Dean Colasurdo’s name to the AIDS Foundation Houston to assist with their pediatric programs, which was given on behalf of the Faculty Senate.
“This contribution in your name is to recognize and honor your work and guidance,” said Senate Chair Dr. Jeffrey Actor. “We appreciate your leadership, guidance, and support.”
Dean Colasurdo thanked the Senate for its gift and then presented his report, speaking about the importance of engaged department chairs, the role of the department management operators, and the relationship with Memorial Hermann.
Dr. Henry Strobel, associate dean for faculty affairs, and Dr. Katherine Loveland, assistant dean for faculty affairs, made a presentation on faculty retention, which was based on exit interviews of outgoing Medical School faculty.
Last year 141 faculty left , with the highest turnover rate in assistant professor rank, according to their report. The average turnover rate at medical schools is 7-8 percent, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges.
“It costs $2.2 million to replace the average clinical faculty member who has left,” Loveland said.
Strobel said everyone should be a part of the retention committee. “We want to make people feel valued, not like a commodity that is replaceable,” he said.
The Senators appreciated the presentation, and began a frank discussion on how to assist in generating a workplace of excellence.
Dr. Tom Cole, director of the John P. McGovern, M.D. Center for Health, Humanities, and the Human Spirit, then gave a presentation on his proposal for a Faculty Health and Well-Being Program, which incorporates educational presentations about health and well-being and training to address faculty in distress to support faculty in performing to high standards.
“Rates of burn-out and depression are alarmingly high among faculty, increasing the likelihood of errors while decreasing loyalty to the profession and the institution. High turn-over follows -- a costly result for all,” he said.
The Senate voted unanimously to endorse Cole’s program.
The next Faculty Senate meeting will be held Jan. 17.
The Faculty Senate is the representative body of the faculty in all matters pertaining to academic affairs, consisting of faculty senators who are elected by their peers.
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Researchers show link between glucose metabolism, spina bifida
As the result of a 10-year study, Medical School researchers have discovered an association between genes regulating glucose metabolism and spina bifida.
Medical School researchers tested variants in a dozen genes that take part in glucose metabolism to look for a link between genetic variation in affected children and spina bifida. More than 1,500 DNA samples were taken from children with spinal bifida and their parents, as well as from unaffected control samples from study participants in Houston, Los Angeles, and Toronto.
Published in the January 2008 issue of the journal Reproductive Sciences, the study, “Genes in Glucose Metabolism and Association with Spina Bifida,” reveals an association between variants in three glucose metabolism genes and spina bifida. Glucose metabolism is the way the body uses its major fuel, which is sugar.
“We are trying to find out what causes this neural tube defect. It has been recognized through epidemiological studies for a number of years that there was a connection between high glucose levels, either due to maternal diabetes or obesity and having a child with spina bifida,” said co-author Dr. Hope Northrup, professor and director of medical genetics in the Department of Pediatrics. “Our goal is to identify variations in specific genes of glucose metabolism that are important in the process, thus enabling us to more specifically determine the underlying problem.”
Spina bifida is the most common permanently disabling birth defect in the United States, according to the Spina Bifida Association. It happens when the baby’s spine fails to close during the first months of pregnancy. It occurs in seven out of 10,000 births in the United States. In Texas, nearly two out of every 1,000 babies born have spina bifida.
Northrup said this study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and Shriners Hospital for Children, supports why women need to maintain a healthy weight throughout their childbearing years, and beyond.
“This is important from a practical standpoint because neural tube defects are more common in pregnancies complicated by maternal diabetes and maternal obesity, and our study suggests a mechanism for this association,” said Dr. Manju Monga, professor and director of maternal and fetal medicine in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences. “In the United States, Mexican-American women have the highest rates of neural tube defects and they are also at increased risk for obesity and adult-onset diabetes, so this study may be especially relevant to pregnant women in Texas.”
Another way women can reduce their risk of having a baby with spina bifida: take 400 micrograms of folic acid daily. The number of cases could be reduced by as much as 70 percent.
The lead author of the study is Dr. Christina Davidson, who was a fellow in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences and is currently at Baylor College of Medicine.
Medical School co-authors, along with Northrup, include: Dr. Terri M. King; Dr. Kit Sing Au.; and Irene Townsend, R.N. Others are: Dr. Jack M. Fletcher, University of Houston; and Dr. Gayle H. Tyerman, Shriners Hospital for Children, Los Angeles.
-M. McDonald
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