Saint Anthony observes National Donate Life Month

April 3 registration effort features stories of organ donors’ families

CROWN POINT Real-life stories of people who have given of themselves so that others might live will be told April 3 during a Saint Anthony Medical Center program in observance of National Donate Life Month.

The program will begin at 10 a.m. near the hospital entrance, with raising of the national Donate Life flag.

As part of the ceremony, members of the Saint Anthony family will describe how organ donations have touched their lives. A Mass will follow in the hospital’s Corpus Christi Chapel, as will a Donor Registration Drive, which will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. outside the cafeteria, located in the main lobby.

Participants will join Indiana’s donor registry, ensuring their decision will be honored at the time of death, without need for additional consent.

“No act is more selfless or more generous than donating an organ so another person might enjoy a better life. In that way, the donor’s legacy truly lives on. Saint Anthony is proud to be part of this effort and is especially proud of its employees, their families and community members who participate,” said David Ruskowski, Saint Anthony president.

“We look forward to a strong turnout for the registration drive and for the National Donor Life Month observances here on April 3.”

Saint Anthony partners with Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network, Donor Services of Indiana and the Indiana Lions Eye & Tissue Transplant Bank to facilitate organ, eye and tissue donations.

Prospective donors also may register online at www.DonateLifeIndiana.org or at Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles sites.

For general information about organ donation, call Alice Jenkins at (219) 793-3904, or visit www.giftofhope.org.

isters of St. Francis Hospitals Remain in Anthem Network

INDIANAPOLIS – Based on a ruling yesterday (March 30) from the Marion County Superior Court-Civil Division in Indianapolis, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield will continue to recognize facilities operated by the Sisters of St. Francis Health Services (SSFHS) as in-network until the contracts between Anthem and SSFHS expire Sept. 1, 2009.

Although Anthem had sought to terminate the contracts early, the court ruling means that members of Anthem health plans can continue to receive in-network services at SSFHS facilities after May 1. The hospitals include St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers in Beech Grove, Indianapolis and Mooresville; St. Elizabeth Medical Center and Home Hospital in Lafayette; St. Clare Medical Center in Crawfordsville; St. Anthony Memorial Health Centers in Michigan City; St. Anthony Medical Center in Crown Point; St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Center in Hammond and Dyer; and Franciscan Physicians Hospital in Munster.

The current Anthem-SSFHS contracts expire Sept.1, 2009.

But leaders from both organizations emphasized they are committed to continuing contracts talks and securing a new long-term agreement to ensure that Anthem-insured patients receive in-network benefits at the highest level of care at all SSFHS hospitals.

This black belt means business

Saint Anthony employee earns national, Six Sigma recognition

CROWN POINT Elaine McCracken is a black belt, but you won’t find her breaking bricks or boards.

Instead McCracken, who is assistant vice president of operational quality and performance at Saint Anthony Medical Center, is breaking through as an expert in quality and performance improvement techniques. McCracken’s efforts have boosted her to the highest levels of peer recognition as an American Society for Quality-certified Six Sigma Black Belt.

A Certified Six Sigma Black Belt is described by the society as a professional who applies Six Sigma philosophies and principles in a variety of business situations.

Six Sigma is a nationally recognized quality methodology for eliminating defects in any process and has widespread application in numerous industry sectors. The fundamental objective is focus on process improvement and variation reduction.

“ASQ provides certification as a way to provide formal recognition to professionals who have demonstrated an understanding of, and commitment to, quality techniques and practices in their job and career,” said President Roberto Saco. The society has been regarded as a leading authority on quality practices for more than 60 years.

McCracken, who worked at Saint Anthony from 1998 to 2004, returned in 2006, when she began her present position.

“As an industrial engineer and a leader of quality and performance improvement, I feel this certificate is an asset to my qualifications,” McCracken said, adding she was required to submit an application that showed she had facilitated several successful Six Sigma projects and to take a four-hour test to gauge her knowledge.

McCracken credits Carol Schuster, Saint Anthony vice president of patient services, for support in achieving the designation.

“Carol Schuster was the champion of the projects and assisted me in the application process,” McCracken said.

Saint Anthony President David Ruskowski said the hospital and Sisters of St. Francis Health Services Inc., its parent, have been innovators of Six Sigma science and methodology that recently has been applied to health care and clinical process improvements. He added SSFHS hospitals, particularly those in Northwest Indiana have won several awards for their accomplishments.

McCracken, who has been in the healthcare profession since 1986 at a variety of facilities, also has worked as a medical technologist, management engineer, performance improvement education specialist and an internal operations consultant.

She said she was “happy and relieved” when she learned of the honor.

Since 1968 when the first ASQ certification exam was given, more than 160,000 people have worked to achieve the status. For more information about the Six Sigma Black Belt program, visit www.asq.org/certification/six-sigma/.

No shortage of charity at A Conservative Café

Half of April 2 proceeds will go to Saint Anthony campaign

CROWN POINT A Conservative Café prides itself on preserving “the true American values of industry, family and purposefulness.”

Add, “giving back to the community,” to that list.

The nationally known coffeehouse-restaurant, which opened in 2007 and quickly gained notoriety for its concept and atmosphere, isn’t conservative when it comes to being charitable.

Owners David Beckham and Bill McCall will donate half of the proceeds from the café’s April 2 receipts to benefit the Saint Anthony Medical Center Capital Campaign, which is raising funds to help the less fortunate. They also will keep the café open an hour later that day, until 9 p.m., to further benefit the cause.

“The whole concept behind Conservative Café is to be a community gathering and meeting place. We pride ourselves on being part of the community and giving back. We believe in traditional values of wanting to help people who truly need help,” Beckham says.

The campaign, launched a year ago, seeks to raise $4.5 million, half of which will be matched by a local donor. So far, more than $1.8 million, which includes the match, has been raised.

The money will be used to relocate and expand the hospital’s St. Clare Clinic and to renovate the Pre-Natal Assistance Center, both of which provide services for the underprivileged.

Funds also will go toward enhancing services at Franciscan Point, Saint Anthony’s recently opened outpatient health complex, located at 12800 Mississippi Parkway, near the intersection of U.S. 231 and Interstate 65.

Warren Johnson, director of development for Saint Anthony’s parent, Sisters of St. Francis Health Services Northern Indiana Region, expressed thanks to Conservative Café for its efforts.

“We are so grateful for the wonderful support of Crown Point businesses like the Conservative Café and Circle Restaurant (which conducted a similar fund-raiser in January) in helping to raise needed funds to continue the latest in health care to our community through Franciscan Point and now Saint Anthony,” Johnson says.

“And, supporting St. Clare Clinic is so important to our community as more and more workers are out of a job and can benefit from its offer of free health care. With all funds matched by a generous community donor, this is truly an example of how our community can work together …”

A Conservative Café, with the slogan, “Coffee Served Right,’’ offers a breakfast menu until 11 a.m. After that time, it serves an array of sandwiches, pizza, soups, side dishes and salads. Also offered are a Conservative Kids menu, a catering service, box lunches and meeting room rental, not to mention a variety of gifts.

Besides its trademark coffee, which ranges from “Liberal Brand Decaf” to “Radical Right Blend,” the café offers a variety of liquid refreshments, among them specialty espressos and beer and wine, as well as standard fare of cold and hot drinks.

A Conservative Café, located at 201 N. Main St., is open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday (9 p.m. only on April 2) and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays. For more information or to order in advance, call (219) 661-1700, or visit: www.ConservativeCafé.com.

Standardizing wristband colors seen as a life-saver

Saint Anthony nurses, Purdue students work on statewide program

CROWN POINT Four Purdue University Calumet senior nursing students, working with Saint Anthony Medical Center in conjunction with an education initiative, are involved in a statewide effort to better assure patient safety through use of standardized, color-coded wristbands.

The Indiana Hospital Association is asking hospitals to adopt, by December, standardized wristband colors to denote patients’ status and special requirements, or to not use bands with colors. Indiana is among a handful of states without standardized colors.

The students’ assignment, as part of a Senior Capstone Course in Nursing, was to develop materials and a presentation detailing the IHA’s proposal that hospitals could utilize.

The Capstone course, in its second year at Purdue’s Hammond campus, is part of its touted experiential learning criteria for nursing students. Teams work with organizations to identify problems or concerns and to develop an appropriate response.

Each team works under the direction of participating organization’s project coordinator; in Saint Anthony’s case, Susanne Heinzman. Heinzman, clinical nurse specialist and student liaison, submitted the project request to the Purdue program in October.

The efforts of the students, Madilyn Moran, Jessica Langlois, Sarah Goranovich and Ashley Canon, were applauded at Saint Anthony recently, after they presented their project to seven nursing officials from Sisters of St. Francis Health Services Northern Indiana Region, parent of Saint Anthony. Also on hand was Janet Landrum, the students’ instructor, who is a visiting assistant professor of nursing at the university.

SSFHS hospital representatives indicated support for the project.

The student team, which called itself “Project Wristband,” got started by contacting Betsy Lee of the IHA, seeking information and resources to help enhance the project. The team sent her drafts of its work and as a result, the IHA is considering incorporating parts of the project in templates for a Web site it is creating for the standardization effort. The students will be recognized for portions of the work that are used, Lee said.

“They did a good job on this project,” she added.

The students pointed out how use of non-standardized wristband colors at various healthcare facilities has led to near-disaster.

One case took place in Pennsylvania, where a nurse, who had worked at two different hospitals, mistakenly put a yellow wristband on a patient. That color signified “Restricted Extremity” at one facility and “Do Not Resuscitate” at the other. As a result, the patient nearly was denied resuscitation.

IHA-recommended standardized colors include:

• Yellow – Fall Risk.
• Green – Latex Allergy.
• Purple – Do Not Resuscitate.
• Pink – Restricted Extremity.
• Red – Allergy.
• Clear/White – Patient Identification.

The students said the project’s results exceeded their expectations.

“We feel honored that the work of students has gone so far as to be (considered for) a template for an association as big as the Indiana Hospital Association. I never thought our project would go this far and we are all very excited,” Langlois said.

Procedure clears way for better sinus treatment

Balloon sinuplasty opens passages without trauma

CROWN POINT Patients with sinus concerns can breathe easier at Saint Anthony Medical Center.

A team of three staff doctors offers the latest in treatment, including balloon sinuplasty, a relatively new, minimally invasive procedure that provides better-than-ever results with fewer-than-ever chances for trauma.

“Sinuplasty is another tool we have to help people address sinus problems. We’ve been doing it for a couple of years and it has proved very successful,” said Dr. Thomas Tarin, a Saint Anthony staff otolaryngologist, who, along with Dr. Dennis Han and Dr. Ryan Cmejrek, is based at Southlake Ear, Nose and Throat in Merrillville.

In the procedure, a catheter with a guide wire is placed into the sinus. The attached balloon is inflated, widening the sinus walls and clearing nasal passages, without damaging them, Tarin said.

“A camera, with a light, is attached to the guide wire. The procedure is much less traumatic than in the past. There is no bleeding or shearing. It is a wonderful way to open the sinuses,” he added.

Surgery, though, is viewed as a last resort, Tarin said.

“Sinusitis is very complicated. We try treating it with meds – sprays and antibiotics, first – for about four or six weeks. If the symptoms persist, surgery is possible,” he added. “It’s a matter of deciding which patients are right for it.”

For more information, contact Saint Anthony Medical Center at (219) 757-6301.

Saint Anthony answers call to help the uninsured

Its St. Clare Clinic program in place before national initiative began

CROWN POINT Cover the Uninsured Week, an annual nationwide call to action on behalf of millions of Americans who have no health insurance, takes place March 22 to 28.

The national campaign, which began in May 2005, is a project of the New Jersey-based Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation’s largest philanthropic group, which is dedicated to helping Americans live healthier. It calls on the nation’s leaders, policy-makers, health care professionals, businesses and the public to recognize the need to help what these days amounts to 46 million-plus affected people.

Saint Anthony Medical Center heard the call in 1996, long before the national effort was undertaken.

Since then, the hospital’s St. Clare Clinic has provided free primary health care services, noncontrolled substance medication and needs-based job referral assistance for qualified uninsured residents of six Northwest Indiana counties.

Seeing patient visits jump to about 4,000 in 2008, from 1,000 when the clinic opened, plans are in the works to expand and relocate St. Clare, which currently operates at 1000 S. Court St.
Patient visits this year continue on the upswing, with 446 in February, compared to 371 in January. Average number of daily visits during that period climbed to 22.3 percent from 17.7 percent.

Virginia O’Bryan, a five-year St. Clare patient whose husband is disabled, doesn’t mince words when describing what the clinic means to her.

“I would be dead if weren’t for that clinic,” she says. “They have helped me in so many ways that it would take days to explain it all. I am so appreciative; the staff is so wonderful – they have saved me so much money,” she says, adding that among its services, the clinic has been instrumental in diagnosing and treating her diabetes, removing a cyst from her eye, extracting a 22-pound tumor from her body and treating bone spurs in her feet.

“They provide me annual ultrasounds to make sure there is no cancer. They provide me mammograms, all my meds and syringes and needles … I could go on and on.”

St. Clare program director Raquel Gianfermi, a veteran registered nurse who has been in charge of the clinic for more than a year, says the recent economic downturn has caused an increase in patients, but that expansion plans were in the works beforehand.

“We’ve outgrown our present location; we’re maxed out. I am looking forward to the move, which will help us provide even better care.”

As the economic crisis has deepened, so has St. Clare’s concern for its clients. “We try to stay up on things based on the patient needs in the community,” Gianfermi says.

Danielle Lewis, of Lowell, who has been a St. Clare patient for more than a year, said the program has proved an “incredible” help for her and a family that includes her husband, a 2-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter.

“I can see a doctor when I need to. Otherwise, I would have to wait until I got into horrible shape and then go to the emergency room.”

Case manager Teresa Sealscott adds the clinic is seeing more homeless people, as well as jobless, these days.

“The homeless population is growing; we need to figure out a way to meet that need. We are able to give them one little part to getting them on the road to recovery through better health, increasing independence and wellness.”

She urges people to get to know their health care plans, and others in which they might enroll, so in the event they lose coverage, they won’t be blindsided finding out some of their care needs might not be fulfilled by another insurer.

The clinic, whose services are provided by a more than 50-person, largely volunteer staff of Saint Anthony physicians, nurses and other staff, also works to help patients transition out of the St. Clare program and find coverage through private insurance, Medicaid and Medicare, Hoosier Health Wise and the Healthy Indiana Plan. A total of 133 patients transitioned last year, compared to seven in 2006.

Sealscott points out the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration recently announced childless adults seeking insurance coverage through the Healthy Indiana Plan are being put on a waiting list, since the state has reached its federally allotted enrollment of 34,000.

St. Clare offers neither urgent care nor walk-in services. Patients must be registered with the program; appointments are required. For more information, or to make an appointment, call (219) 757-6272.

For more information on Cover the Uninsured Week, visit: info@covertheuninsured.org, or call (1-877) 655-2889.

How to help
Patient donations of $5 per visit are appreciated, but not required, at St. Clare Clinic. The clinic, which is primarily funded through Sisters of St. Francis Health Services Inc., also relies on public donations, gifts and the generosity of area service groups. In January, Circle Restaurant and Bar in Crown Point spearheaded a fund drive that raised $3,000 to benefit the Saint Anthony Medical Center Capital Campaign, which, in part, is raising money for the clinic’s expansion. On April 2, A Conservative Café, 201 N. Main St., Crown Point, will host a fund-raiser from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Half of its proceeds from that day will be donated toward the campaign/clinic. The campaign’s goal is to raise $4.5 million, half of which will be matched by an anonymous donor.

Pain takes a back seat at Saint Anthony

Specialists offer relief and solutions, often without surgery
CROWN POINT Saint Anthony Medical Center has your back when it comes to providing relief and healing.

Medical staff specialists offer state-of-the-art treatment to prevent or stop neck, back or spine problems, most times without surgery, thanks to advanced technology.

MRI and CAT scans more clearly target problems, resulting in many patients finding relief though physical therapy and medication. Minimally invasive (“through-the-scope”) surgery also is an option, in many cases.

Specialists include:

Dr. Charles ChumanChuman, who is Saint Anthony Medical Center’s chief of neurosurgery, is a board-certified, fellowship-trained, physician who has worked for Saint Anthony Medical Center for 22 of his 30 years in the profession. His office is located at 297 W. Franciscan Lane, in the Physicians Office Center, on the hospital campus.

Chuman’s services include brain and spine surgery – treating herniated discs, spinal arthritis, fractures and tumors.

Disc herniation is one of the most common ailments he sees.

“Everybody gets it. But whether it becomes a problem is … bad luck. If the disc pops out in the 5 or 7 o’clock positions, it pinches the nerves and causes pain.”

He agrees that technology advances have decreased the need for surgery and greatly increased the chances for successful surgery, when it is necessary.

“CAT and MRI (scans) have totally changed things. We are much more successful in surgery. Improvements in anesthesia also have really helped with patients doing well.”
So has having surgery done at Saint Anthony, Chuman says.

“There is an extremely low incidence of infection at Saint Anthony. The OR (operating room) staff is lovingly dedicated to its work. I have a huge amount of confidence in their abilities, which greatly reduces my worries. I know patients are getting the best care.”

Chuman says his interest in the medical profession was sparked at age 11, when he started helping at his father’s Chicago drug store.

“There were two doctors who had offices above the store. They always encouraged me to become a doctor.”

That led to Chuman attending Loyola University for his undergraduate studies and the University of Chicago, where he received his medical doctor degree. He since has served in numerous resident, fellowship, attending and instructional roles in the U.S. and abroad.

Dr. Dwight TyndallTyndall is a board-certified, fellowship-trained, spine specialist, who has been affiliated with Saint Anthony for about four years and works from the Franciscan Point outpatient health complex in Crown Point. He is based at Spine Care Specialists, a division of Orthopaedic Specialists of Northwest Indiana, in Munster.

Tyndall says treatment has come a long way since he began practicing 10 years ago.

“Only one or two patients, at the most, out of 10, need surgery these days. Nonsurgical treatments, through medication, therapy and injections, are very big now. MRI and CAT scans allow us to be much more precise in identifying problems and deciding treatment. That also makes surgery more successful than ever.”

Tyndall’s specialties include treating spine, cervical, lumbar and scoliosis conditions, advanced spine fusion techniques and motion preservation spine surgery. The most common conditions he treats are degeneration in lumbar and cervical areas.

Tyndall, completed his orthopedic surgery residency training at Stanford University Medical Center in California (where his interest in his field was spawned) and a spine surgery fellowship at the prestigious Hospital for Special Surgery at Cornell University Medical Center in New York City. He completed medical school at New York University and has been involved in multiple research projects, among them publications in the Journal of Orthopedic Research.

Although he has received training coast to coast, Tyndall says he is happy to call the Midwest home these days (“there are good people here who are family-oriented and ethical -- not as self-absorbed …”) and is “very optimistic” about his affiliation with Saint Anthony.

“The administration has been very welcoming and I am excited about growing our relationship and raising the profile of these services.”

Dr. Nitin KhannaKitin, a board-certified, fellowship-trained, spine specialist-surgeon, has been with Saint Anthony about four years, and also works from the Franciscan Point outpatient health complex. He and Tyndall are partners at Spine Care Specialists, a division of Orthopaedic Specialists of Northwest Indiana, in Munster.

Khanna has an undergraduate degree, with honors, in bioengineering, from the University of Pennsylvania.

Khanna attended medical school at Mount Sinai in New York City and received orthopedic surgical training at Barnes Hospital at Washington University in St. Louis. There, he developed an interest in spinal care and went on to complete a fellowship at Rush Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago, where he developed skills in surgical and nonsurgical spine care.

Concerning his work with Saint Anthony, Khanna says, “We are offering state-of-the-art spine care. We are performing many minimally invasive procedures, allowing patients to go home the same day. We also perform complex revision surgeries. The quality of care delivered by our spine team rivals that of many major academic institutions.”

Khanna’s research has been presented at national and international meetings, including the North American Spine Society, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Cervical Spine Research Society, Mid-American Orthopaedic Society, Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America and Spine Arthoplasty Society.

Dr. Nick Nenadovich Nenadovich is a board-certified, fellowship-trained, spine surgeon, who has been with Saint Anthony for about two years. He is based at Lakeshore Bone and Joint Institute, which has six offices in Northwest Indiana.

Nenadovich, who once pursued an aerospace engineering career, switched fields after injuring his knee playing soccer. During subsequent time off, he began shadowing a doctor acquaintance.

“After I blew out my knee, I took time off from engineering and spent about a year watching what (the doctor) did. I decided I would rather work with people than pursue engineering,’’ he says. “I enjoy working with people.”

Nenadovich says the most common injuries he sees are disc herniation of the lower back, but adds most people, thanks to technology advances, don’t need surgery.

“The body is an amazing machine. If you give it time to do what it can and get proper treatment, you can recover nicely.”
Nenadovich says he enjoys his affiliation with Saint Anthony.

“I am really impressed with the nursing care, the rehabilitation center, the operating rooms -- I get very positive feedback from patients there.”

Nenadovich completed his medical degree at Chicago Medical School and graduated with honors.
He served his internship and residency at the University of Chicago Hospitals. After completing his residency, Nenadovich served a spinal surgery fellowship at Upstate Medical Center in New York. His training includes use of new technologies in artificial disc replacement, minimally invasive approaches and cervical spine surgery.

These days, Nenadovich is involved in research on cervical disc replacement and other motion-preservation technologies.

Dr. Caleb LippmanLippman is a board-certified, fellowship-trained neurological and spine surgeon, who is based at Neurological and Spinal Surgery, which has offices in Merrillville and in Valparaiso. He has been on the Saint Anthony staff more than four years.

Lippman’s expertise includes complex spinal disorders and fusions, including degenerative spine and disc disease, adult scoliosis, spinal tumors and solutions to failed previous surgeries. He performs minimally invasive spinal surgery and treats brain and pituitary tumors, Chiari malformations (herniation of the cerebellum into the spinal canal), hydrocephalus and offers chronic pain management.

He uses both Gamma Knife and CyberKnife techniques to perform a variety of procedures.

Lippman received fellowship training at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago. He also is a graduate of Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University in Philadelphia.

THE DOCTORS ARE IN

Dr. Charles Chuman’s office is at 297 W. Franciscan Lane, in the Physicians Office Center on the Saint Anthony Medical Center campus in Crown Point. He can be reached at (219) 757-6410.

Drs. Dwight Tyndall and Nitin Khanna are based at Spine Care Specialists, a division of Orthopaedic Specialists of Northwest Indiana, in Munster. They can be reached at (219) 924-3300. Their Saint Anthony practice is at Franciscan Point outpatient health complex, 12800 Mississippi Park (along U.S. 231, about one-half mile east of Interstate 65, Crown Point).

Dr. Nick Nenadovich who is based at Lakeshore Bone and Joint Institute in Chesterton, has a Crown Point office at 1127 Merrillville Road. He can be reached at (219) 921-1444.

Dr. Caleb Lippman’s offices are at 200 E. 89th Ave., Merrillville, (219) 756-2900, and at 2000 Roosevelt Road, Valparaiso, (219) 462-6500.

Sisters of St. Francis Health Services ‘deeply disappointed’ by Anthem threat to terminate contracts

INDIANAPOLIS – After months of contract negotiations, the Sisters of St. Francis Health Services Inc. (SSFHS) is dismayed by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Indiana’s notice that it would terminate contracts with SSFHS as early as May 1. Anthem announced the termination in a March 3 communication to its insurance brokers and employer groups.

“We are deeply disappointed by Anthem’s action,” said Kevin Leahy, SSFHS president and chief executive officer. “While progress throughout our negotiations has been slow and painstaking, there is a clear understanding between Anthem and SSFHS regarding the issues that keep the parties from agreeing to new contracts.”

Leahy added, “Our patients remain our primary concern, and we will continue – as we have done throughout all phases of these discussions – to ensure Anthem-insured policyholders receive the level of benefits and quality of care they expect at all of our medical facilities.”
Leahy emphasized that specifics of the negotiations fall under a mutually agreed upon confidentiality agreement, which SSFHS has strictly observed.

During negotiations last fall, SSFHS announced that it had rescinded the termination of the SSFHS contracts with Anthem because progress was being made in discussions. This action also guaranteed that Anthem-insured patients would continue to be served at St. Francis medical facilities throughout the state.

SSFHS officials believe Anthem’s termination announcement is a reaction to the hospital system’s filing of a lawsuit last November in Marion County Superior Court. The litigation, in part, pertains to the use of arbitration under current contracts between SSFHS and Anthem.
SSFHS’ other concerns are related to Anthem’s lack of timely claims reimbursement and the denial of claims related to their processing problems, a situation that has persisted since the fourth quarter of 2007.

The Indiana State Medical Association also has investigated similar problems with Anthem on behalf of its membership.

In a January 2009 report to its shareholders and posted on its Website, Anthem said it generated net income of $2.5 billion in 2008. In 2007, Anthem generated $3.3 billion in net income for its shareholders. Anthem/WellPoint’s CFO predicts that Anthem will “generate substantial positive cash flow in 2009” – standing in stark contrast to the struggle for financial survival facing every other Indiana business, working families and mission-driven hospitals like those in the SSFHS Northern Indiana Region – Saint Anthony Medical Center, Crown Point; Saint Margaret Mercy, Hammond and Dyer; Saint Anthony Memorial, Michigan City and Franciscan Physicians Hospital, LLC, Munster.

Any inquiry into the causes of today’s health care crisis must consider the harmful impact of diverting multiple billions of premium dollars away from providing vital health services for working families.

A Feb. 22 Indianapolis Star article details the growth WellPoint/ Anthem has experienced and anticipates for its future. The article states: “WellPoint’s grip on its hometown health insurance market has more than doubled in the past five years, with nearly 70 percent of common policies now issued by the Indianapolis-based insurance giant… The growing market share gives WellPoint increasing clout in negotiating fees paid to doctors and hospitals throughout the region, contributing to a string of public feuds between WellPoint’s Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and local health-care providers…”

Contracts currently cover the following SSFHS Northern Indiana Region hospitals:

• Saint Anthony Medical Center (Crown Point)
• Saint Anthony Memorial Health Center (Michigan City)
• Saint Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers (Hammond)
• Saint Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers (Dyer)
• Franciscan Physicians Hospital, LLC (Munster)

Other affected SSFHS facilities:

• St. Francis Hospital & Health Center (Indianapolis)
• St. Francis Hospital & Health Center (Beech Grove)
• St. Francis Hospital & Health Center (Mooresville)
• St. Elizabeth Regional Health (Lafayette)
• Home Hospital (Lafayette)
• St. Clare Medical Center (Crawfordsville)
• More than 300 physicians in the different SSFHS service areas
  

The affected plans are Anthem Blue Access PPO, Anthem Blue Preferred HMO, Anthem Traditional, Anthem Medicare Advantage PPO, Lumenos and Anthem Healthy Indiana Plan.

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About the Sisters of St. Francis Health Services Inc.Headquartered in Mishawaka, Ind., the Sisters of St. Francis Health Services is a network of 13 growing hospital campuses in Indiana and Illinois and is one of the largest health-care systems in the state. The system’s health-care ministry in Indiana was established in 1875. SSFHS employs more than 16,000 individuals in its health-care ministries. More information about SSFHS is at www.ssfhs.org.

Sponge-scanner system greatly reduces surgery errors

Sisters of St. Francis Northern Indiana hospitals 1st to offer

Surgical sponges left inside patients can produce disastrous results. But these days, chances of such occurrences are slim to none within the hospitals of the Northern Indiana Region of Sisters of St. Francis Health Services Inc.

SSFHS hospitals are the first in the state to employ a computer-assisted, sponge-counting program that is being implemented in operating rooms and in labor and delivery departments, according to Tony Embre, Midwest vice president of California-based SurgiCount Medical Inc. The Food and Drug Administration approved the Safety-Sponge System two years ago. Only 28 hospitals nationwide have the system, Embre says.

SSFHS facilities began using it earlier this year. Saint Margaret Mercy campuses in Hammond and Dyer began on Jan. 12. Saint Anthony Medical Center in Crown Point will implement the program March 9; Saint Anthony Memorial Hospital in Michigan City, March 23. The system also is under consideration for implementation at Franciscan Physicians Hospital in Munster.

The Safety-Sponge System employs individually bar-coded surgical sponges and a portable scanner that assures an accurate count, greatly reducing the chances of error. “In about one in every 7,800 procedures, a sponge is left inside a patient. This can cause loss of organ function. The sponges become septic, which can result in extreme consequences,” Embre says, adding that effective Oct. 1, Medicaid and Medicare stopped reimbursing hospitals that must perform follow-up surgeries to remove such leftover materials.

David Bruce, SurgiCount president and CEO, calls SSFHS’s decision to use the system, “a reflection of the hospitals’ commitment toward patient safety,” adding, “It provides a standard of care that is safe, simple and cost-effective.”“Proven to be effective in 300,000 procedures in large and small institutions alike, our system provides an easily repeatable process that hospitals can confidently adopt to avoid these events and the substantial costs associated with them,” Bruce says.

Gene Diamond, CEO of Sisters of St. Francis Health Systems Northern Indiana Region, adds, “We are very pleased to adopt the SurgiCount system as a newly added precaution to our safety protocols already in place. “All of our SSFHS hospitals in the Northern Indiana Region make every effort to avoid medical complications and this is just another example of taking the lead when it comes to important advancements in patient care delivery.” For more information on Sisters of St. Francis Health Services Inc., visit www.ssfhs.org.

For more information on SurgiCount Medical Inc., visit www.surgicountmedical.com.