TMF Recognizing
Hospitals for Achievement in Quality
Improvement
TMF Health Quality Institute, along with the Texas Hospital Association, Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals, Arkansas Hospital Association, Oklahoma Hospital Association and Oklahoma State University Center for Rural Health, has launched the 2016-2017 Hospital Quality Improvement Award program.
Since its inception in 2004, this initiative has recognized hundreds of hospitals that have achieved exemplary outcomes in improving patient care. Award recipients are recognized at formal celebrations and featured in major newspapers and trade publications.
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Physician Practice Quality Improvement Award Program
TMF Health Quality Institute is honored to sponsor the Physician Practice Quality Improvement Award Program in partnership with the Texas Medical Association, Texas Osteopathic Medical Association, Arkansas Academy of Family Physicians, Arkansas Osteopathic Medical Association, Oklahoma State Medical Association, Oklahoma Osteopathic Association and the Puerto Rico Medical Association.
The award recognizes physician practices for dedication and commitment to providing high quality patient care.
Any practice in the state of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the territory of Puerto Rico with one or more licensed physicians providing care for Medicare fee-for-service patients is eligible to participate.
Award-winning practices will receive a commemorative plaque to display and will be recognized through a media campaign. Announcements will also be made at meetings and in journals.
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Dr. John C. McDonald Presented with the Overton Award
for Contributions to Health Care Quality Improvement
 TMF Health Quality Institute presented John C. McDonald, DO, FACOI, with its Philip R. Overton Award for outstanding leadership and support of health care quality improvement in Texas. The Overton Award is presented to physicians who have made significant and notable contributions to TMF and to its medical peer review and quality improvement activities.
"Dr. McDonald brings so much energy as well as a strong focus on service and health care improvement to his role on the TMF Board of Trustees," said Tom Manley, TMF president and CEO. "This award is well-deserved."
Dr. McDonald has been a member of the TMF Board of Trustees since July 2013. In August 2016, the board selected him as vice chair. He has served on the Finance and Nominating Committees, and was elected to the Executive Committee in 2015. He is from Hallsville, Texas.
"He is a very intelligent internist and passionate about patient care and his profession," said Dr. Steven L. Gates, board chair. Dr. McDonald is a man with profound insights to leadership ideas, providing well thought out clarity to issues. He is an excellent communicator and a great friend and colleague."
Dr. McDonald is director of quality at Good Shepherd Medical Associates in Longview, Texas. He is also medical director at the Good Shepherd Health System/University of Texas Health Northeast Internal Medicine Residency Faculty Practice. There, he supervises internal medicine residents. He helped establish this practice, which provides care for patients with acute illnesses across the spectrum of internal medicine. Management of chronic illnesses and preventive care services are also provided.
He is also clinical clerkship director at the Good Shepherd Medical Center where he pioneered medical education by starting a clerkship for third and fourth year medical students.
Dr. McDonald also serves as vice president of the Texas Osteopathic Medical Association Board of Directors. He is board certified by the Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists of the American Osteopathic Association and the American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine. He received his Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine from Nova Southeastern University, College of Osteopathic Medicine in Davie, Florida.
About the Philip R. Overton Award
The Philip R. Overton Award for meritorious service to medical peer review and quality improvement in Texas recognizes the service and leadership of its recipients. Overton, who served as general counsel to TMF for 14 years, was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1932. His significant and ongoing influence on health care legislation and public policy earned him recognition as an eminent authority in medicine and the law. He is remembered for his dedication to the medical profession, his integrity and his commitment to quality medical care for Texans.
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TMF Elects New Trustees
New Board Encompasses Diversity of Experience, Expertise in Clinical Practice and Medical Research
TMF Health Quality Institute
elected three new members to its board of trustees and reelected three members. The annual membership meeting and election took place in the spring with new members installed in August of 2016. The new board also selected a new chair and officers during its August meeting.
The new members of the board are:
- Kevin H. McKinney, MD. Dr. McKinney is an associate professor of internal medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Stark Diabetes Clinic, at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB). He earned his Doctorate of Medicine at UTMB. He is a diplomate in endocrinology, diabetes, internal medicine and metabolism with the American Board of Internal Medicine.
- Erick Santos, MD, PhD. Dr. Santos, of Corpus Christi, is CEO and owner of South Central Texas Bone and Joint Center, a general orthopaedic surgery and medical consulting practice. He earned his MD and a PhD in engineering and applied science, focusing on bioengineering, biomaterials and tissue engineering, at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a board-certified general orthopaedic surgeon and is trained in advanced trauma life support. He has served as a flight surgeon and Captain in the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps.
- Ronald S. Walters, MD, MBA, MHA. Dr. Walters is associate vice president of Medical Operations and Informatics at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He is also a professor of clinical medicine in the Department of Breast Medical Oncology; medical director for Managed Care Programs; and medical director for the Case Management Program at the cancer center. He earned his Doctorate of Medicine at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine. He is board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology.
Reelected to the board were Russ Stromberg, MBA; Dr. John C. McDonald and Marilyn Pattillo, PhD, RN. Selected as the new chair was Steven L. Gates, DO, FACOI. Dr. Gates is from Corpus Christi and has served on the board since 2012. Dr. John C. McDonald was named vice chair. Starr West of Austin continues as the board's secretary/treasurer. Gary W. Floyd, MD, of Fort Worth was chosen as officer-at-large and James Humphrey, CPA, of Houston was selected as the non-physician representative to the executive committee. Robert B. Morrow, MD, of Sugar Land, is immediate past chair.
"Our board brings us a diversity of the best experience and knowledge of clinical practice and medical research," said Dr. Gates, the new chair of the board. "They add immensely to TMF's expertise and knowledge base, and their acceptance of a position on our board reflects TMF's reputation and stature as a top health care consulting company in the nation."
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TMF Leads the Nation in Reaching Diabetes Self-management
Education Goal for Medicare Beneficiaries
The TMF Quality Innovation Network Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) stands out as the leader among other QIN-QIOs across the nation in surpassing its contracted, periodic goal for providing Diabetes Self-management Education (DSME) to Medicare beneficiaries. The TMF QIN-QIO has nearly doubled its goal for the time period, beginning with contract initiation on Aug. 1, 2014, and ending April 30, 2016.
TMF is under a five-year contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to initiate and provide a wide range of health care services, including diabetes education, that ultimately benefits Medicare beneficiaries.
TMF's initiatives include provider services and interventions as well as direct services for beneficiaries. Under the auspices of the QIN-QIO, TMF provides these services in a region that includes the states of Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and the territory of Puerto Rico. There are 13 other QIN-QIO regions that provide the same or similar services to the other states and U.S. territories.
The comparison of the current status of all of the QIN-QIOs on the various health care initiatives was presented recently at a conference of the American Health Care Quality Association (AHQA) by Jane Brock, MD, MSPH, president-elect of AHQA. All of the TMF QIN-QIO states and Puerto Rico, individually, were shown to be in the top 10 of performers across the nation and surpassing their goals to provide DSME to Medicare beneficiaries for the designated time period. The goal for all of the QIN-QIOs was 25 percent of their five-year, end-of-contract goal. The contract ends July 31, 2019. Puerto Rico was shown to be near 90 percent of its end-of-contract goal. Unofficial data has Puerto Rico currently surpassing its end-of-contract goal.
Hard data presented by Dr. Brock showed that the TMF QIN-QIO provided DSME education to 2,787 diabetes patients across its region, which includes 43.8 million Medicare beneficiaries. Although another QIN-QIO provided DSME education to 2,892 patients during that time period, that QIN-QIO did not meet its goal for that time period. That QIN-QIO has a population nearly double (78 million) that of the TMF QIN-QIO (43.8 million) and consequently a higher contracted goal.
DSME is a proven intervention for empowering persons with diabetes to take an active role in managing their disease. It has been shown that DSME classes significantly reduce serious complications such as heart disease, amputations of lower limbs, kidney failure and blindness.
In addition to teaching people with diabetes self-management skills and the importance of seeking regular screenings by health care providers, the TMF QIN-QIO works directly with physician offices and providers to make diabetes screening a routine process.
Join the Health for Life Network. Visit the TMF QIN-QIO website and locate the Health for Life - Everyone with Diabetes Counts Network, under the Networks tab, to learn more about this initiative.
http://www.tmfqin.org Contact us at 1-800-725-2633 or email at HealthForLife@tmf.org
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