Medical Staff Newsletter
August 2019

In This Edition

Joseph Cuozzo, MD
1938 - 2019
 
Dr. Cuozzo was a member of the Department of Medicine from 1970 to his retirement in 2007. Dr. Cuozzo served as Chief of Staff from 1989 to 1990 and Chair of the Department of Medicine from 1991 to 1992. Dr. Cuozzo was also the father of Dr. Gregory Cuozzo who is a member of our Medical Staff.


Back row left to right:  Stephen Kupferberg, MD; Mark Silverstein, MD; Francis Kelly, MD; Erik Larsen, DO; Thomas Giles, DO; Travis Hendricks, DO; Payam Benson, MD, and Gurpreet Lamba, MD.
Front row left to right:  Sang Kim, MD*; Sripad Dhawlikar, MD; Sandeepa Utpat, MD*; Liesl Iledan, MD; Jane Park, MD, and David D'Ambrosio, MD. 
* Denotes physicians who attended the event to support honorees.

At the 2 nd Quarter CEO I Made a Difference Luncheon, CMC celebrated a record number of  team members, including 91 members of the Medical Staff, who were recognized for excellence by a patient, family member or visitor. In total, 627 employees, volunteers physicians and other medical providers were honored. This large number of honorees is a reflection of the hospital-wide commitment to providing high quality safe care and an excellent patient experience to everyone who comes to CMC. Since the program began in October 2015, patients, family members and visitors have made more than 6,000 recognitions  of our team.

Munir Ahmed, MD Sridhar Kundula, MD
Julia Appleman, PA Stephen Kupferberg, MD
Wilhelmina Azu, DO Joel Kurtz, MD
Payam Benson, MD Gurpreet Lamba, MD
Howard Berger, MD Kossiwa Lamenyo, PA
John Bernard, MD Erik Larsen, DO
Edgar Bigornia, MD Eric Lehnes, MD
Victor Bugay, MD Amanda Lonergan, APN
Richard Chang, DO Gerardo Lopez, MD
Sumy Chang, MD Steven Lowry, MD
Tony Chu, MD Mark Majeski, DPM
Tun Chu, MD Aparna Mandal, MD
Robert Closkey, MD Tittymol Mathew, MD
Eric Comsti, MD Aliona Maxwell, MD
Francisco Cruz, MD James McDermott, DO
Gregory Cuozzo, MD John Merlino, DO
David D'Ambrosio, MD Matthew Messina, PA
Paul DeMartino, MD Edelmira Moore, PA
Dilip Desai, MD Joel Musicant, MD
Sripad Dhawlikar, MD Ronald Neal, MD
Danny Diaz, PA Melissa Nickols, PA
Deborah Eisen, MD Pratik Panchal, MD
Klara Farkas, MD Vipul Parikh, MD
Ryan Feret, PA-C Jane Park, MD
Victor Ferlise, MD Andrew Parrish, MD
Thomas Giles, DO Christopher Passariello, MD
Emad Gobran, MD Hiten Patel, MD
Ralph Guarino, MD Nikunjkumar Patel, MD
Avinash Gupta, MD Michael Plishchuk, DPM
Suraj Gupta, MD Yebarna Rana, MD
Jordan Haber, DO Carl Raso, MD
Taylor Hadley, PA Amadi Rezai, MD
Shahid Haque, MD Anatoly Rozman, MD,Ph.D
Travis Hendricks, DO Francis Salvatore, MD
Carl Henningson, MD Amit Setya, DO
Christine Howell, PA Chirag Shah, MD
James Hwang, PA Mark Silverstein, MD
Liesl Iledan, MD Jay Stone, MD
Rajesh Iyer, MD Stacie Stopen, APN
Chelvakumaran Jayanathan, MD Anupama Sunkavalli, MD
Martin Jimenez, MD John Sutherland, MD
Lauren Johnson, PA James Tanis, MD
Emad Kamel, MD Joseph Tauro, MD
Sang Kim, MD Rayson Yang, MD
Eleni Kotsis, DO Jonathan Yrad, MD
John Kraynock, MD


First place winners at the Medical Staff Golf Outing, (from left)  Christopher Buchholz, DO,  Brett Sealove, MD,  Steven Priolo, MD,  Rory Snepar, DO, are congratulated by William Strazzella, DO, President of the Medical Staff. 

Darcy Abbott, MS, BSN, RN, has joined CMC as the Interim Administrative Director of the Emergency Department. She will work collaboratively with Dr. William Dalsey, Chair, Emergency Medicine and Lisa Schlesinger, MSN, RN, Administrative Director, Nursing Administration, who will have additional responsibilities in supporting the daily oversight of operations of the ED. Darcy and Lisa's offices are located in the ED. To reach Darcy call ext. 12096 and to reach Lisa, call ext. 12093.

The CMC WOBM Seaside Park Beach Studio featured several members of the Medical Staff during the August. Physicians discussed their areas of expertise including Payam Benson, MD, hospitalist/hospitalist program; Gerald Ferencz, MD, neurologist/Telestroke; Joseph Triolo, MD, radiologist/Low Dose CT cancer screening; and Samir Jain, MD, cardiac health. To listen to their interviews, click here.

2D is currently undergoing renovations that will last through mid-October. The renovations will provide an improved patient, physician, employee and visitor experience. Renovations will include a redesigned nurses' station and new paint, flooring and HVAC units for patient rooms, as well as an upgraded pantry and medication room, corridor handrails and much more.    
 
To accomplish these upgrades, 2D patients will be relocated to 3C. Access into and through 2D will not be permitted during the closure including access through the Stairwell 3 door. Access to 2C, both entrance and exit, will only be through the main entrance near room 2300. 2C will not be accessible through the rear corridor at the back end of 2D.  
 
We apologize for this temporary inconvenience but look forward to the new and improved 2D.
HRO Journey Continuessafetycatch

Safety Together Update
CMC has 92 Safety Coaches hard at work. Safety Coaches have been asked to recognize and reinforce Safety Behaviors when they see them. These interactions help us promote and reinforce error prevention tools. As of the end of July, we have recorded over 565 interactions with team members.
  
On July 25 and 26, CMC underwent a RISI (Reliability Implementation and Sustainability Index) onsite survey. Our surveyor had the opportunity to speak with Medical Staff leadership and other members to obtain critical feedback on their perceptions of safety within our hospital - as well as assess awareness of safety behaviors and tools.

One best practice recommendation made by the surveyor was building safety event classification into our peer review process. This scoring system (used for other safety events throughout the hospital) codes events as near misses, precursor events and serious safety events. This classification process allows for better aggregate assessment of safety in our hospital.  We will be working with Medical Staff leaders to explore this recommendation.

Safety Together Tool:  Exercise and Accept a Questioning Attitude
Ask Clarifying Questions:

-in all high-risk situations. 

-when information is incomplete. 

-when information is not clear.
It's not about asking questions - it's about questioning the answers!
Patient Experience UpdateHCAHPS


Update on Unavailable Medications medications

The Pharmacy publishes a list of medications that are unavailable due to multiple reasons including national shortages. Click here to view the list.
 
If you have any medication questions, call the Pharmacy at ext. 18048.
Clinical Documentation Tip of the Month:
UTI Due to Chronic Foley, Suprapubic Cath or Nephrostomy  CDI

A Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) that is associated with a urinary device, such as a chronic foley  catheter is considered a complication of care.

The physician must clearly establish the relationship between the device and the infection in the medical record, linking the UTI due to the device.

Please also be reminded there is no longer a code for " Urosepsis. "

The diagnosis of a urinary catheter associated infection is considered a potential hospital acquired condition ; therefore, if the condition was present on admission the documentation must explicitly reflect this important information .
 
Please contact Nancy Jobes, MSN, RN, with any questions at extension 12805.
The CDI Team is also willing to attend department meetings to offer education on documentation.
Save the Date: Cardiovascular Care Symposium symp

RWJBarnabas Health 16th Annual Innovations and Trends in Cardiovascular Care Symposium
Saturday, October 12, The Heldrich Hotel, New Brunswick
This program is jointly provided by RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Disease and Hypertension. Details and registration information to follow.

This activity is approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ and Continuing Nursing Education Contact Hours.
Save the Date: Robert H. Ogle Golf Invitational ogle

Monday, September 23, Manasquan River Golf Club
Call the Foundation 732-557-8131 or visit cmcgiving.org for information.
Upcoming Medical Staff Event  medstaffevents

Annual Dinner Dance
December 13,  The Mill Lakeside Manor, Spring Lake
To register for any of these events, please contact   the Medical Staff Office at  732-557-8082.  
CME Programs CME

The following CME programs are scheduled for September 2019 at Community Medical Center:

POLST: Practitioner Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment
September 5, 12 pm, Aud. A & B
Marianne M. Holler, DO, FACOI, FAAHPM,  Chief Medical Officer, VNA Health Group
 
Sept. 12 - NO CME program
 
Sept. 19 - To Be Announced

Memento Mori: Art, Public Health and Neurosurgery
September 26, 12 pm, Aud. A & B
Anil Nanda, MD, MPH, FAANS, FACS,  Professor and Chairman,  Department of Neurosurgery,  Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Changes to CMC Medical Staffchangesmedstaff

MEDICAL-DENTAL STAFF - NEW APPOINTMENT RECOMMENDATIONS:
Sarah Karam, MD - Department of Cardiology
Pamela Brug, MD - Department of OB/GYN
Lauren Mason Cederberg, MD - Department of OB/GYN
Shamik Chakraborty, MD - Department of Surgery, Section of Neurosurgery
Ali Ershadi, MD - Department of Medicine, Hospitalist Medicine              
Robert Forrest, MD - Department of Anesthesiology
Neena Gupta, MD - Department of Emergency Medicine
 
ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONAL STAFF - NEW APPOINTMENT    RECOMMENDATIONS:                  
Tricia Cross, PA - Department of Medicine, Intensivist Medicine
Esther Diamond, CRNA - Department of OB/GYN
Teri Nelson, PA - Department of Otolaryngology
Amanda Orzo, PA - Department of Emergency Medicine
Lori Rickert, APN - Department of Medicine, Intensivist Medicine
Rajat Sood, APN - Department of Otolaryngology
    
LEAVE OF ABSENCE:
Suman Jain, MD - Department of Pediatrics - Second year Leave of Absence effective September 20, 2019
 
RESIGNATION(S):
Andrew Assiamah, MD - Department of Anesthesiology - effective August 2, 2019
Matthew Dever, MD - Department of Pediatrics - effective August 8. 2019
Cynthia Kocsis, MD - Department of Surgery - effective August 12, 2019
Melissa Nickols, PA - Department of Emergency Medicine - effective August 14, 2019
Upcoming Meetings upcomingmeetings