Faculty Group Practice Newsletter

The DAX Copilot activity in the Epic Haiku mobile app has a new feature that enables clinicians to capture clinician-patient conversations in Spanish. Clinicians can now seamlessly switch between recording conversations in English and Spanish while providing care during a patient encounter.

UTMB celebrated National Doctors' Day on Monday, March 31, with breakfast at campus locations as well as gifts for all physicians. This annual event is dedicated to honoring their impact and expressing our deepest gratitude.

March is Social Work Month, a time for us to honor and celebrate our UTMB social workers' remarkable influence!

Each year on National Doctors' Day, we recognize the outstanding work our doctors do to improve health and well-being. UTMB will celebrate the occasion on Monday, March 31, with recognition events at our hospital campuses and special gifts for physicians across the institution.

Starting Jan. 1, 2025, the documentation requirements for Telehealth services were updated to support mental/behavioral Telehealth services billing.

Congratulations to four UTMB providers recognized for consistently delivering exceptional patient care. United Healthcare presents the United Hero Award based on high patient satisfaction scores in key categories.

UTMB has stood strong in the face of many storms, persevering in service to our patients and community through hurricanes, floods, and freezes. Last month as we prepared for a rare weather scenario in our area – to include below-freezing temperatures, snowfall, and ice – our staff responded promptly and proactively as always.

Please be aware of important updates regarding the CMS Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) surveys, which were implemented on January 1, 2025.

This month Dr. Shana Steege, interim director of Employee and Occupational Health, shared a new process for reporting bloodborne pathogen exposures. This process was developed with employee feedback in mind to streamline how exposures are reported and managed.

UTMB's current policy allows personal device use for communications, business purposes, and access to secure resources and networks. The Bring Your Own Device initiative requires enrollment of all devices in our Mobile Device Management solution, Microsoft Intune, by March 31, 2025.

U.S. News & World Report named the University of Texas Medical Branch a 2025 High Performing Hospital for Maternity Care. The award is the highest a hospital can earn as part of U.S. News’ Best Hospitals for Maternity Care annual study.

We’re proud to celebrate the physicians at UTMB Health who have been named 2024 Texas Super Doctors®. From family medicine and pediatrics to specialties like cardiology, orthopedics, and beyond, our dedicated doctors work every day to improve the health and lives of our community.

Carlos Clark, DO, Chief Medical Information Officer, announced on Friday, Dec. 6, that UTMB now has enterprise license for Dragon Ambient eXperience, or DAX Copilot, an AI-powered Microsoft product that helps clinicians automatically document patient encounters and improve clinical efficiency.

The UTMB Flu Free Vaccination Program provides employee flu shots at all hospital campuses and primary care clinics to help prevent the spread of seasonal influenza. Health care workers at UTMB are required to receive a flu shot or complete a declination form by Nov. 15, 2024.

The University of Texas Medical Branch Clear Lake Campus has received certification from DNV Healthcare USA as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, reflecting the highest level of competence for treatment of serious stroke events and complications.

UTMB is taking important steps in its commitment to leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) for the advancement of healthcare, as announced last month by Salim Hayek, MD, Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer.

Members of the UTMB community attending the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Learn Serve Lead Annual Meeting in Atlanta are invited to attend the Texas Trailblazers Reception!

At UTMB Health, physical therapy is provided through the Department of Rehabilitation Services, offering both inpatient and outpatient services. Learn a little about the work our teams are doing to deliver outstanding rehabilitation care!

Systemwide, ~3000 blood cultures are collected monthly at UTMB. Approximately 10% of these blood cultures result in microbial growth and ~25-30% are contaminant. Considering the recent shortage of blood culture media, and non-judicious use of blood cultures, health systems across the country are implementing guidance for judicious use of blood culture collection.

Dr. Gulshan Sharma has announced the appointment of Dr. Leah Low to the position of Associate Chief Medical Officer of Jennie Sealy Hospital, effective September 1, 2024.