Faculty Group Practice Newsletter

Last year, a 5k training program and virtual run provided members of the UTMB community with an opportunity to focus on fitness, connect with one another, and support a student-led initiative to promote health and wellness in the community. This year, the student organization behind last year’s successful program is back with hopes to engage even more runners and make a greater impact.

For many patients who experience back pain and other concerns related to the spine, a variety of treatments may bring effective relief without surgical intervention. For others, surgery is a necessary step on the path to healing. In any case, a skilled spine specialist is an essential partner to determine the best course of action to improve one’s quality of life.

Welcome to UTMB Health!

January is National Thyroid Awareness Month. It is estimated that more than 30 million Americans have thyroid dysfunction, yet at least half of these cases are undiagnosed and, consequently, untreated.

Happy New Year! 2024 brings changes concerning the necessary documentation for split or shared visits. Just a reminder, split or shared visits involve faculty and an APP furnishing an E/M service on the same date for the same problem.

Voluntary enrollment in a new information security initiative aimed at further strengthening protections for UTMB’s networks and data is now underway.

Free photo sessions for faculty and staff professional headshots have been scheduled. If you need or would like new photos, please plan to attend one of the scheduled opportunities.

The latest edition of UTMB's Population Health Newsletter is all about diabetes. UTMB experts share their insights on efforts to help patients prevent and treat this condition.

Congratulations to Ricshonda Milburn, DNP, APRN, WHNP-BC, RNFA, the Academy of Master Clinicians' January Clinician of the Month. Dr. Milburn is a Nurse Practitioner in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Congratulations to Tayja Lewis, Administrative Specialist for Visiting Education in the Office of the Provost. She was the first to identify the UTMB Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinic on League City Pkwy.

Welcome to UTMB Health!

Compassion for others is a core quality of many individuals who pursue careers in health care and public service alike. The common ground in these two professions came to the forefront to help a patient the evening of Nov. 5.

The desire to fulfill a need in healthcare sparked an education and career journey that led Raj Vaghjiani, MD, to pursue surgical oncology as a specialty. Now, as a new member of UTMB’s Surgical Oncology Division, he applies his expertise and skills to help patients with cancer on the path to survivorship.

When you ask our current Urgent Care APP Lead, Kennikqua “Nikki” Thompson, MSN, APRN, FNP, ENP, what the busiest time is in urgent care, she says undoubtedly the winter season, better known as cold and flu season.

Aging does not have to mean slowing down – even when joints like the hip and knee no longer work as ably as they once did. Advances in the realm of joint replacement make it possible for active individuals to keep up their busy lifestyles well into their senior years.

Congratulations to Austin Johnson, DO, PGY-2 in the Department of Otolaryngology. He was the first to recognize the meeting space off the parking garage sky bridge at League City Campus.

The Dashboard of Integrated Measures of Access (DIMA) places focus on metrics to help drive patient access in our primary care and specialty care ambulatory practice by ambulatory dyad. It takes into account several internally and externally benchmarked metrics.

Check out the latest edition of UTMB's Population Health Newsletter for special features on Lung Cancer Screening Awareness.

We are pleased to announce an update and improvement to the functionality of the Post-Op MD Navigator tool, effective Thursday, Dec. 7. The change affects all OR locations including Labor and Delivery, Cath/EP Labs, and all Endoscopy areas for the system.

Medicare is basing the new code on the longitudinal care relationship not the serious or complex condition. They believe this code reflects the time, intensity, and expense required to build longitudinal relationships with patients and address most of their health care needs with consistency and continuity over long periods of time.