Faculty Group Practice Newsletter

Congratulations to Amber Scarborough, Business Operations Manager at League City and Clear Lake Campuses, on being the first to recognize the League City Campus Outpatient Pharmacy.

Like many surgical subspecialties, thoracic surgery demands precision, attention to detail, tenacity, and adaptability for its practitioners to excel. Kavita Parikh, DO, brings all of these strengths to build upon UTMB's expertise and expand its capacity to care for more patients with conditions affecting the lungs, esophagus, and chest cavity.

The construction of a new healthcare clinic is more than just bricks and mortar; it’s providing the physical framework for a critical component of the health system. For its new Friendswood clinic, UTMB was tasked to tailor a brand-new space for patient needs – a tremendous opportunity as well as a major undertaking.

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.

ICD-10 is essential to documenting medical necessity for services rendered, and accurate codes mean better outcomes for the patient, your claims, and your practice or facility.

This month we are featuring a Q&A about migraine management, with Brandi Pipes, ANP-C, Nurse Practitioner in the Department of Neurology. She has 10 years’ experience in neurology serving in both inpatient and outpatient capacities, with a passion for providing the best care for each patient as an individual with unique needs.

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.

Welcome to UTMB Health!

Congratulations to Leonard Wang, fourth-year MD/MPH student at UTMB and US-UK Fulbright Scholar — who reads the Faculty Group Practice Newsletter in Scotland! He was the first to identify the UTMB Pediatric Primary Care and Urgent Care Clinic on Broadway in Galveston.

The only way to trigger the charges for medications administered in the clinic (injection drugs such as steroids, IUD and Nexplanon devices, etc.) is to order and administer the medication in the MAR. Typically nursing staff will complete this; however if it was not completed you may receive a Coding Action Required in Epic.

This month we are featuring a Q&A on menopausal care, with Ricshonda "Nickie" Milburn, DNP, MBA, APRN, WHNP-BC, RNFA, Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

For patients experiencing vision loss due to cornea damage, a corneal transplant is a life-changing procedure. It can restore vision, reduce pain, and improve the appearance of the eye. The ability to have such a profound impact on patients was compelling for Ardalan Sharifi, MD, UTMB’s newest Cornea and Refractive Surgery specialist in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.

For many patients experiencing the heartbreaking struggle of infertility, a new sense of hope is found in a cutting-edge procedure now offered by UTMB’s Department of Radiology. The Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology recently introduced Fallopian Tube Recanalization (FTR) to help patients overcome this struggle and achieve their dreams of starting or expanding their families.

UTMB has had a long-standing presence in Friendswood, allowing for strong knowledge of the community’s health care needs over many years of service. When the decision was made to relocate from the existing Friendswood clinic, UTMB leadership embraced the possibilities that a brand-new space presented.

With conditions like diabetes and hypertension prevalent among UTMB’s patient population, the expansion of vascular surgery services over the past few years is meeting an important need in the region. The newest addition to the vascular faculty, Channa Blakely, DO, is proud to be a part of this growth.

With a wealth of experience delivering lifesaving cancer therapies, and with expertise in all types of radiation modalities, UTMB’s new Chair of Radiation Oncology, Dr. Upendra Parvathaneni, has not forgotten the reason he chose his specialty.

Congratulations to Cassandra L. Olivarez, NRCMA, Medical Assistant I in Ambulatory Support Services STAR SQUAD. She was the first to recognize the UHC fifth-floor waiting room outside the Dermatology clinic.

Welcome to UTMB Health!