Faculty Group Practice Newsletter

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.

Osteoarthritis-related chronic knee pain can significantly impact daily life—limiting mobility, disrupting sleep, and reducing overall quality of life. UTMB’s Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology now offers Geniculate Artery Embolization (GAE)—a state-of-the-art, image-guided procedure that directly targets knee inflammation, providing long-lasting pain relief for osteoarthritis patients.

The Department of Anesthesiology at UTMB welcomed a new leader in January, as Marcos F. Vidal Melo, MD, PhD, began his tenure as Chair. With a strong background in cardiothoracic and vascular anesthesiology, academic medicine, and a broad understanding of challenges and opportunities within the specialty, he is eager to elevate the department across all of UTMB’s mission areas.

When it comes to opening and operating health care clinics, UTMB’s Ambulatory Operations leadership draws from a strong history of bringing expert care into the communities they serve. This experience and success have served the team well in opening the UTMB Health Friendswood Primary and Specialty Care Clinic.

Congratulations to Kelly O’Donnell, MSN, RN, OCN, Nurse Manager for Ambulatory Operations, for being the first to recognize the waiting area at the Texas City Adult and Pediatric Primary Care Clinic.

Welcome to UTMB Health!

Dr. Aimee Jackson recently joined UTMB as Senior Director of Clinical and Administrative Operations for Regional Women’s Services and Pediatrics (RWSP). She brings three decades of valuable health care experience to the role. Dr. Jackson graciously took the time to discuss her return to UTMB and share more about herself.

When co-surgeries and assistant surgeries are performed, it is very important that it is documented correctly so the appropriate modifiers can be added. Also, not all CPT codes can be billed as a co-surgery or an assistant surgery. Observing does not qualify as a co-surgery or an assistant surgery.

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.

Welcome to UTMB Health!

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.