Faculty Group Practice Newsletter

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!

The Inpatient or Observation Discharge Service is time based. Time for 99239 is required. 99238 – Hospital Inpatient or Observation Discharge Day Management – 30 minutes or less on the date of the encounter 99239 – more than 30 minutes on the date of the encounter

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.

Erika Schulze, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, was one of two providers awarded for “Going Above and Beyond for their Patients” for her diligent efforts to increase Medicare Annual Wellness Visits (AWVs) in October 2024. Ms. Schulze is a Nurse Practitioner at the UTMB Health Primary Care Clinic at Marina Bay.

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.

One look at Dr. Sanjeev Tuli’s resume reveals an impressive history of clinical and educational leadership and advocacy for children’s health care. From one conversation with him, what becomes equally clear is his strong passion for this important work. Dr. Tuli joined UTMB on Oct. 1 as Chair of the Department of Pediatrics. He previously served the University of Florida Health in Gainesville, FL for more than two decades

Each November, COPD Awareness Month spotlights chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a condition affecting millions of people and requiring specialized, ongoing care. COPD is a progressive lung disease often linked to smoking, though it may also be tied to genetics or environmental exposure to smoke or other pollutants.

Congratulations to Tonya Allyn Broussard, Senior Internal Communications Strategist. She was the first to identify the Galveston ER ramp.