News in Brief

St. John’s ranks No. 14 among America’s Top 100 Health Systems

St. John's has risen from No. 20 to earn the No. 14 spot on the 2005 "IHN (Integrated Health Systems) 100" ranking by Verispan. The Chicago-based research firm has ranked health care networks for the past eight years. Verispan's rating system evaluates each network's ability to operate as a unified organization in each of eight categories: integration, integrated technology, contractual capabilities, outpatient utilization, financial stability, services and access, hospital utilization and physicians.

"The focus on integration has resulted in improved clinical outcomes in the care of people with certain chronic diseases, such as diabetes, asthma and congestive heart failure," says Donald Wantuck, M.D., St. John's board chairman. "The extent to which our organization is integrated and the physicians and staff address common problems and develop common programs together is extraordinary."

In order to improve health and impact the cost-effectiveness of health care, you have to be able to control or facilitate all aspects of health care, says Ronnie Brownsworth, M.D., senior vice president of St. John’s Health Plans. “An integrated health system has all aspects of health care working together and the ability to create processes that fill in the gaps between care.”

In addition to positively affecting clinical outcomes through improved medical management of patients, the integration of hospitals, physician offices and health plans as one system, allows for data-driven solutions that truly impact health care cost drivers.

“Our challenge in health care is to deliver the right service in the right time in the right place,” says Jay Eckersley, St. John’s Health System president/CEO. “And as we’re looking at how to accomplish that, we use tools and create systems that improve access to information, apply evidence-based criteria to make sure that we’re doing the right thing at the right time and place and organize ourselves so that we can act on that information. We can’t affect everything that is driving health care costs or creating barriers to improve health, but we can, as an integrated health system, align the quality and economic interest of physicians, nurses, clinicians and hospitals, to get us closer to that mission. The degree to which physicians, nurses, and clinicians in the hospital work together, is the degree to which we’re going to be effective; in going into the community and contracting our services, for the sole purpose of improving health status.”

Auxiliary needs volunteers

St. John's Auxiliary has a long history of providing dedicated and caring support throughout the hospital. St. John's volunteers staff information desks, gift shops and deliver flowers to patients at St. John's Hospital in Springfield and regional hospitals in Lebanon, Aurora, Cassville, Mountain View and Berryville, Ark. Volunteers also transport patients and provide clerical support in addition to a wide range of other services. Each year, St. John's holds special awards luncheons to honor volunteers, who have such an important role in hospital operations. Most volunteers work during business hours, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

St. John’s Hospital established its volunteer program in 1952. Five decades later, the volunteer spirit of those who first donated their time to St. John’s has inspired many – the membership has grown to more than 645 volunteers and includes a junior Auxiliary for young people who are interested in giving the gift of time. The minimum age requirement is 14 years old.

Participation requires an interview as well as a health form and application. Applications are accepted after March 1 of each year. A two-day orientation is held the second week in June. For more information about volunteering at St. John’s, please call Jerri Flikkema, 417-820-2459.

St. John’s Clinic places No. 1 in the nation in patient satisfaction

St. John's Clinic patient satisfaction scores are the highest in the nation among large clinics evaluated by Press Ganey. The South Bend, Ind., research company is the health care industry's leading independent vendor of satisfaction measurement and improvement services, evaluating more than 8 million patient satisfaction surveys each year. The scores were calculated through surveys mailed to patients and returned directly to Press Ganey for scoring.

“When a patient comes to St. John’s Clinic or any St. John’s facility, they’re assured we have the highest quality. St. John’s Clinic physicians take care of more than 1.4 million patient visits a year and these patients deserve the highest quality health care delivered in a compassionate and patient-centered environment. We at St. John’s Clinic strive to do that every day. We are very pleased our patients are telling us through the surveys that we are number one in the nation in doing just that,” says Donn Sorensen, St. John’s Clinic senior vice president and chief operating officer. “Patient satisfaction and service at St. John's Clinic is a quality initiative.”

St. John’s Clinic is compared with 10,848 physicians in 51 clinics in their peer group of organizations with more than 100 providers. Included in that group are other prestigious physician clinics such as Drake University Health System, Yale Medical Group, Robert Wood Johnson Medical Group and Georgetown University.

Community Partnership’s Building Blocks program identifies assets children need to grow up healthy

Every parent wants their child to grow up healthy, happy and successful. Sometimes it’s discouraging to know the issues that our children may face: violence, alcohol or other drug use, or school failure.

Research has identified 40 developmental assets (Building Blocks) that young people need to grow up healthy. The more of these 40 Building Blocks young people have, the more likely they are to make positive choices - and much less likely to make negative ones.

“St. John’s is proud to support the Community Partnership of the Ozarks’ Building Blocks program,” says Vickie Keeney, St. John’s Mission Services director. “Young people who have at least 31 of these ‘Building Blocks’ are much less likely to abuse alcohol or drugs, become sexually active at an early age, have trouble in school or become depressed or violent. It’s part of our mission at St. John’s to do whatever we can to support and encourage a healthy community.”

For more information about the Building Blocks program, please call the Community Partnership at 417-888-2020 or visit their Web site at www.commpartnership.org.

Nixa multispecialty clinic set to open in May

St. John's will in May open its newest facility – a three-story, 65,000-square-foot "super clinic" – at Gregg Road and Highway 14, near Espy Elementary School in Nixa. The facility will house a variety of specialties to serve the residents of Christian County.
"Christian County is one of the fastest-growing areas in the region we serve," said Donn Sorensen, senior vice president and chief operating officer for St. John's Clinic.

The clinic’s services will include:
• Family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics and urgent care;
• obstetrics and gynecology;
• an eye clinic and optical shop;
• physical therapy and rehabilitation;
• laboratory services;
• radiology services;
• rotating specialty services, including ENT and orthopedics; and
• a pharmacy with a drive-through window.

"This new clinic will offer a variety of state-of-the-art services, including traditionally hospital-based services such as imaging," says Linda Liekhus, St. John’s Hospital vice president.

St. John’s Clinic – Nixa – Pediatrics - Family Practice – OB/GYN, located at 202 West in Nixa, will relocate to the new facility.

Join us for an open house at St. John’s Clinic – Nixa on Saturday, May 14, 1-5 PM. The clinic is located at 940 W. Mount Vernon. The open house coincides with Nixa Sucker Days so be sure and come by while you’re out. In observance of Mother’s Day, the first 500 moms to attend will receive a carnation. There will be facility tours, kid’s activities, St. John’s Life Line helicopter, and giveaways.

St. John’s Cancer Center to introduce CyberKnife in June

For the first time in southwest Missouri, cancer patients will be able to receive CyberKnife surgery – a high-dose, concentrated radiation treatment delivered in a focused, accurate way that does not damage healthy tissue – for the treatment of tumors and other diseases.
Beginning in June, St. John’s will be the only hospital in the region to offer the CyberKnife Radiosurgery System. The introduction of the CyberKnife technology reflects St. John’s commitment to providing superior care to patients, says neurosurgeon Alan Scarrow, MD, JD.
“The Cyberknife allows for true radiosurgery,” Scarrow says.

CyberKnife treatment differs from other types of radiosurgery offered in southwest Missouri in three important ways:

First, the CyberKnife is the most accurate radiosurgical device in the world, offering precision treatments with less than 1 millimeter of error;
Secondly, it is the only radiosurgical device that can be used to treat lesions throughout the body.
Thirdly, for treatment of tumors in the brain, it is the only device that can deliver effective radiation doses without a frame being screwed into the skull, which is done to stabilize the patient’s head during treatment.

CyberKnife radiosurgery treatment was developed at Stanford University in the early 1990s and was approved for use by the FDA in 2001. It incorporates a linear accelerator to generate radiation using a robotic arm and an X-ray tracking system that follows patient and tumor movement during treatment. This combination of technology allows a patient’s tumor to be treated with lethal doses of radiation - increasing the likelihood for cure - while leaving the surrounding tissue nearly radiation-free. There are currently 25 hospitals in the United States offering CyberKnife technology. More than 3,000 patients have been treated with this technology worldwide.

New facility fully equipped with latest imaging technology

A second MRI scanner with room for a future third and the area’s first combination PET/CT scanner are just two of the diagnostic tools available at the region’s newest emergency trauma and imaging center.
The new ETC is also slated this year to receive CAT scanners with brand-new, 16-slice technology.
“One rotation of the scanner offers 16 views of the area being scanned, which cuts exam time,” says CT Manager Claralee Moore. “The imaging center will also begin offering a new procedure called cardiac scoring, which measures the amount of calcium in the heart to determine a person’s likelihood of having a heart attack.”