View Larger Image Attendees at an appreciation luncheon honoring those who supported a new System Based Practice Elective for internal medicine residents. Photo by Bryan Clifton.
Attendees at an appreciation luncheon honoring those who supported a new System Based Practice Elective for internal medicine residents. Image by Bryan Clifton

Appreciation Luncheon Honors Course Instructors

By Kate Franks

| Sixteen UAMS employees were honored at a luncheon on May 24 for their outstanding commitment and dedication to the System Based Practice Elective. This two-week course for second and third-year internal medicine residents began in July 2020, and 20 participants have completed the program.

The course is designed to teach residents about the basic building blocks of the US healthcare system including utilization review, clinical documentation, coding and billing, denials management, compliance and audits by regulatory bodies, and basics of healthcare quality. Residents participated in daily safety huddle, classroom sessions with a series of guest speakers and self-directed learning.

“In addition to caring for patients, it’s important that our residents learn about the complex nature of our healthcare system and how patient care as portrayed through the lens of documentation impact hospital-based operations, its revenue cycle, and its publicly reported data,” said Ahmed Abuabdou, M.D., associate chief medical officer and associate professor of medicine.

“I am grateful to all the UAMS Health course instructors who took the time to share with class participants how they interact with physicians and the importance of their role in the institution’s success. The course is so much more meaningful when students are able to hear first-hand accounts from professionals with real-world examples.”

Course instructors included Julie Atkins, Catherine Corless, Ann Creel, Carla Elmore, Bhawna Jha, M.D., Ben Muse, Matthew Osburn, Lori Salisbury, Troy Schmit, Melissa Slater, Candy Snellgrove, Alison Stangeby, Carol Thrush, Ed.D., Monica Watson, Kari White, and course administrator Sheryl Young.

UAMS physicians Edward Yeh, Michelle Krause, Tony Seupaul, Aaron Wenger, Keyur Vyas, and Alice Alexander  attended the luncheon and presented awards to the facilitators. Internal Medicine Chief Residents Zachary Tilley and Lauren Taylor also attended the luncheon and shared their experience about the course.