Inside News

May 3, 2019

FCC Commissioner Impressed by UAMS Digital Health Initiatives

Ben Boulden

May 3, 2019 | UAMS’ pioneering work in bringing health care to those who need it through digital health applications has drawn the attention of a top federal official who traveled from Washington D.C. to UAMS recently to see for herself. Jessica Rosenworcel, a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission, visited April 29 with UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA; guests of the university; and leaders of UAMS’ new Institute for Digital Health & Innovation, including institute director Curtis Lowery, M.D. “We are 46th out of 50 states in health outcomes,” Patterson said. “UAMS needs to change that for the better, and we won’t do it just by staying in Pulaski County.” Telemedicine allows health professionals to diagnose and treat patients not physically present by using telecommunications technology, such as live video. It allows UAMS to extend its presence beyond its main campus and regional campuses. The creation of the institute, under the leadership of Patterson and Lowery, was announced in February and builds upon several telemedicine programs already in place, including ANGELS for high-risk pregnancy, AR SAVES for stroke, STAR for rural School-Based Health Centers and more. The institute connects the majority of hospitals and clinics across the state with telemedicine through interactive video and other digital services. Lowery gave a brief presentation to Rosenworcel about the history of digital health and telemedicine at UAMS. Lowery, Tina Benton, B.S.N., and a small team of clinicians and staff in 2003 founded ANGELS to bring maternal-fetal medicine to women with high-risk pregnancies who did not live near such a specialist. ANGELS (the Antenatal and Neonatal Guidelines, Education and Learning System) is an innovative consultative service for a wide range of physicians including family practitioners, obstetricians, neonatologists and pediatricians in Arkansas. An ANGELS obstetrician can talk to a pregnant mother via a live video connection and watch an ultrasound image of her baby from a local hospital so she can avoid traveling to Little Rock hours away. Lowery said the institute is doing a pilot study to see if ANGELS’ live video consultations can help during an emergency labor-and-delivery. “That’s the only way you’re going to do anything about it,” Lowery said. “By the time you transfer a mother from that smaller hospital, we might lose her because of excessive bleeding. I think in the next year we’re going to explore the idea of delivering blood by using drones. It could make a real difference when a hospital doesn’t have the blood for a massive loss.” Rosenworcel said she was intrigued by the idea of using drones to facilitate the transportation of blood and transplant organs. During her visit, she observed a live ANGELS consultation with a pregnant mother in another Arkansas town and toured the 24-hour call center that routes calls for ANGELS and other telemedicine programs like Arkansas Stroke Assistance through Virtual Emergency Support (AR SAVES). Renee Joiner, B.S.N., AR SAVES director, briefed Rosenworcel about the stroke telemedicine program. UAMS started AR SAVES in 2008 to provide telemedicine consultations with stroke neurologists at any time via live video. Through this service, almost 2,000 patients have received a clot-busting drug that often restores complete function to the patient. Arkansas recently fell to seventh in the nation in the number of stroke deaths per capita after many years in first place, a huge improvement credited in part to the efforts of AR SAVES. “I went down to Crossett on Friday and met a 27-year-old gentleman who had a stroke and went to the Ashley County Medical Center,” Patterson said. “He was treated through AR SAVES. Without this, he probably would have been a paraplegic and unable to work.” Rosenworcel learned about the trauma telemedicine program and the School Telemedicine in Arkansas (STAR) program, the first-ever effort to bring telemedicine care to Arkansas’ rural School-Based Health Centers. STAR two years ago rolled out the Healthy Now initiative for obesity reduction and prevention. Graduate students from the University of Central Arkansas and a UAMS nutritionist engage the students in one-on-one telemedicine encounters. “We piloted the program in the Magazine School District,” said Alan Faulkner, a program manager for the institute. “With two groups of participating students, 51% in one group reduced their weight, and 66% in another group reduced their weight.” Rosenworcel said she found those numbers to be very impressive. She was also given an overview of the Arkansas e-Link network by network director Roy Kitchen. The network was created from a $102 million grant awarded in August 2010 to UAMS and partner institutions through the federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program Comprehensive Community Infrastructure grant. Led by UAMS, e-Link uses high-speed data transmission lines to connect about 400 community institutions for videoconferencing between medical professionals, patients and doctors and others along with the real-time exchange of patient data and readings. “Your approach has been great,” Rosenworcel said. “Instead of building a network and then finding problems to solve with it, you identified many real problems in public health and specific ways a digital health network can be used to solve them.” Rosenworcel especially enjoyed being able to meet an ANGELS patient via live video and observe the patient’s telemedicine consultation. “We are becoming one of the most connected states in the nation, and we believe with that we can use digital health to improve the health and quality of life of Arkansans,” Lowery said.

UAMS’ pioneering work in bringing health care to those who need it through digital health applications has drawn the attention of a top federal official who traveled from Washington D.C. to UAMS recently to see for herself. Jessica Rosenworcel, a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission, visited April 29 with UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D.,…

May 2, 2019

UAMS Volunteers Provide Physicals for Special Olympics Athletes

Spencer Watson

UAMS volunteers administer a vision screening for a Special Olympics athlete.

Like a school gym on tryout day, the waiting room of the UAMS 12th Street Health & Wellness Center was abuzz with energy as dozens of young athletes waited their turn to take a physical that would clear them for sporting competition. Some were a bundle of nerves. Others were relaxed and all smiles. But…

May 1, 2019

Pursue Mindfulness

Yavonda Chase

Purushottam Thapa, M.D., a professor in the UAMS Department of Psychiatry and the medical director of the UAMS Student Wellness Program, has a few tips for anyone interested in a mindfulness program.

April 30, 2019

UAMS Celebrates Grand Opening of New Pine Bluff Regional Campus

Spencer Watson

Mark Deal and Chancellor Cam Patterson use oversized scissors from the Pine Bluff Regional Chamber of Commerce for the official ribbon cutting at the South Central Regional Campus.

After an eight-month construction project, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) South Central Regional Campus in Pine Bluff celebrated its grand opening in a spacious facility on the Jefferson Regional Medical Center campus. The 33,000-square-foot space on the bottom two floors in the Jefferson Professional Building II provides room for the merger of…

College of Medicine Dean’s Day Celebrates Faculty and Staff Excellence

ChaseYavondaC

Service. Innovation. Selflessness. Gratitude. These were some of the words used as the UAMS College of Medicine honored faculty and staff members for exemplary service and accomplishments in education, research and clinical care at the ninth annual Dean’s Honor Day ceremony on April 24. “For me, this is one of the most rewarding events of…

April 26, 2019

New Hospital Beds Benefit Patients and Staff

Kate Franks

Jalen Morris (left) and Bradon Berry, contract employees with Stryker, assemble new patient beds in the UAMS loading dock. More than 300 patient received new beds in April.

More than 300 patients in the UAMS hospital are getting new beds before the end of April.

April 24, 2019

UAMS Medical Center, Five Faculty Honored as Healthcare Heroes

Tim Taylor

UAMS finalists for Healthcare Hero for 2019 (from left): J.D. Day, M.D.; Gloria Richard-Davis, M.D.; Terry Collins, R.N.; Ronda Henry-Tillman, M.D.; Hari Eswaran, Ph.D.; Purushottam Thapa, M.D.; Joseph Bates, M.D.; C. Lowry Barnes, M.D.; and Bradley Martin, Pharm.D., Ph.D.

UAMS Medical Center, four UAMS physicians and a UAMS researcher were honored April 24 as Healthcare Heroes at a luncheon to recognize individuals, companies and organizations making a significant impact on the quality of health care in Arkansas. It was the fourth year for the event, sponsored by the Arkansas Business Publishing Group and held…

Earth Day at UAMS Continues to Grow, Even in Rain

Ben Boulden

A Little Rock Zoo interpreter shows off a hawk at the UAMS celebration of Earth Day.

Heavy, spring rains April 18 in central Arkansas only brought more growth to Earth Day at UAMS.

April 23, 2019

Medicaid Expansion States See Decline in Low-Birth-Weight for Black Infants, UAMS Researchers Report in JAMA

Ashley McNatt

LITTLE ROCK | States that expanded Medicaid showed a significant reduction in low-birth-weight and preterm births for black infants, but no significant difference in those rates overall, researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) report in an article published today in JAMA. Since 1990, states have been required to provide Medicaid coverage…

Fifth Year of Parkinson’s Symposium Marks Continued Growth