SVMIC Declares $7.5 M Dividend
BRENTWOOD, TN – State Volunteer Mutual Insurance Company’s Board of Directors has declared a dividend of $7.5 million to be returned to all policyholders renewing in the twelve-month period following May 15, 2014.
This is the seventh consecutive year SVMIC has declared dividends for its physician policyholders. Policyholders will receive the dividend in the form of a credit on the renewal premium. Additionally, rates will remain unchanged for 2014.
Since SVMIC’s inception, a total of $335.5 million has been returned to physician policyholders.
A.M. Best Awards LAMMICO an “A” Rating
After 20 consecutive years of maintaining an “Excellent” rating, A.M. Best upgraded LAMMICO’s financial strength rating to A from A- and issuer credit ratings to “a” from “a-”.
The world’s oldest and most authoritative source of insurer financial performance assigns the “A” rating to companies that have, in Best’s opinion, an excellent ability to meet their ongoing insurance obligations. According to Best, “The ratings are reflective of the group’s strong capitalization driven by its conservative loss reserving philosophy, consistently favorable operating performance, high policyholder retention, and leadership position in providing medical professional liability insurance coverage to physicians and surgeons, other health care practitioners and health care facilities in the state of Louisiana.” The upgraded rating underscores LAMMICO’s continued improvement in the financial strength and overall growth of the company.
LAMMICO received its first A- (Excellent) rating from Best in 1994, based on the company’s financial results in 1993. At that time, it was a remarkable achievement for an insurance carrier to receive such a high grade on its very first rating. Last year (2013), Best revised LAMMICO’s rating outlook to positive from stable while affirming the company’s financial strength rating of A- “Excellent.” The revision of the rating outlook was a necessary first step in order for LAMMICO to receive an upgraded rating from Best.
MedEvolve EHR Software is Certified for Meaningful Use Stage 2
MedEvolve, a provider of practice management software, electronic health records (EHR), and physician revenue cycle management services, today announced that its EHR solution, MedEvolve EHR 6.0, has been tested and was certified for Meaningful Use Stage 2 on April 13, 2014 by Drummond Group’s Electronic Health Records Office of the National Coordinator Authorized Certification Body (ONC-ACB) program. MedEvolve EHR 6.0 met the requirements for ONC’s Complete EHR 2014 criteria which were adopted by the Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services. MedEvolve’s EHR 6.0 supports both Meaningful Use Stage 1 and Stage 2 measures, and is certified for use by eligible providers to qualify for EHR incentives.
Drummond Group’s ONC-ACB certification program certifies that EHRs meet the meaningful use criteria for either eligible provider or hospital technology. In turn, healthcare providers using the EHR systems of certified vendors are qualified to receive federal stimulus monies upon demonstrating meaningful use of the technology – a key component of the federal government’s push to improve clinical care delivery through the adoption and effective use of EHRs by U.S. healthcare providers.
This Complete EHR is 2014 Edition compliant and has been certified by an ONC-ACB in accordance with the applicable certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This certification does not represent an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or guarantee the receipt of incentive payments.
NARMC Welcomes Dr. Adam McCall
North Arkansas Regional Medical Center is pleased to announce that Adam McCall, M.D. has joined the active medical staff.
Dr. McCall graduated from Conway High School in 2002. He attended the University of Central Arkansas where he received a Bachelor of Science (Biology) degree in 2006. He furthered his education at the University of Arkansas For Medical Sciences in Little Rock, where he received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 2010.
In March of this year he completed his Residency at UAMS-Area Health Education Center in Fayetteville, AR. Dr. McCall’s professional recognitions include Student Leader on the UAMS Christian Medical and Dental Association. He has participated in Medical Mission Trips to the Dominican Republic, India, and South America. Dr. McCall is Board Certified by the American Board of Family Practice.
Dr. McCall has joined the NARMC Family Medicine Clinic in Harrison.
Chasse Conque Appointed Senior Director of Development for UAMS Medical Center
Chasse Conque has been appointed senior director of development for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Medical Center.
Conque joined UAMS in February 2011 as the director of development for the College of Medicine. In 2012 he was part of the College of Medicine’s best fundraising year in six years helping raise more than $6 million. He has worked closely with the college’s Board of Visitors as well as UAMS physicians and researchers to help raise funds in all areas – clinical, research and education.
Working under Renie Rule, the UAMS College of Medicine’s executive director of development, Chasse has been a key figure in the college’s development efforts which have raised $15 million over the last three years, according to Lance Burchett, UAMS vice chancellor for institutional advancement.
He is replacing Sue Williamson, who is retiring after a 30-year career at UAMS.
Prior to coming to UAMS, Conque spent five years at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) where he was the director of development for athletics. While there he started SpectacUALR, the largest ongoing fundraising event for the university. Conque was named to the “Arkansas Business 20 in their 20’s” list in 2011.
He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Central Arkansas and a Master of Business Administration from UALR.
Conque will continue to work with Rule and College of Medicine Dean G. Richard Smith, M.D., as well as UAMS Medical Center CEO Roxane Townsend, M.D, and Brigitte Grant, associate vice chancellor for development, to identify philanthropic opportunities for the medical center and College of Medicine.
UAMS, UAF Offering Grants to Spur Telehealth Research, Collaboration
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Translational Research Institute and the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (UAF) are offering pilot grants to study the state’s nationally leading telehealth programs, a relatively new practice that allows doctors to reach patients in distant locations.
The one-year Translational Research Institute Pilot Research Awards will fund as many as four telehealth projects at up to $15,000, with an additional $5,000 available to projects that involve a UAF collaborator.
Telehealth uses two-way interactive video and imaging devices to deliver specialized medical services, from emergency stroke treatment to the care of premature infants. Arkansas ranks second nationally in telehealth availability, and it has the lowest ratio of rural residents to telehealth sites, according to the National Telehealth Resource Centers Report.
UAMS has more than 40 pioneering clinical telehealth programs that utilize the state’s infrastructure, but many of the programs lack the data needed to promote broader adoption, said Laura James, M.D., director of the UAMS Translational Research Institute.
The institutions’ leaders said the collaborative funding initiative is designed to foster research between physicians engaged in telehealth programs and researchers.
Cynthia L. Sagers, Ph.D., associate vice provost for Research and Economic Development at UAF said they expect to see research that tests the clinical outcomes, cost effectiveness and comparative effectiveness of these programs so that they can be more broadly adopted.
Every county in Arkansas has at least one telehealth site and most counties have several. All UAMS Regional Centers, most of the state’s hospitals, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and county health departments are linked through telehealth. Arkansas has 945 telehealth endpoints, 421 anchor health care institutions, and 495 interactive video units.
The UAMS Translational Research Institute’s mission is to help accelerate research that will improve the health and health care of people in Arkansas and across the country. TRI is one of 62 recipients of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA).
UAMS Researchers Awarded $4.4 Million Grant for Space Radiation Health Research
A team of University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) research scientists recently was awarded a three-year $4.4 million grant by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) to investigate the degenerative or long-term health effects of space radiation on cardiovascular health, as part of the newly formed Center for Space Radiation Research.
Marjan Boerma, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences in the UAMS College of Pharmacy Division of Radiation Health, will lead the research team and serve as its principal investigator.
Compared to the general population, people exposed to radiation in different scenarios on Earth have shown higher incidences of cardiovascular diseases like hypertension, ischemic heart disease and stroke. The cardiovascular system seems more sensitive to ionizing radiation than previously believed, Boerma said. Hence, the researchers will seek to determine if radiation encountered during space travel has similar negative long-term consequences for cardiovascular health. They also will look for ways to reduce the health risks from radiation exposure in space.
One of the countermeasures against radiation injury that they’re interested in is tocotrienol, in the vitamin E family, Boerma said. They will use and test gamma-tocotrienol because it has been shown to be very effective in protecting against radiation injury. Now, since tocotrienols also have several other benefits for heart and blood vessels, they’re going to test to see if it reduces cardiovascular effects from space radiation.”
In addition to Boerma, other UAMS scientists and faculty at the center include: Martin Hauer-Jensen, M.D., Ph.D., associate dean for research and director of the Division of Radiation Health in the UAMS College of Pharmacy; Alan Tackett, Ph.D., professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; and Igor Koturbash, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health in the UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health. Hauer-Jensen will serve as co-director of the center, while Tackett and Koturbash are co-investigators.
