HJNO Mar/Apr 2023

36 MAR / APR 2023  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS   Healthcare Briefs Omicron variants. The CDC recommends that those who have completed a primary COVID- 19 vaccine series (including those who already received booster doses with monovalent vac- cines) receive a single booster dose with one of the bivalent vaccines at least two months after the last vaccine dose. Stacy Greene, MD, DCHC’s infectious disease lead, said that it is equally important to get tested and ultimately treated with oral antiviral thera- pies for COVID-19 that are available at DCHC’s pharmacies if people are experiencing symptoms. "If a person is showing symptoms of COVID-19, testing for the virus is very important to help one know their COVID-19 status. The elderly and those with comorbid conditions are at increased risk for progression to severe COVID-19 disease. Oral antiviral therapy, if given within five days of symptom onset, is very effective for prevention of hospitalization and death due to COVID-19.” For more information or to schedule a COVID- 19 vaccination or test, call 504-207-3060. Trellis Celebrates Its First Graduates in Partnership with Ochsner Health Trellis, a program of Tulane’s Cowen Institute and launched in 2020, celebrated its first gradu- ating class in December. Trellis supports working adults in enrolling and succeeding in Southern New Hampshire University’s (SNHU) online, proj- ect-based AA and BA degree programs. Each of Trellis’ graduates, and 90% of the Trellis student body, have tried college before but needed to stop due to challenges like high cost of tuition, work and class schedule conflicts, or to take care of family members. Trellis is designed for working adults to return to college and graduate with a degree that will help them advance their careers. The enrollment team works with regional employers like Och- sner Health to identify staff who need a college degree to open advancement opportunities. Trellis students work full time while pursuing their college degree. SNHU coursework is self- paced and entirely online, so students build their study schedule around their work, family, and other time commitments. Students meet with their Trellis coach once a week to check on progress to goals, troubleshoot challenges, and provide motivation and accountability. Trellis also provides laptops and internet hot spots for stu- dents who need them, so technology is not a bar- rier to student success. Trellis is currently expanding its employer part- nerships to enroll new students. To learn more about partnering with Trellis, or to express inter- est in applying as a student, contact David Col- lier at dcollier1@trellisnola.org . CIS Launches National Cardiology Platform in Partnership with Lee Equity Partners Cardiovascular Institute of the South (CIS) announced the launch of a national cardiovascu- lar platform, Cardiovascular Logistics, in partner- ship with private equity firm Lee Equity Partners, headquartered in New York City. The launch of Cardiovascular Logistics will build and support a network of cardiovascular prac- tices in the U.S. CIS currently employs 60 phy- sicians across 21 locations in Louisiana and Mis- sissippi, with an additional 23 physicians under management in Chicago. CIS was founded by Craig Walker, MD, in 1983 in Houma, Louisiana. CIS and its clinics will strive to operate in the same way and support their communities, with the same high level of care, innovation, exper- tise, and top-notch staff. “Our mission at CIS from day one, from incep- tion, has been to provide our patients with the highest-quality cardiovascular care available, and it has been our guiding light. We are eager to execute our mission on a much broader scale with national impact,” said Walker. “This partner- ship will better serve our patients, as we strive to improve healthcare. This will be a win for our patients.” David Konur, CEO of Cardiovascular Logistics said, “We are pleased to partner with Lee Equity given their long-term track record of building stra- tegic partnerships with clinically strong health- care companies across the nation and helping them grow into market-leading national health- care platforms focused on clinical excellence and high patient satisfaction. Together, we will seek to partner with the leading cardiovascular practices across the country, share best practices and improve cardiovascular care for all. We look forward to announcing additional partnerships with leading cardiology practices, who will help form the foundation of Cardiovascular Logistics, in the coming months.” “We are excited to partner with Dr. Craig Walker, David Konur, and the entire physician and management teams at CIS,” said Collins Ward, partner at Lee Equity. “CIS has a global reputa- tion in cardiovascular care, and we believe Lee Equity’s experience in multi-site healthcare will help build Cardiovascular Logistics into the lead- ing national platform of cardiology practices.” Study in Joint Commission JQPS Evaluates Retention of Inpatient Care Discharge Information Hospitalized patients receive a large amount of medical information from their healthcare team. Patient understanding of medical care reduces readmission rates and improves patient satis- faction, yet the literature suggests that patients often have poor retention of the large amount of care information they received despite numer- ous interventions. A new study in the February 2023 issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety (JQPS) evaluated how well patients retain care information after hospital discharge and assessed patient perspectives on facilitators of this process, such as whiteboards, discussions with providers, discharge paperwork, and patient portal. Researchers at the University of Michigan School of Medicine conducted semi-structured phone interviews of patients admitted to general medicine resident teaching services within 24 to 48 hours post-hospitalization to assess their recall of four key domains of care: • Diagnoses addressed. • Inpatient treatment. • Post-discharge treatment plans. • Medication changes. Chart review verified patient responses, which were then categorized by independent reviewers as correct, partially correct, or incorrect. Results showed the vast majority (90%) of patients were confident in their knowledge of their diagnoses and treatment, yet independent review revealed the following: • 58.5% correctly recalled diagnoses