HonorHealth Newsletter to the Medical Staff

May 2021

Watch the recording of the live online event, featuring special remarks from HonorHealth leadership and Mayor Ortega from the City of Scottsdale. The Institute, a state-of-the-art five story building with nearly 120,000 feet of space, will provide comprehensive neuro care in one location by bringing together experts in the neuroscience fields to create an integrated approach to care. Learn more about the institute...

Expanding access to breast care services

Wound care and hyperbaric oxygen therapy

Long COVID guide

ADDITIONAL NEWS

Bob Bové Neuroscience Institute at HonorHealth Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Family Medicine Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives, Nursing home COVID-29 action network ECHO, and more. Read updates

Updates from Academic Affairs

Shaping the future of medicine

The HonorHealth Research Institute is helping to shape the future of medicine. Our team of physicians and researchers are committed to finding cures and improving treatments in areas like neuroscience, cardiovascular, cellular therapies, stroke, oncology, early drug development, early detection and prevention of disease. This month, in recognition of Skin Cancer and Stroke Awareness month, we’re highlighting the HonorHealth Research Institute initiatives and programs for Skin Cancer and Stroke.

Skin cancer

Cutaneous Oncologist tumor board – attended by dermatologists, surgeons, radiologists, radiation and medical oncologists, the tumor board is where a variety of patient cases are discussed this includes patients with advanced or localized but complex disease. The tumor board meets the 2nd and 4th Monday of every month virtually from 5:30 pm-6:30 pm. If you are interested in participating or presenting patients, please email Jeremy Torred.

The Melanoma and Skin Cancer Clinic - led by Dr. Justin Moser, the clinic offers clinical trials and treatment options for patients with all types of advanced skin cancers including Melanoma, Uveal Melanoma, Merkel Cell Carcinoma, Basal Cell Carcinoma, Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Skin, and other skin cancers. Currently, it offers one of the largest selections of treatment options for patients with advanced skin cancers in the state. For more information about the clinic or how to refer patients, please call 480-323-1364 or email us at clinicaltrials@honorhealth.com.

Click here to download the list of trials.

Neuroscience research for stroke patients

In partnership with the Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, the HonorHealth Research Institute is participating in clinical trial “CREST-2 Carotid revascularization and medical management for asymptomatic carotid stenosis”. CREST-2 is a two parallel multicenter randomized observation blinded endpoint clinical trial. The trials will assess treatment differences between intensive medical management alone compared to carotid endarterectomy (CEA) or carotid arterial stenting (CAS) plus intensive medical management. Intensive medical management will involve control of BP, LDH, cigarette smoking and other vascular risk factors with commonly used medical standard of care treatment of high-grade asymptomatic carotid stenosis. The primary endpoint is to assess if the proportion of patients with a primary event differs between patients treated with intensive medical management alone compared to CEA, or to CAS, in patients with high-grade asymptomatic carotid stenosis. The primary outcome will be the proportion of patients who experience the composite endpoint of any stroke or death within 44 days of randomization or ipsilateral stroke up to four years thereafter.

General inclusion criteria: Patients ≥ 35 years old with asymptomatic carotid stenosis.
Principal Investigator (PI): Ashutosh Jadhav, MD, PhD.

For more information on how to refer patients to this study, please call the HonorHealth Research Institute Neuroscience Research Team at 602-258-2863 or email us at neuroscienceresearch@honorhealth.com

Learn more about Neuroscience clinical trials and research

Wound Care documentation tip sheet

Documentation tip sheet for non-pressure ulcers and pressure ulcers/injuries. +DOWNLOAD TIP SHEET

We’re happy to announce that the HonorHealth Peer Support Program will be launching this month. Here’s what you need to know:

We now have 50 physicians trained as peer supporters
The pandemic has added to already-existing stressors for physicians
Literature shows that physicians experience distress and have equal or more mental health issues than matched controls, but do not tend to reach out for help
We surveyed HonorHealth physicians and their feedback, in addition to supporting literature, was that they would accept help from peers
Evidence also shows that peer supports helps improve the wellbeing for supporters as well as those providing support

Connect with a peer supporter
If you or a colleague might benefit from peer support, you can call the Care for Caregiver line at 480-587-6500 M-F, 7 a.m.-10 p.m., or you can contact:

Rachel Johnson (racjohnson@honorhealth.com)
Wendy Ellis (wellis@honorhealth.com)
Sarah Snell, MD (ssnell@honorhealth.com)

As part of the program, you’ll be provided with a choice of three physicians who you can pick from to connect with for support. You can find a mutually agreed upon time and place to meet in person or virtually. We welcome your participation!

Building a community of caring

Congratulations Scottsdale Thompson Peak Medical Center

HonorHealth is proud to share that Comprehensive Breast Center of Arizona (CBCAZ) and the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Care Network (VGPCCN) are collaborating to deliver world-class care, improved coordination of cutting-edge services, and personalized support for our community. This includes treatment in benign breast disease as well as in breast cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship.

This collaboration:

Keeps patients at the center of a team of compassionate medical providers
Coordinates a vast array of breast experts, strengthens communication, and improves the quality of cancer services across the Valley
Offers expanded patient navigation resources and support services
Allows us to provide enhanced personalized treatment plans
Allows easier access to coordinated cancer services for patients
Strengthens our breast cancer Clinical Trial Program so we remain on the forefront of innovation

Earlier this year, in collaboration with CBCAZ, the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Care Network Comprehensive Breast Cancer Clinic was launched. The clinic navigates patients through a robust, personalized system where they can be seen swiftly and cared for by a team of highly collaborative professionals.

The vision for this collaboration is to distinguish VGPCCN-CBCAZ as a local and national leader in breast oncology treatment and prevention. Patients will continue to receive compassionate and service-oriented care along with the expertise and experience of a renowned cancer center. We are confident that with this team of professionals, whose dedication and commitment to patient care is unmatched, we will bring this goal to fruition and quickly become the go-to destination for breast cancer treatment and prevention.

Sincerely,
Matt Schneider, MBA, AVP Network Oncology, HonorHealth
Brenda Moorthy, DO, Medical Director Breast Surgery/Oncology, Comprehensive Breast Center of Arizona

At HonorHealth, we offer wound care and hyperbaric oxygen therapy for patients who need assistance with healing a new or existing wound. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy helps to treat conditions such as chronic wounds, infections, crush injuries, radiation tissue damage, carbon monoxide poisoning, diabetic foot ulcers, chronic osteomyelitis, decompression sickness (bends) and more.

Treatments include:

Specialized care for patients with comorbidities that decrease wound healing potential such as diabetes, poor circulation, immunosuppression, and infection
Wound debridement and operative reconstruction
Advanced wound dressings such as negative pressure wound therapy and skin substitutes
A comprehensive limb salvage program as part of the Amputation Prevention Center of Excellence
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy
Transcutaneous oxygen measurement
Vascular, orthopedic, podiatric, general, and plastic surgery services
Ostomy consultation and education

WATCH NOW

New patients are welcome

When your patient needs assistance with healing acute and chronic wounds, choose HonorHealth. We have locations across the Valley. Call 480-324-7700 for more information or to assist your patient with scheduling.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is covered by most insurance plans for patients who have a wound that meets specified criteria.

HonorHealth librarians have created an extensive resource collection for Long-COVID and COVID-19. +VISIT WEBSITE

Thank you women physicians!

We, the Co-Chairs of the HonorHealth Women Physician Council, would like to take this opportunity to thank you for responding to our initial survey. We know the demands on your time that you face daily, and we greatly appreciate the investment. Your responses have become the backbone of our charter and helped us focus the goals and initiatives of our Women Physician Council.

As such, we would like to share a summary of the results of the survey:

96% of respondents were interested in a multidisciplinary women physician’s group across the HonorHealth network
Majority of respondents were interested in a women physician’s group for community involvement and friendship, connection with others and networking
Gender-related issues we can solve together include - equity, ability to speak our thoughts, leadership opportunities, visibility, support, career advancement, gender bias
Gender-related obstacles to your profession themes include - respect at work, home and life balance, career development and advancement, pay disparity, implicit bias (from patients, colleagues, nursing staff), leadership advancement
Topics of greatest interest - leadership skills/spokesperson training, medical practice social media and management of image and content, mentoring and sponsorship, burn out/time and stress management, compensation concerns, safe place to vent
Preferred involvement modalities – emails, newsletters, and events

Thank you again in advance for your help and for all that you continue to do every day!
Please email us with questions or if you would like to be part of the HonorHealth Women Physician Council.

Sincerely,
Julie Crichton, MD Anesthesiology (juliekccrichton@gmail.com)
Tiffany Proffitt, DO Emergency Medicine (trproffitt@gmail.com)
Christina Reuss, MD Cardiology

Scottsdale Shea Medical Center - first hospital in AZ to perform minimally invasive robotic lung biopsy procedures

“We are always excited to bring new innovations that will positively impact the care of our patients,” said Kim Post, executive vice president, chief operations officer at HonorHealth. “This revolutionary robotic platform will help our clinical teams detect lung cancer earlier and more accurately, which will directly impact their clinical course of care.”

The unprecedented functionality of this robot provides stability and precision needed for biopsy far into the peripheral lung. Using a minimally invasive technique, it enables optimal lung navigation and produces more accurate biopsies. It then ignites the biopsy marker that allows doctors to biopsy the targeted area, track the number of biopsies and visualize alternative biopsy pathways.

“This technology offers a safer way to approach and navigate difficult areas in the periphery of the lung for patients who have fairly advanced underlying lung disease,” said Richard Gillespie, MD, thoracic oncology surgeon at HonorHealth. “With the ability to go through the natural airways of the lung with this technology, there is no puncturing, or disruptive means to the lung tissue from the outside of the lining of the lung.”
Before the procedure, a CT scan is taken to create a three-dimensional reconstruction of the patient’s airways and to detect the any lesions in the lungs. During the procedure, the three-dimensional pathway is displayed on a computer screen, next to a screen displaying live camera footage inside the lung. The virtual imagery serves as a reference point for doctors as they navigate the actual lungs.
The system will be used for lung cancer screening and early diagnosis by providing more access to small airways or hard-to-reach nodules that other technologies are unable to achieve, as well as for patients who are not surgical candidates but need biopsies to treat cancers. It will also reduce the amount of procedures over the long-term, improving overall patient outcomes.

Earlier this month, Scottsdale Shea Medical Center was the first hospital in Arizona to perform a robotic-assisted bronchoscopy, with shape sensing technology, which is used to help diagnose lung disease.

The robot features an ultra-thin, easily maneuverable catheter that can move 180 degrees in all directions. Doctors can easily navigate small and tortuous airways with the fiber optic technology to reach nodules in any airway segment within the lung. The robot’s flexible biopsy needle can also pass through very tight bends via the catheter to collect tissue in the peripheral lung using real-time vision of the airway, enabling a more precise biopsy and easier surgical experience for patients.

The Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals annual study program has named HonorHealth Scottsdale Thompson Peak Medical Center as one of the highest-performing teaching hospitals in the nation. We're honored to be recognized by Fortune/IBM Watson Health as a 2021 #100TopHospitals award winner. Thank you, employees, physicians, and support staff, for making Thompson Peak Medical Center one of the best places to give and receive care in the country!