A $15 million gift in honor of WSU School of Medicine alumnus set the tone for yesterday's launch of "Wayne First," the university's $500 million capital campaign. The gift, which was made by Nick Labedz in memory of his partner, Richard J. Mazurek, M.D., is the largest in Wayne State University's history.

Dr. Mazurek, who died of cardiac arrest in 2002, graduated from the School of Medicine in 1961. One-half of Mr. Labedz's gift will be designated to construct a 34,000-square-foot Medical Education Commons, which will be named for Dr. Mazurek.

"It's appropriate to give back to Dick's medical school that he was so proud of -- in the college from which he graduated -- to serve an area to which he devoted his life," Mr. Labedz said. "And now to embody his legacy through the medical education facility envisioned and realized. We are carrying on the very thing that is 'Dick Mazurek.' This gift, this new paradigm in medical education, is an outgrowth of him -- an evolution of the man. It all makes sense."

After graduating from the School of Medicine, Dr. Mazurek interned at the University of California-Los Angeles and Wadsworth Veterans Hospital. He entered private practice in Playa Del Ray, Calif., in 1964, and was considered an excellent diagnostician. He served as a clinical instructor on UCLA College of Medicine's faculty and was among the first physicians to become board certified in family medicine, although his primary certification was in surgery as an ear, nose and throat specialist.

Dr. Mazurek was active in real estate, most notably apartment buildings and commercial properties. In 1988, he retired from medicine after 25 years in private practice.

"We applaud Nick ... and all the generous donors who have shown a commitment to this campaign and see the value of investing in education and endowing Wayne State's future for years to come," said WSU President Irvin Reid. "Their gifts and others have pushed Wayne State to the halfway mark of our $500 million goal for the Wayne First Capital Campaign."

The School of Medicine has already raised $67 million, or 53 percent of its $115 million campaign goal. In addition to the $30 million Mazurek Medical Education Commons, the school has earmarked capital campaign funds to support Brush Mall renovations, scholarship and chair endowments as well as research initiatives.

For more information or to make a donation to the Wayne First campaign, please visit http://www.waynefirst.wayne.edu/.

 

A 2.3 percent physician tax would be good for patients and good for business, said Dean Robert Frank at his fourth open forum yesterday. Along with Stephen DeSilva, M.D., president of the WSU Physician Group, Dean Frank made his case in support of a statewide assessment on physician revenues that would be used to bolster the floundering Medicaid system.

"It's good policy," Dr. DeSilva said. "It's good for physician providers and it's good for patients."

A 2.3 percent tax on the state's $9.4 billion in physician practice collections -- not individual physicians' income -- would generate $220 million. About $40 million of this amount would be used to restore a recent 4 percent cut in the Medicaid budget, leaving $180 million eligible for a federal match that would generate an additional $253 million.

Altogether, the tax would make $433 million available for Medicaid. According to Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office, the additional funds would allow Medicaid fee schedules to be increased to match those of Medicare. Access would be considerably increased under this plan, Dean Frank said.

"For us, Medicaid cuts are a challenge," Dean Frank said. "For the Medicaid patient, it's crisis. If you go to a specialist and there aren't enough slots and you have a disease or illness, it's a crisis. Your health status slowly, but truly, erodes."

As of May 1, the state of Michigan enacted a 4 percent cut in Medicaid fee schedules and restricted patients from obtaining retroactive eligibility for benefits. The cut is expected to cost the WSU Physician Group $3.4 million during the next year, Dr. DeSilva said.

A physician tax initially would cost the WSU Physician Group a similar amount, at $3.4 million. However, with the increased fee schedule, Dr. DeSilva said, the group stood to gain as much as $28 million in the first year.

In addition, Dr. DeSilva said, no physician practice in the state would be negatively impacted unless their Medicaid patient load was less than 3.5 percent.

For more on the tax, please view the following links:

• Video and/or audio from yesterday's forum;
• FAQs about the Physician-Provider Tax; and
• Dr. Stephen DeSilva's letter to the editor of the Detroit Free Press.

Please watch for more developments about this important effort to be posted on the WSU School of Medicine website.

 

Dr. Flack also is named interim chair of medicine

Donald W. Weaver, M.D., has been named chairman, department of surgery, Wayne State University School of Medicine, pending formal approval by the WSU Board of Governors. Dr. Weaver has also been appointed surgeon-in-chief of the Detroit Medical Center . The joint appointment was announced by WSU School of Medicine Dean Robert R. Frank, M.D., and DMC President and CEO Mike Duggan.

Dr. Weaver will succeed David Fromm, M.D., who retired as chairman and chief of surgery last June after 17 years in the role.

Dr. Weaver is board-certified in general surgery and serves as chief of oncology and general surgery at Harper University Hospital . A professor of surgery, he served as vice chairman of the department before being named as interim chairman during the national search for a permanent department head.

“I am delighted that our search brought us back to the experience and expertise of Don Weaver,” said Dr. Frank. “His demonstrated leadership within the department and his solid academic credentials will provide the strength to guide surgery into a nationally ranked center for research and clinical care.”

“Dr. Weaver has been a critical leader in the rebuilding and strengthening of the Detroit Medical Center 's surgery areas. He has helped us recruit and retain many of the best physicians in the state and we look forward to his new leadership role,” said Mike Duggan.

Dr. Weaver received his undergraduate degree from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Mich., and his medical degree from Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, Calif. He completed his residency training at Wayne State University and was subsequently named to the faculty. He is extensively published in the academic and research literature and is a frequent lecturer at national and international conferences and meetings.

In related news, Dean Frank also appointed John M. Flack, M.D., M.P.H., as interim chair in the Department of Internal Medicine. Dr. Flack, a professor of internal medicine, previously served as associate chairman for academic affairs and chief quality officer for the department.

Dr. Flack is director of the Cardiovascular Epidemiology and Clinical Applications Program and principal investigator for the WSU Center for Urban and African-American Health. A specialist in clinical hypertension, Dr. Flack also holds an appointment in the Department of Community Medicine.

His research interest includes clinical trial design, implementation and monitoring hypertension in African Americans and utilization of software-based approaches to support optimal clinical decision-making.

"Please join me in providing your congratulations and support to Drs. Weaver and Flack," Dean Frank said.

 

 

WSU President Irvin Reid and School of Medicine Dean Robert Frank are inviting members of the university community to join them Tuesday, May 24, in kicking off "Wayne First," the WSU capital campaign. The effort, which seeks to raise $500 million, will begin at 3 p.m. on the mall between the North and South residency halls.

A major announcement with great impact for the School of Medicine is expected as part of the celebration.

"A strong School of Medicine presence, dressed in your lab coats, will create a display of solidarity and support to the public and the rest of the university," Dr. Frank wrote in a letter earlier this week. "This campaign will mark a new era for the School of Medicine. The announcements made on May 24th will bring great changes to Wayne State University and exciting enhancements and improvements to the way our future doctors are educated."

Shuttle buses will run continuously from Scott Hall between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m. on May 24. For more information, please contact Sue Helderop at sheldero@med.wayne.edu.

For the third year in a row, President Irvin D. Reid has earmarked $1.8 million for the WSU research enhancement program, the bulk of which went to School of Medicine programs. The program's goal is to provide seed money to increase the number of successful requests for external research funding, particularly those entailing interdisciplinary research and scholarship.

This program is intended to contribute to developing research themes for the university with an emphasis on an urban mission, a global presence and technology. This year's funds are designated for research aimed at understanding and overcoming the disparity in health outcomes, particularly those related to chronic diseases among medically underserved and ethnic minority populations living in an urban environment.

Part of this year's funds will be used to build capacity in the WSU Center for Urban and African American Health, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health. Led by John Flack, M.D., M.P.H., WSU associate chair of internal medicine, the center seeks new ways to redress health disparities by identifying preventive strategies and therapeutic approaches to chronic diseases that plague this population, namely obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

In addition to funding CUAAH, five additional WSU proposals will receive funding from the research enhancement program.

• "Looking for Answers in Lymphedema Prevention: Is it what we inherit? Is it what we do? Is it what we treat?" The goal of this project is to reduce the incidence of arm lymphedema in breast cancer survivors in Detroit. The interdisciplinary team for this project is led by Mary Ann Kosir, WSU associate professor of surgery at the Karmanos Cancer Institute.
• "Feasibility Study of Testing Fecal DNA/RNA and Bacterial Markers for Population Studies" The goal of this interdisciplinary project is to gain knowledge that is useful in the prevention of colorectal cancer for high-risk populations, such as African Americans. Ikuko Kato, WSU associate professor at the Karmanos Cancer Institute, leads this project.
• "Prostate Cancer Admixture Mapping in African-American Men" This two-year study will use an approach called admixture mapping to identify genes involved in prostate cancer susceptibility in African-American men. The project is led by Cathryn Bock, WSU assistant professor at the Karmanos Cancer Institute, and Elisabeth Heath, WSU assistant professor of internal medicine.
• "Reducing Health Disparities in Urban Adult Populations through Personalized E-Technology: Impacts and Effects of eHealthSmart" The goal of this project is to research use and effectiveness of personalized computer software that identifies and addresses specific health-promoting lifestyle needs of individuals disproportionately affected by smoking, obesity and other chronic diseases. Joseph Tan, chair of information systems and manufacturing at the School of Business Administration, leads the interdisciplinary team for this project.
• "Helping Older Minority Women Transition from Homelessness" This two-year study involves 75 African-American women, age 45 and older, during their transition from homelessness. The project's interdisciplinary team is led by Olivia Washington, WSU associate professor of Nursing at the Institute of Gerontology, and David Moxley, WSU professor social work.

 

The Wayne State University Physician Group has selected NextGen Electronic Medical Records from Horsham, Pa.-based NextGen Healthcare Information Systems. By using NextGen EMR, the Wayne State University Physician Group will be able to improve quality, enhance patient safety and increase revenues through efficient and secure access to patient information at the point of care.

“With 19 individual practices and 22 different specialties, it was critical for us to find an EMR that could be easily customized to meet the needs of all our physicians,” said Stephen DeSilva, M.D., president of the Wayne State University Physician Group. “NextGen EMR's thin client architecture and flexible templates allow each specialty or sub-specialty to practice medicine their own way while also supporting shared access to patient data.”

NextGen's template-based system enables physicians to utilize drop-down lists and check boxes and buttons to speed the data entry process during patient encounters. Through the use of the system's template editor, the Wayne State University Physician Group can quickly and cost-effectively make changes to templates, such as adding new fields, alerts, screens and clinical pathways, to complement the way its physicians practice medicine.

Additional features include the NextGen EMR medications module, which checks new prescriptions against a patient's medication list and allergies to help prevent interactions and medication errors. Once checking is complete, prescriptions are quickly generated and printed at the checkout counter or faxed directly to the pharmacy. Access to this module will enable the Wayne State University Physician Group to participate in the Southeast Michigan e-Prescribing Initiative (SEMI), a major quality initiative aimed at addressing medication errors and the subsequent effect on health care quality and costs. The Group is also positioned to take advantage of national and statewide pay-for-performance programs.

NextGen EMR incorporates a number of security mechanisms to prevent unauthorized access to records and to maintain legal integrity. Linked to user preferences and security data, virtually all data maintained by the system is stamped with the user's identification and the date and time.

“We are also very impressed that the NextGen system can seamlessly interface with our existing IDX practice management system and our hospital partner's information systems,” added DeSilva.

 

Dean Robert Frank will host his next "A Year to Make a Difference" forum at 4 p.m., Tuesday, May 17, in Scott Hall's Blue Auditorium. The focus of the discussion will be the School of Medicine's clinical mission. Dean Frank's presentation will include an update on the WSU Physician Group's efforts to establish a multispecialty, single-group practice, Gov. Granholm's proposed physician provider assessment for Medicaid and the joint strategic planning process involving WSU, the WSU Physician Group and the Detroit Medical Center.