Learning and implementing best practices in operations for UT Health Physicians can prevent mistakes, maintain a consistent flow of business to better meet patient demands, and keep our clinical practice profitable and productive. Below are a few updates of interest to our employees.

Labor Day holiday closure

All practice locations will be closed on Monday, Sept. 3, in recognition of Labor Day. The phone operators at 210-450-9000 will be available to answer calls on this day. Normal operations will resume on Tuesday.

Food trucks at the Medical Arts & Research Center on Friday, Sep. 7 from 11 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Food trucks will be at the Medical Arts & Research Center to raise money for the SECC. Download the flyer. For more information about the SECC, click here.

Coming soon to the Medical Arts & Research Center - eyeglasses and eyeglass repair

You may have noticed the new glass store kiosk next to the café on the first floor of the Medical Arts & Research Center. It will soon house a store where employees, patients and visitors can purchase corrective lenses, sunglasses and have glasses repaired. This new store is expected to open in the next month or two. 

Save the date! Employee of the Year and Practice of the Year awards -  Oct. 22  

Mark your calendar for noon on Monday, Oct. 22, and join us in the first floor lobby of the Medical Arts & Research Center. A brief program and reception will be held to award the 2018 Employee of the Year and Practice of the Year.

Dermatology and cardiology now seeing patients at UT Health Hill Country 

UT Health Hill Country is now offering dermatology and cardiology specialty services. For more information, visit www.UTHealthHillCountry.org  

UT Health Verde Hills set to open Sept. 24 

UT Health San Antonio is planning to open its newest primary care location on Monday, Sept. 24. UT Health Verde Hills will be located in the shopping center at 10350 Bandera Road, Suite 140, San Antonio, Texas 78250. View a map >

UT Health Shavano is moving this fall

In October, our primary care office near Shavano Park is moving just a couple of miles away to a location at the intersection of NW Military Highway and Huebner Road. This primary care practice is currently located at 4118 Pond Hill Rd #202, Shavano Park, TX 78231, and will be moving to 14530 NW Military Highway, San Antonio, TX 78231. The phone number will remain the same - 210-450-6620. View a map >

Your practice operations team is here to support all of you in your effort to provide exceptional care to UT Health patients. If you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to your practice operations leaders: Casey Peterson , senior director of practice operations, Jeanette Hernandez, director of practice operations, Johnna Nerios, director of practice operations and Dina Wright, director of practice operations. 

As introduced in our May 2018 e-newsletter, UT Health San Antonio recently established an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) called the UT Health San Antonio Regional Physician Network™.  An ACO is a group of physicians, hospitals and other health care providers who voluntarily join together in a mission to deliver coordinated, high-quality health care to Medicare patients.

The goal of coordinated care is to ensure patients receive the right care at the right time, while avoiding unnecessary duplication of services and preventing potential medical errors. UT Health has a tradition of providing outstanding health care and leading innovation. The demand to move from a “fee-for-service” model to a “value-based” model requires organizations, like ours, to be transformative and develop new ways to provide excellent health care while continuing to meet payer and patient demands. UT Health’s new ACO is a forward-thinking strategy rooted in truly delivering positive results for our patient by driving excellent clinical outcomes while containing costs. When an ACO succeeds in both, delivering high-quality care and prudently spending health care dollars, all ACO members will share in the savings it achieves for its combined population of Medicare patients.

While UT Health San Antonio Regional Physician Network officially begins in January 2019, we are off to a great start as we have already added 12 community primary care practices as participants with us. We are not “acquiring” any of these practices; they have agreed to be members of our ACO, the UT Health San Antonio Regional Physicians Network. Aside from their shared savings, each of these practices will benefit by receiving preferred scheduling of their patients with our specialty care. In turn, we will collaborate with them on identifying any health care gaps which may exist in their practice

It is this collaboration which will allow UT Health Physicians and community physicians to ensure efficient delivery of health care in a rapidly changing health care marketplace and allow continued brand relevance and preference for UT Health San Antonio. For more information about UT Health San Antonio Regional Physician Network, visit UTHealthRegionalPhysicianNetwork.org.

As we embark upon a new academic year, we can celebrate what a fabulous year it has been for UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center. I would like to thank each of you for your efforts in cancer care, innovative clinical and discovery science research and education.

Earlier this year we celebrated a transformative $30 million legacy gift from the Mays Family Foundation. Their contribution has helped us to establish and recruit new clinical investigators, medical oncologists, hematologists, radiation oncologists, surgical oncologist, radiologists and pathologists to support our mission to end cancer and to better serve patients in San Antonio and South Texas.

In February, we officially launched our partnership with the MD Anderson Cancer Network^® to provide greater access to the most advanced cancer treatments for our patients in our great community.

Additionally, we celebrate over a dozen new world-class scientists helping meet our scientific mission as an NCI-designated cancer center whose purpose is to decrease the burden of cancer in San Antonio and South Texas.

Cancer Practice

Our core purpose is patient-centered cancer care, across the entire enterprise of UT Health San Antonio with the delivery of care that is deeply tied to scientific advances rising from our cancer laboratories, investigators, and over 200 clinical trials. We have focused on developing a “virtual” cancer service line with shared leadership and engagement of all specialties involved with cancer care. These efforts are stewarded by a team focusing on advancing cancer prevention and screening, cancer care delivery, and supportive-palliative and survivorship care. The care we offer to patients is anchored in a patient-centered philosophy augmented by a deep partnership with the School of Nursing, and the development ofpatient care leadership teams helping to advance team-based cancer care across the cancer center. Additionally, our efforts are further supported by the significant renovations to the patient care spaces within the buildings of the Mays Cancer Center.

A centerpiece of this past year has been our partnership in cancer care with MD Anderson and our aim to deliver the “MD Anderson model” of cancer care. Central to this model are the multi-disciplinary clinics we have opened and plan to open, which are team-based with careful treatment planning for each new cancer case, taking advantage of all the disciplines involved in cancer care which include, surgical oncologists, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, radiologists and pathologists. The treatment care plans follow MD Anderson’s protocols and patient care guidelines. This next year we will focus on close alignment and connection between San Antonio and Houston on disease group activities, molecular diagnostics, early phase clinical trials and post-therapy care.

Research

In 2019, we eagerly prepare for the competitive renewal of our NCI Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) from which our NCI designation is derived. We celebrate continued success of transformational science from our cancer center in cancer development and progression, better cancer treatments, and population science and prevention.

This past year we additionally grew with important recruitments of investigators in DNA/genome repair, patient-centered nursing research, epidemiology and metabolomics. Significant efforts and resources have been invested in realigning the efforts and leadership structure of the clinical trials office to support our crucial trial portfolio. We saw extramural funding grow by 18 percent to $37 million, with many highly successful and highly impactful new grants in addition to progress on multi-physician-initiated funding projects.

We continue to have a strong focus on the cancer issues of our community. Under Dr. Amelie Ramirez’s leadership, the first Cancer in Latinos International Conference that was held in San Antonio in February. We anticipate another busy year as we prepare for CCSG renewal application with a strong emphasis on patient accrual growth from clinical trials that serve our patients, continuing to expand the impact of our cancer center on areas of DNA repair, cancer immunotherapy, early phase clinical trials and population-based cancer research.

Education

UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center continues to be the leader in cancer education from high school, through multiple graduate programs, physician training and numerous training grants, and post-doctoral work.

Our center co-hosts the premier breast cancer symposia in the world with almost 8,000 attendees attending the 40^th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposia held in December 2017.

Our robust continuing medical education portfolio includes events focusing on new cancer agents (February), and a crucial review meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in June. We anticipate important new disease-based CME offerings this next year further demonstrating our leadership as the premier academic cancer center for San Antonio and South Texas.

Growing patient educational activities, in partnership with MD Anderson, will be a major emphasis this next year. Activities will range from high-quality materials delivered in an integrated education program to our patients, to a robust set of classes and programs in our newly constructed Wellness Center. On Jan. 12, 2019, we will host our very first “Living with Cancer San Antonio,” an event for 700+ cancer patients and family members to showcase our cancer program with both general educational sessions and disease specific breakout groups.

The 2019 academic year will be one of transformative growth, continued integration of our cancer service line, and a deepening of our partnership with MD Anderson that allows us to continue to deliver world-class cancer care. We are deeply grateful each and every day for the efforts, care and innovation of every nurse, physician, scientist, pharmacist, physicist, laboratory technician, medical assistant, employee and administrator. Together, we are on a mission to eliminate cancer in Texas, the nation, and the world.

Sincerely,

Ruben Mesa, M.D., FACP

Director, UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center

We are recruiting people who are passionate about making lives better through exceptional health care. Meet the newest providers and staff joining UT Health Physicians. Know someone who is passionate about making lives better? Let them know we are hiring at UTHealthSA.org/hr.

Rosalyn Alli - Radiology,  Juan Alvarez -  Medical Records,  Eva Brokaw -  Mays Cancer Center,  Denise Canales -  Medical Records,  Rose Cantu -  Medical Records,  Kaitlyn Coogler -  Clinical Immunology,  Lucero Deleon -  Pain Management,  Doloresmarie Gonzalez -  Ob/Gyn,  Rebeca Gonzalez -  Access Center,  Julianna Heinen -  Insurance Follow-up,  Christine Juarez -  Registration,  Esmeralda Martinez -  Dermatology,  Mary Martinez -  Access Center,  Leslie Meadows -  Clinical Quality and Safety,  Sandra Montalvo -  Ophthalmology,  Lorraine Ortegon -  Primary Care – UT Health Shavano,  Jessica Parappuram -  Dermatology – UT Health Hill Country,  Joanne Quinones -  Access Center,  Michelle San Roman -  Medical Records,  Megan Schafer -  Physical and Occupational Therapy,  Sandra Soliz -  Ob/Gyn,  Vanessa Veloz -  Primary Care – UT Health Verde Hills,  Leticia Sanchez - UT Health Verde Hills

The care we provide at UT Health Physicians endures long after an appointment ends. A patient's opinions on how they were treated and the care they received are remembered always and shared time and time again. The good stories our patients share about our practice establish an expectation and a reputation each of us is called to uphold. Here are recent comments directly from our patients.

Doctor is fabulous. Every time we go in there, he’s very patient the entire time you're there and they’re just very, very knowledgeable. The ultrasound technician, is fabulous also. It doesn't take her long to take the pictures that she needs, and they are extremely cooperative because she is so good with the kids. Can't say enough good about this practice. - Pediatric Cardiology

I am so thankful for the wonderful care, respect and service from Dermatology. It's the best overall service from any of the doctors I see. - Dermatology at the Mays Cancer Center 

The doctor is excellent as my primary as are the other staff members providing care... - Primary Care at UT Health Hill Country

Always very attentive and listens to everything I have to say.  She takes time explain how we will proceed and will ask if I have any other concerns. She will always end her visit with a hand shake and will let you know if you need anything please call her and she will call you back. - Primary Care at the Medical Arts & Research Center

I felt I was treated respectfully. The environment was very warm and welcoming. - Audiology at the Medical Arts & Research Center

Dr. is an excellent physician. I trust her judgement completely. - Endocrinology at the Medical Arts & Research Center

Doctors were great. I would highly recommend to anyone who had a voice problem - Otolaryngology at the Medical Arts & Research Center

First time there. Was pleasantly surprised. - Plastic Surgery at the Medical Arts & Research Center

The Dr. was very thorough with me, I understood a lot of how my condition can be taken care of, I love how generous and comfortable he made me feel, I am so glad that I met him, very nice general surgeon. - General Surgery at the Medical Arts & Research Center

We are always treated very good at clinic. We are thankful to be a part of this team and the work they do. - Neurology at the Medical Arts & Research Center

I found both the staff and the physician very considerate of my concerns and willing to go out of their way to make sure that I felt comfortable and informed before I left. I absolutely would recommend this entire office to my friends. - Neurosurgery at the Medical Arts & Research Center

The whole experience was very, very favorable.  I think I got a great eye examination and the tech that saw me prior to the doctor was also outstanding. Thank you. - Ophthalmology at the Medical Arts & Research Center

A very direct and thorough physician. I appreciate both these qualities in him and am happy to have him as my doctor. - Ob/Gyn at the Medical Arts & Research Center

He is a courteous, skilled, professional and listens to his patients.  I would highly recommend him to anyone. The staff is also fantastic. Friendly and always trying to keep patients apprised of things. - Ophthalmology at the Medical Arts & Research Center

Dr. was excellent. He quickly assessed the problem, provided treatment. He addressed all my questions and had a great sense of humor. Extremely pleased with his treatment/service - Orthopaedics at the Medical Arts & Research Center

I think very highly of the provider and the clinic generally. - Otolaryngology at the Medical Arts & Research Center

All personnel are pleasant and helpful. Dr. makes you feel special to her. - Geriatrics and Palliative Care

Doctor and her staff are amazing. They're the best. I will say, best doctor I've ever had. They are quick and courteous. Dr. spends as much time with her patients as she needs to in order to provide the best service possible, and the front office staff were courteous and friendly. That's the only thing I have to say about the clinic and the provider. They are amazing. Ten out of ten. - Primary Care Shavano

It was very refreshing to have a provider listen to your concerns and talk you through addressing them. - Podiatry at the Medical Arts & Research Center

My experience in UT (Health) pulmonology department over the past 7 years has been nothing but a positive experience. The staff is always punctual, courteous, experienced and answers all my questions… - Pulmonology at the Medical Arts & Research Center

Very friendly staff, was thorough and answered all my questions. Very happy with my visit. - Reproductive Health and Fertility at the Medical Arts & Research Center

Everything was great. The staff was polite and very friendly. The doctors were great and informative. I don't know of anything that needs to be changed.- Urology at the Medical Arts & Research Center 

Doctor is very competent in his career field. I have already referred another patient to him. He not only knows what he is doing, he genuinely shows that he cares for his patients as well. - Bariatric Surgery Westover Hills

Detailed. Plain speak. Good communicator. Concerned about my health problem. Took the time to adequately deal with me. - Vascular Surgery at the Medical Arts & Research Center

I love the attention to the patients low wait times that my provider offered. I love the solutions or suggestions offered. Contact with my provider is easy. - Behavioral Health at Primary Care Medical Drive 

Takes the time to listen. She genuinely cares. She even gave me a hug as she walked out and wished me well. I have never had a physician treat me the way she does. - Primary Care Medical Drive 

This was my first visit to this clinic. I liked it. The parking was good. I was shown back to the waiting room quickly and treated well. He has a good "bedside manner" and doesn't rush his time with me. I will continue to see him when need be. - Primary Care Medical Drive 

Best outpatient experience in my life. Excellent care. Efficient. Respectful of my privacy. - Gastroenterology 

We like the professionalism and the sympathy and they really listen to what we have to say.  We're very pleased with that. - Medical Hematology/Oncology

UT Health Physicians makes a difference in our community every day. Your colleagues were recently featured for reducing amputations due to diabetes, advancing research on pancreatic cancer, discussing depression among Latino youth, commenting on plans for a new mental health hospital in San Antonio and much more.

Dr. Amelie Ramirez - Depression among Latino youth at an all-time high – KSAT 12

Drs. Sukeshi Arora/ Bruno Doiron - New test being done on mice could help pancreatic cancer patients – UP Matters

Dr. Phillip Chen - Is Sleeping With A Fan On Bad For You?  - Refinery 29

Dr. Richard Usatine - Alpha Home, Pathway to Recovery Since 1966  - Alpha Home

Dr. Thomas Zgonis - Clinic’s Comprehensive Approach to Diabetes Care Aims to Reduce Amputations  - Rivard Report

Dr. Ruben Mesa - Suspecting Polycythemia Vera: Challenges in Diagnosis  - OncLive

Dr. Carlos Jaén - Smoking ban in public housing might make quitting easier  - Reuters

Dr. Robin Brey - Is Neurology Having a #MeToo Moment?: Response to NASEM Report on Sexual Harassment in Science and Medicine - Neurology Today

Dr. Gregory Aune - Childhood cancer survivors face ‘financial toxicity’ - The Washington Post

Dr. Fred Poordad - Shionogi Gets FDA Approval for Thrombocytopenia Drug  - Equities

Dr. Steven Pliszka  - State advancing plan for new 300-bed mental health hospital in SA  - S..A. Business Journal

Dr. Ruben Mesa - New drugs and new ideas are transforming AML  - The Cancer Letter