Dean's Weekly Message

November 25, 2024

Dear Colleague: 

At the CU Medicine annual meeting last week, our faculty practice leaders reported yet another extraordinary year serving our patients, our state, our school, our partners, and our faculty. Kudos to Brian T. Smith, MHA, Executive Director of CU Medicine, and Anne L. Fuhlbrigge, MD, MS, Chief Medical Officer, and their teams for leading our successful faculty practice to remarkable results.

Numbers Tell the Story

  • Our faculty cared for more than 772,500 patients in 4.5 million patient visits in fiscal year 2024.
  • CU Medicine boosted its annual revenues by 9% and reported a 5% operating margin.
  • Our care extended to every corner of Colorado. With our partners, we care for more people in our state than any other provider!
  • Our quality and efficiency achievements have us in the top 10:
    •  Vizient ranked us No. 7 in the country on its Ambulatory Quality and Accountability Performance Scorecard.
    • The Vizient CPSC (Clinical Practice Solutions Center) Billing Office ranking also was No. 7, our highest mark ever.

CU Medicine continues to set the standard of care for our community, and we are committed to an even brighter future. We are better together!

Spotlight on "We CU"
CU Medicine has done a remarkable job building recognition for its exceptional quality with a dedicated marketing campaign: We CU. The marketing efforts of the team have been rewarded with honors from the American Advertising Awards and the Healthcare Advertising Awards.

As part of building that community awareness, CU Medicine is again the presenting sponsor of Blossoms of Light at the Denver Botanic Gardens. It’s a gorgeous way to spend an evening during the holiday season. I hope you find time to attend.

flyer for blossoms of light

 

Recent Publications
Lawrence A. Haber, MD, Professor of Clinical Practice of Medicine and hospitalist at Denver Health, is corresponding author of a Viewpoint article, “Establishing National Standards for Carceral Health Care – The Federal Prison Oversight Act,” published November 18 by JAMA Internal Medicine.

Ulli Bayer, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology, is corresponding author of a Perspective article, “A revised view of the role of CaMKII in learning and memory,” published November 18 by Nature Neuroscience. The review is a comprehensive update on the underlying mechanisms for learning and memory, which could aid our understanding of conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and intellectual disabilities.

Katarzyna A. Mastalerz, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, is corresponding author of a research article published November 17 by the Journal of Interprofessional Care that highlights the role of strong teamwork and face-to-face communication in improving patient care within hospitals. An article in the campus newsroom provides details.

Syed Shahyan Bakhtiyar, MD, MBE, resident in the Department of Surgery, is a co-author of an original investigation published November 13 by JAMA Surgery reporting that centralization of surgical management for esophageal cancer to high-volume esophagectomy centers may be linked to improved outcomes.

Matthew Riscinti, MD, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Denver Health, Michael Heffler, MD, Instructor of Emergency Medicine, Joseph Brown, MD, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, are co-authors of an original investigation published November 13 by JAMA Network Open finding that ultrasonography-guided nerve blocks may be safe when performed by emergency clinicians.

graphic with three figures holing up balls that say join, engage, participate

Clinicians Needed for Abridge AI Pilot
We recently announced a partnership between UCHealth and the School of Medicine to pilot Abridge, a technology that transforms patient-clinician conversations into structured clinical notes in real time and integrates into electronic medical records. To learn more about Abridge check out this link: Abridge Inside Demo with Dr. Shiv Rao (CEO & Founder) on Vimeo. If you are interested in joining this important pilot program, please submit this form by Monday, December 2. To be eligible, you must be a physician, APP, or licensed mental health professional in a UCHealth or CU Medicine clinic seeing patients at least three half days per week. You also must own an iOS/iPhone device. Residents and fellows are not eligible for this pilot phase. We plan to offer the same program for child health faculty and Children’s Hospital Colorado soon.

Faculty Judges Needed
Please sign up to be a judge for the 39th Annual Virtual Student Research Forum Poster Presentations, which will be held on Tuesday, December 10, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Judges are needed for 1-hour shifts. For additional information, visit the Annual Research Forum website. For questions, contact Mary McGinnis at coloradoresearchtrack@cuanschutz.edu.  Faculty judges are critical to the success of this program, so please sign up today!

Fadul Award Nominations
The deadline for nominations for the 2024 Steven Fadul Award is Sunday, December 15. The award honors the contributions of outstanding professional research assistants or staff in comparable positions in the School of Medicine. Nominees should show initiative in expanding the scope of their work and by mentoring trainees. More information is available at the award’s website. The award is named in honor of Steven Fadul, who had a 30-year career as a researcher at the School of Medicine. Nominations should be sent to Fadul.Award@ucdenver.edu.

Happy Thanksgiving
There will be no message on December 2. Best wishes to all for a Happy Thanksgiving!

John H. Sampson, MD, PhD, MBA
Richard D. Krugman Endowed Chair
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and
Dean, University of Colorado School of Medicine


  

The Dean’s weekly message is an email news bulletin from John H. Sampson, MD, PhD, MBA, Dean of the CU School of Medicine, that is distributed to inform University of Colorado School of Medicine faculty members, staff, students and others about issues pertaining to the School’s mission of education, research, clinical care and community service.

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