====================== JeffNEWS, July 1, 1995 ====================== NewsBRIEFS JEFFERSON-AFFILIATED MANAGEMENT SERVICES ORGANIZATION READY TO ASSIST AREA PHYSICIANS ----------------------------------------------------- Primary-care physicians facing the increasing difficulties and inefficiencies of solo and small group practices can look to the recently established Jefferson-Affiliated Management Services Organization (JAMSO) to help them: o remain in private practice o participate in the economies of scale afforded by sharing services o be free of trying to keep up with changing regulations and paperwork o have high quality, affordable and easily accessible resources to support their practice in this rapidly changing environment o become part of an organized network but retain their independence According to Gina Altieri, CPA, director of JAMSO, the plan is attractively devised so physicians can choose from the full-service option, where JAMSO will fully manage their practice and guarantee to lower or maintain their existing overhead rate, or opt for one or more services from a menu of services, including JAMSO's sophisticated practice management information system with a central billing office located at suite 1100, 1015 Chestnut Street. Physicians can also select only the billing services option. Physician practices choosing the full-service option may be included in Jefferson's managed care network. Ms. Altieri and her staff, including Peggy Birkholz, manager of practice operations and Vicki Blair, manager of billing operations, work closely with HealthPower Associates, Inc. a Philadelphia-based firm specializing in physician practice management. This firm has an eight-year history of providing practice management support to Jefferson-affiliated physician practices. Participating physicians will also have access to a practice management hotline, a monthly bulletin highlighting developments in the Delaware Valley healthcare marketplace, new regulations, current practice management issues, third-party news and continuing education programs. If you are interested in learning more about the Jefferson-Affiliated MSO and what it can do for your practice, or know of a practice that would benefit from JAMSO's service, please call Ms. Altieri at 9530. 1995 TELEPHONE DIRECTORIES AVAILABLE ------------------------------------ Departments may now order copies of Jefferson's new 1995 Telephone Directory, reports Betsy McMenamin, manager, support services, information systems. Copies can be obtained by using warehouse requisition number 0027-01, catalog number 0100-00. A major addition to this year's directory is the listing of all medical staff physicians in the white pages, together with an indexed departmental listing of medical staff, Ms. McMenamin points out. For cost effectiveness, these lists absorb those previously published in the hospital's Medical Staff Directory. Also added are new sections on Jefferson's telephone standards, such as the appropriate way to answer phone calls and how to close the call, and on recycling instructions. (In-depth stories on how professional telephone standards contribute to customer satisfaction continue to be regular features in the S.T.A.R. newsletter.) Recycling instructions tell employees how to remove bindings from 1994 directories and a reminder to place their pages in a recycling box. The directory also includes an updated list of area hospitals and organizations and updated campus and area code maps. The cover features an architect's rendering of the Foerderer Pavilion building, designed in a 1950s look, with a narrative description on the inside front cover. This is part of a continuing design series highlighting a different Jefferson building each year. The 1994 directory design featured the Main Building. To keep costs down, Ms. McMenamin asks, please order only the number required for your department. For more information, call Meg Corrigan, telecommunications and network services, at 5206. DINE AL FRESCO AT JEFFERSON ALUMNI HALL --------------------------------------- Visit Jefferson Alumni Hall cafeteria's newest addition for your dining pleasure - an outdoor cafe in the building's east courtyard. For your warm weather enjoyment, tables, chairs, and festive umbrellas to shade you from too much sun, have been set up in the courtyard. While you are dining at the cafe, the department of events services invites you to enter a contest to give the new cafe a name. You'll find contest entry forms at the cashier's in the cafeteria. IMPORTANT COST REDUCTION AND REENGINEERING EFFORT BEGINS -------------------------------------------------------- As managed care penetration increases, our average length of stay decreases and more care moves to outpatient services, Jefferson must continue to look at its costs and their implications for the pricing of our services. For these reasons, Alan Brechbill, chief operating officer for the hospital, will lead a group charged with further identification of cost reduction opportunities. The operations committee for this effort is composed of representatives from the hospital, corporate services and our medical staff. Ernst & Young, a nationally recognized firm experienced in working with academic medical centers, will help Jefferson with this important initiative. The first phase of this process will last 20 weeks and is focused on data collection, benchmarking and developing recommendations for cost reduction including reengineering. JEFFERSONIANS IN THE NEWS ------------------------- o Jose' F. Caro, MD, chairman of the department of medicine, Robert Considine, PhD, and fellow Jefferson researchers' paper on the human obesity gene was covered by international, national and local media outlets, including the Kyodo News Service (a Japanese wire service), the BBC, CBS News, CNN, and the TV Food Channel (viewership approximately 14 million). The story was also covered by Newsweek, Focus Magazine (a German publication), The Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Post and dozens of other national and international newspapers. o Jefferson Cancer Institute investigators and their discovery of an enzyme that protects against polyp formation received regional attention. National Public Radio covered the story, as well as television news stations in Baltimore and Washington. It appeared on the front page of The Philadelphia Inquirer and on local news stations 6, 10, 17, and 29. Husband and wife researchers Arthur Buchberg, PhD, and Linda Siracusa, PhD, were interviewed, along with Robert D. Fry, MD, director of the division of colorectal surgery and Edith Mitchell, MD, director of the gastrointestinal cancer program for the Jefferson Cancer Center. o On Wednesday, June 21, CBS This Morning featured the work being done at Jefferson on liquid ventilation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Information provided by: Editor, JeffNEWS (215) 955-6204 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------