Dr. Roberto Cardarelli has been named chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine in the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. Cardarelli, who is also professor of family medicine, has served as interim chair of the department since August 2017.
Difficulty in accessing culturally affirming and informed health care has long deterred members of the LGBTQ* community from seeking fundamental services and resources.
People lead busy lives and managing doctor appointments for the entire family can be challenging, especially if a different physician is needed for each family member according to age or health concern. Getting everyone to their appointments may require trips to different doctors in different locations.
Concerns about privacy, safety, stigmatization and quality of care have deterred members of the LGBTQ community from accessing health care services and resources. Disengagement from the health care system has contributed to many health disparities affecting the LGBTQ population.
Reducing excessive medical costs associated with high hospital readmission rates is a pillar of health care reform. From 2007 to 2011, as many as 19 percent of patients in the United States returned to hospitals less than a month after discharge, accounting for an estimated $15 million in preventable hospitalization costs.
In an effort to prevent adverse outcomes for chronically ill and aging patients and reduce the burden of cost on the government, Medicare providers have implemented transitional care management programs (TCMs) as a bundled component of Medicare payment plans.
The debilitating pain of tophaceous gout, a chronic form of arthritis, has shackled William TIncher from a decent quality of life since he was a young man.
Eager to serve his country, 18-year-old Tincher enlisted in the Marine Corps only to be sent home because of his chronic medical condition.
Few people think of a health care facility where they go to see their physician as a 'home,' but that's exactly the kind of environment Dr. Jonathan Ballard, medical director for the University of Kentucky's Family and Community Medicine (FCM) Clinic, and a team of health care providers strive to give every patient that walks through the clinic doors.
At 10 a.m., Monday, April 20, a ribbon cutting ceremony will mark the official opening of UK HealthCare at Turfland, a new outpatient center on Harrodsburg Road in Lexington on the site of the former Turfland Mall.
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UK HealthCare has leased and renovated the former Dillard's location for consolidation and relocation of some of its primary care and specialty outpatient clinics and will be the anchor tenant for the first floor of the building utilizing approximately 85,000 square feet.
The number of community health care professionals teaching University of Kentucky students and conducting field research continues to grow every year.
Currently, more than 1,900 providers located in the state of Kentucky and abroad serve as community faculty preceptors for UK students. Most of these clinical training experiences occur in Kentucky and are supported through an Area Health Education Center (AHEC).
Within 30 days of discharge, 20 percent of fee-for-service Medicare patients are readmitted to the hospital. The frequency of readmission for Medicare patients costs the nation an estimated $17 billion annually, but research suggests 75 percent of these readmission cases are preventable.
The University of Kentucky Department of Family and Community Medicine, in partnership with St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead, Kentucky, and Kentucky HomePlace recently launched a pilot study to evaluate the impact community health workers have in reducing hospital readmission rates.
On Dec. 2, a very special group of people gathered to celebrate a very special gift.
"Participation in clinical trials is a truly noble act, and we consider the people who volunteer for research part of our family," says Dr. Gregory Jicha, a professor at the University of Kentucky's Sanders-Brown Center on Aging. "So it's natural that we would gather at the holidays to share a little joy and thanksgiving."
Every year, the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging has a party for patients who have volunteered to participate in research at the center.
On the morning of Dec. 16, Dr. Shannon Voogt warmed up her classically trained opera voice before coming to work at UK HealthCare.
At 11 a.m., she applied resin to the bow of her violin in the Pavilion A lobby of the UK Chandler Hospital. Moments later, an audience of patients, employees and hospital visitors circled around the atrium lobby as Voogt, a soprano, showed off her vocal range performing "O Holy Night."
A community's physical environment and social dynamics, such as the amount of green space for exercise and access to health education, are all underlying factors that impact the health of its citizens. To better understand how community influences health, a new division at UK HealthCare will examine the world around the patient.
Dr. Roberto Cardarelli is leading an effort to develop a national model for community medicine and outreach at UK HealthCare.
In the 2012-2013 academic year, the Medical Curriculum Office began the first phase of a two-year curricular revision which will result in a system-based curriculum focused on integrating the foundational sciences into the clinical context. This curricular revision is the result of a six-year planning process that brought together clinical and basic science faculty, students, and administration with the mission of creating a curriculum that will prepare our students to succeed in the complex world of medicine as leaders, problem solvers, team players, and lifelong learners.
