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 University of Kentucky Area Health Education Center (AHEC) is now accepting applications for its 2016 Summer Health Career programs for high school-age students aspiring to enter the health profession. AHEC will host a four-week Summer Enrichment Program on the University of Kentucky campus from June 19 to July 15, 2016. Students accepted into the Summer Enrichment Program will observe and learn from UK faculty members, health professionals and health profession students. Students will attend classes in biology, chemistry and physics.

Dr. Mark V. Williams, professor and vice chair in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Kentucky, has been named to the advisory board of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. The Joint Commission Journal is a monthly peer-reviewed journal that provides both empirical studies and practical instructions on how to understand and implement interventions to improve patient safety and quality. At UK, Williams also serves as chief transformation and learning officer for the UK HealthCare and director of the Center for Health Services Research.

Carlos Marin, assistant dean for community and cultural engagement at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, has been appointed to serve on the board of directors for the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. The 15-member Board’s role is to uphold the Foundation’s mission of addressing the unmet health care needs of Kentuckians and provide financial and programmatic oversight. At UK Marin is also program director for the Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) which includes three primary programs; Health Careers Pipeline, Community Faculty and Student Services.

Please join Gina Vessels, SRAS Post Award Manager, for one of our informational sessions on the monthly financial reports distributed by Sponsored Projects Accounting (SPA) for grant accounts. There will be a general review of the report structure and discussion of the information within the report, and there will be ample time for questions and discussion after the presentation.

The Dermatology Clinic at the University of Kentucky will soon relocate to the first floor of UK HealthCare Clinics at Turfland on Harrodsburg Road. The clinic will open on February 15, 2016.

Jennifer Lackey, RN, Ambulatory Services Director for UK HealthCare’s Department of Surgery clinics, said that relocating the Dermatology clinic to Turfland from its space in the Good Samaritan medical office building on Maxwell Street will allow for department growth and improved access for patients.

Ishmael Hibbard, 56, was just reaching for the television remote control when sharp pains across his shoulder blades drove him down to one knee. He bit his lip so hard, it drew blood. Hibbard didn’t think it was a heart attack, but the Manchester, Kentucky native knew he needed to get to the emergency room right away.

His wife, Judy, was at work so it fell to his teenage son, Ben Hibbard, to drive him to the Manchester Memorial Hospital emergency room for treatment.