Jennifer Morrell

Southwestern Emergency Physicians signs with CSC Southwestern Emergency Physicians signed a five-year business process outsourcing agreement with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) in El Segundo, Calif. Under the agreement, CSC's physician practice BPO center in Alabama will provide emergency medical services coding, billing and collections. Southwestern Emergency Physicians supplies physicians |to two hospitals in southwest Georgia that treat more than 70,000 emergency room patients annually. These hospitals are moving toward paperless processing, and CSC technology will support this transition. Rockdale Medical expands patient tower, explores affiliation with Piedmont Rockdale Medical Center in Conyers is doubling the size of its East Tower. The new 173,000-square-foot, three-story tower will house outpatient and inpatient services, including women's services and gastroenterology, surgical and intensive care units. The current front entrance will be replaced and a two-deck parking garage will be added. The expansion adds 31 licensed beds, bringing the total to 138. Construction, projected at $60 million, is expected to be complete in late-2005. Rockdale Medical Center and Atlanta's Piedmont Medical Center signed a letter of intent to explore a possible affiliation. Possible benefits of a clinical and operational relationship include clinical collaboration in selected services, group purchasing programs and access to Piedmont's captive insurance company. Southeast Georgia Regional named best large hospital Southeast Georgia Regional Medical Center in Brunswick was named best large hospital by the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals. The 316-bed hospital is celebrating its 50th year. Southeast Georgia is in the middle of constructing a new ambulatory wing. Northeast Georgia's Mended Hearts chapter wins national award The Northeast Georgia Medical Center's chapter of the Mended Hearts was recognized at the annual Mended Hearts Leadership Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. The Gainesville chapter was selected from 280 chapters as one of the top five Mended Hearts chapters. Mended Hearts chapters offer help and encouragement to heart disease patients and their families. The northeast Georgia chapter meets monthly to support the physicians, nurses, staff and patients at Northeast Georgia Medical Center's Ronnie Green Heart Center. ER doctors open East Cobb Urgent Care Emergency room physicians Mark Winokur, former director of the emergency department at WellStar Cobb Hospital, and Lonnie King, former emergency department director at Cartersville Medical Center, opened the East Cobb Urgent Care, LLC, in January. The facility has an on-site lab and X-ray, and will be open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Three additional board-certified emergency medicine physicians will be hired. Rigdon retires from Northeast Georgia Health System Executive VP and COO Henry Rigdon retired from Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) and Health System in Gainesville in October 2004. Rigdon, who began his career at NGMC in 1977, has held his current post since 1990. Under his leadership, the medical center's assets grew from $23 million in 1977 to $558 million in 2004. Athens Regional to expand ER Athens Regional Medical Center (ARMC) in Athens plans to expand its emergency room as well as purchase new equipment, including CT scanners. The projects will be funded with nearly $13 million in net revenue projected in fiscal year 2005. ARMC expects to begin the expansion in 2005. According to the 2005 budget, the 315-bed hospital continues to absorb lower Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, and expects to collect $244 million of the $601 million it billed in 2004. Pediatrix buys Macon neonatal practice Pediatrix Medical Group, based in Sunrise, Fla., announced the acquisition of a three-physician neonatal group practice located in Macon, Ga., which provides NICU services at two hospitals throughout the region with a combined annual patient volume of approximately 17,000 patient days at both NICUs. Mitch Rodriguez, M.D., will serve as Pediatrix's medical director in Macon. The cash transaction was effective on Jan. 1, 2005. Southeast Georgia Medical Center to expand Southeast Georgia Medical Center's Camden Campus in Brunswick is planning an 81,500-square-foot addition. If approved by the state, construction could begin Fall 2005 and be completed in a year. The non-profit hospital's project will be funded through a $94 million bond, of which $50 million will be used for the expansion project and the remainder to be used to refinance old debt. The expansion will consolidate the radiology department, add two operating rooms and four treatment rooms in the emergency room, expand meeting space and the records offices and eliminate shared hospital rooms. Hospital officials say the renovations will make it easier to recruit new physicians. Southwest Hospital & Medical Center to close doors Atlanta's Southwest Hospital & Medical Center made plans to close its doors by Feb. 1, 2005. A delay in receiving $1.45 million in government funding helped trigger the board's decision to close the hospital. The funding was delayed when three other urban hospitals disputed a new formula for divvying up more than $200 million in Medicaid's indigent care trust fund. The dispute held up payments to all the hospitals, including Southwest and Grady Memorial in Atlanta. Most of Southwest's 240 employees will be laid off. The 125-bed hospital has been under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since September 2004. The hospital hopes to reopen later in 2005 with new financing through a new owner or financial partner. AMA creates prescribing information Web site for docs The American Medical Association (AMA) created a $200,000 initiative that will allow physicians to decline having their AMA Physician Masterfile information shared with pharmaceutical sales representatives. The data will be shared with academics, government agencies and others who use it for research and educational materials. The AMA will include these restrictions when it signs the data licensing agreements with outside organizations that buy the list. In addition, the AMA will compile information from physicians on incidents in which they believe a pharmaceutical representative acted inappropriately, so that physicians can address the issues with problematic states, companies or representatives. Ethics charges in Georgia dropped Georgia's Composite State Board Medical Examiners ruled that Hothur V. Sanjeeva Rao, M.D., did not violate the state's medical practice act when he inserted a catheter into a prisoner to begin a lethal injection execution. Jackson-based internist Rao stated that he was unaware of the American Medical Associations (AMA's) ethical prohibitions of physician involvement in executions. Physicians and ethicists used the AMA Code of Ethics as a basis for filing complaints with state medical boards against physicians who participate in executions. Georgia state representative Alan Powell was asked by the state department of corrections to introduce a bill to protect the license of any medical professional who participates in an execution. This move is an effort to stop similar complaints from being filed. Fulton County extends contract with Rural/Metro Corp. Fulton County Board of Commissioners voted to extend its contracts with Rural/Metro Corp. of Scottsdale, Ariz., as the exclusive provider of emergency medical transportation in both North and South Fulton County for an initial one-year term with four one-year renewal options, beginning Jan. 1, 2005. The contracts are expected to generate approximately $14.7 million annually for Rural/Metro. Rural/Metro's EMS professionals respond to more than 35,000 calls throughout Fulton County each year. Gwinnett Health breaks ground on new hospital Gwinnett Health System in Lawrenceville broke ground on a 175,476-square-foot hospital in Duluth. The 81-bed facility will replace Joan Glancy Memorial Hospital. It has large operating rooms that can accommodate the latest high-tech surgical equipment and 23 emergency department exam and treatment rooms. Construction will be complete in early-2006.

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