HJAR Jul/Aug 2019

40 JUL / AUG 2019  I  Healthcare Journal of ARKANSAS   Healthcare Briefs The PASSEs also will pay all Arkansas Medicaid providers at an “in-network rate” through Sept. 1, 2019, even if a provider is not in a PASSE’s net- work. With the additional time for this transition period, DHS encourages providers to join PASSE networks to ensure consistent care for clients. The PASSE is a model of organized care created by Act 775 of 2017 to manage the services of indi- viduals with significant developmental disabili- ties and behavioral health needs. To form each PASSE, local Arkansas providers entered into partnerships and chose an experienced organi- zation to perform administrative functions, such as claims processing. These three groups function similar to insurance companies to serve nearly 45,000 Medicaid-eligible individuals. PASSEs are a Medicaid provider type approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). They are regulated by the Arkansas Insur- ance Department (AID) and held accountable to the Department of Human Services (DHS) under federal managed care rules. For more information about the PASSE pro- gram, visit passe.arkansas.gov. CHI St. Vincent Foundation Sets Fundraising Record for New Arkansas Neuroscience Institute Research and Education Center CHI St. Vincent Foundation has achieved its fundraising goal for the new Arkansas Neurosci- ence Institute (ANI) Research and Education Cen- ter, setting a new Foundation record for a sin- gle philanthropic project. The Foundation raised more than $4-million to support construction of the Research and Education Center. “ANI, under the leadership of Dr. Ali Krisht, has already had a remarkable impact on the field of neurosurgery and patient lives, like raising three- year survival rates for glioblastoma patients from a national average of 8.8-percent to 34-percent at CHI St. Vincent,” said Foundation Senior Vice President Laura Cook. “This new Research and Education Center will allow them to further their ground-breaking advancements and share best practices with neurosurgeons around the globe who travel here to learn from the very best in their field. We could not do that without the generous support of our donors whose gifts build upon our 130-year ministry of caring for Arkansans.” The Research and Education Center’s 150-seat auditorium is named the “Margaret Clark Audito- rium” in honor of the leading support from Mar- garet Clark – one of Dr. Krisht’s former patients. Other supporters whose generosity helped make the vision for the Research and Education Center a reality include: • Elizabeth Fletcher Dishongh Trust • Nashwa and Dr. Ali Krisht • J. E. and L. E. Mabee Foundation, Tulsa, Oklahoma • The Sunderland Foundation, Kansas City, Missouri • The Eric Blake Faulkner Fund • Frank T. Padberg Charitable Remainder Unitrust • Arkansas Community Health and Education Foundation • Harry C. and Terri Erwin • Indian Hills Shopping Center • Middleton Heat and Air, Inc. • William Randolph Hearst Foundation UAMS Researcher Johann Granted $1.47Million to ContinueLung Cancer Clinical Trials Physician-scientist Donald J. Johann Jr., MD, has been awarded a $1.47 million grant from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to continue a clinical trial to determine if new approaches can be developed to monitor and screen for lung can- cer with a blood test. Johann is an associate professor in the depart- ments of Biomedical Informatics and Internal Medicine in the College of Medicine at the Uni- versity of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). “We’re coming into the long-promised ‘future’ of cancer treatment,” Johann said. “For the last 50 years, the holy grail of cancer research has been being able to detect the presence of can- cer with a simple blood test, known as a liquid biopsy, and treat cancer patients on an individu- alized basis, which is precision medicine. “Recent advancements in genetic sequenc- ing technology, computational science, and the ability to manage massive amounts of data have made this type of research possible,” he said. “The vision is to combine the power of these approaches with clinical knowledge to improve outcomes. This is the future of cancer medicine, and it’s all doable.” An innovative and important aspect of this approach is called bioinformatics, which is a new field in research that uses computational tools to assess medical and public health information, often on a large scale, looking for previously unrecognized patterns that can affect medical and public health science in a broad range of ways. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer- related deaths in the United States and the world, and the incidence in Arkansas has been higher than the national average for the past 20 years. Researchers believe precision medicine is key to changing these statistics. The current standard treatment for early stage lung cancer is surgical removal of the tumor, with the addition of chemo- therapy/radiation when the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes. However, the cancer often returns after two to the three years and is deadly. With Johann’s clinical trial, the surgeons are taking samples of the tumor at the time of its removal. Back in the lab, Johann’s team is run- ning genetic sequencing on the tumor and re- growing it using different methods. Once the sample tumors are big enough, the team tests existing drugs and novel combinations of exist- ing drugs on the tumors to find the most effec- tive treatment. This information is analyzed and stored so that if that individual patient’s cancer comes back, their doctors will know the best medicines to use. The information is also compiled in large datasets so that researchers can look for aggregate patterns and identify trends regarding which treatments work best for different types of tumors. The idea is that now scientists will be able to genetically Donald J. Johann Jr., MD