HJLR May/Jun 2019

Healthcare Journal of little rock I  MAY / JUN 2019 41 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalLR.com than 6,600 patients have received stroke consul- tations through AR SAVES. “Before AR SAVES was established and fully developed, the expertise of stroke neurologists was geographically limited to one or two places in Arkansas,” said Curtis Lowery, MD director of the Institute for Digital Health & Innovation. “Today, through digital health technology, those neurol- ogists can have a presence in 54 hospitals state- wide keeping people from death and debilitat- ing injury from stroke, making it less and less true that where you live determines whether you live.” One of the more than 2,000 patients helped by AR SAVES was Rodney Morrison of Hot Springs. He was having an ordinary morning at work when he suddenly was unable to speak and was struck with paralysis on one side of his body because of a clot blocking his carotid artery. After being taken to a Hot Springs hospital, Morrison and a stroke team there consulted via a live video connection on the AR SAVES network with a UAMS stroke neurologist. At the neurolo- gist’s direction, alteplase was given to Morrison and he was transported by helicopter air ambu- lance to UAMS Medical Center for a surgical pro- cedure used to extract the clots from Morrison’s blood vessels. “I came in on a Wednesday, and I was able to get up and go home on Friday,” Morrison said. “It was the response that impressed me, how quickly everyone responded to me. The care they gave me.” He said the outcome could not have been any better for him, and his experience made him real- ize the vital importance of timely treatment for stroke symptoms. “AR SAVES is more than the technology of its network,” said Renee Joiner, RN, AR SAVES direc- tor. “Yet another improvement in ranking dem- onstrates the effectiveness of combining human talent and compassion at hospitals in Arkansas communities with technology. We’re determined to see that improvement continue.” Arkansas DHS DYS: New Division Structure Created; Leadership TeamAnnounced The Arkansas Department of Human Ser- vices (DHS) Division of Youth Services (DYS) will undergo a restructuring as part of ongoing efforts to improve the juvenile justice system so that it better serves youth and their families. DYS also has a new leadership team.  “Though much work remains to be done, the changes we’re announcing today are fundamen- tal building blocks of a juvenile justice system that is focused on getting youth the services and sup- ports they need to return home and be produc- tive, successful members of society,” said DHS Deputy Director for Children and Families Keesa Smith. “Making sure we have strong leaders who are focused not only on residential treatment but also on what happens before and after a youth leaves those facilities is important, and our new structure will ensure that is a key part of our efforts moving forward.” Interim DYS Director Michael Crump has been tapped to serve as the permanent director. Crump is a former prosecutor who served as a criminal justice policy advisor to Gov. Mike Huck- abee. He has served as an attorney for DHS, an assistant director of Medicaid, and has overseen DHS’s fraud unit. He’s also been through Lean Six Sigma training.  “Michael is completely invested in the DYS transformation efforts because he knows it’s what is best for the youth we serve,” Smith said. “With his skills in management, policy, and pro- cess mapping, and his willingness to guide a cul- ture change, he’s the right person to lead these efforts.” DYS also hired Kimbla Newsom to serve as the DYS deputy director and to run day-to-day oper- ations. Newsom has more than 20 years of expe- rience working with at-risk youth and as a man- ager in juvenile justice systems in Maryland and Texas. Crump and Newsom are working together to restructure DYS, which currently has assistant directors overseeing two units: residential pro- grams and community-based programs. Under the new structure, DYS will focus more on high- quality treatment, diversion, and aftercare, and holding DYS contractors accountable for meet- ing the State’s expectations for treatment, safety, and education. Assistant directors will oversee four units in the new structure: - Case management, which will keep up with youth throughout their time in DYS care and ensure they are getting the services they need and are on track for on-time release.  - Treatment, which will be led by a registered nurse and will have expanded behavioral health clinicians; will oversee intake, development, and implementation of treatment plans, place- ment, as well as education, vocational and work needs, and aftercare services.  - Diversion, which will work with local courts and community officials to promote evidence-based prevention and early intervention services. - Service Delivery, Compliance, and Quality Assurance, which will serve the oversight role in ensuring contractors comply with the terms and conditions of their agreements with DYS. This unit also makes sure that youth are safe and promotes quality youth outcomes. The restructuring will be phased in over the next four months, with the case management and treatment units becoming effective May 1. The remaining units become effective July 1. As part of the restructuring, all jobs within the divi- sion will change.  “This restructuring allows us to have more of a management-level focus on what matters – cre- ating a safe system that emphasizes individual- ized treatment and services, holding contractors accountable, and ensuring judges have strong service options for diversion and aftercare treat- ment,” Crump said.  UAMS-led Study Shows Potential to Alter Neck Dissection Surgery by 21 Percent in Head and Neck Cancer Patients A study led by University of Arkansas for Med- ical Sciences (UAMS) surgeon Brendan C. Stack Jr., MD, has shown the potential to alter neck dis- section surgeries in about 21 percent of head and neck cancer patients. Stack served as co-investigator on the interna- tional study examining the effectiveness of PET/ CT scans in determining whether a patient’s can- cer has spread to their lymph nodes. The study’s results were published February 15 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. For patients found to have positive lymph nodes, a surgery called neck dissection, which involves an incision across the neck, is required to remove the positive nodes. If a patient’s cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes, neck dissection surgery may not be