Two New Placements for the KRC in Rural Kansas

Parsons, Kan.

Logan Kracht, MD, OB/GYN, will join the team at Labette Health in Parson, Kan., in the summer of 2011. Dr. Kracht will be graduating from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program in June.

Kracht grew up in Marysville, Kan., a town of about 3,000 in Marshall County. Kracht completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, began medical school at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City, then completed his last two years of medical school at the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita.

“Ever since I made the decision to go to medical school, I have had the intention of practicing medicine in a rural setting,” Dr. Kracht stated. “After considering all of the options and locations, my wife Maggie and I realized that there were just too many positive reasons [to relocate to Parsons, Kan.] It is a great fit for my family because we will get to set down roots in a small town much like the place I grew up. Even during my brief visits, there was a familiarity there that made it feel like we belonged.”

Javine Horani, MD, FACOG, OB/GYN, Labette Health, feels that Kracht will fit in well and is confident that he will quickly build a successful practice. “We are so excited to have Dr. Kracht and his family join our department here at Labette Health,” stated Dr. Horani. “His pleasant demeanor, excellent rapport with staff and patients, and great training from KU Medical Center were just some of the reasons that we chose him to join the OB/GYN department at Labette Health.”

Scott City, Kan.

Josiah Brinkley, MD, Family Medicine, will join Scott County Hospital, Scott City, Kan., in the summer of 2011. Brinkley will graduate from the Via Christi Family Medicine Residency Program, Wichita, Kan., in July, 2011.

Brinkley is originally from Grand Junction, Colo., but has lived in Kansas for the past 11 years. He is an undergraduate of Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kan., receiving his medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine – Wichita.

“I have fallen in love with the rural side of Kansas,” states Brinkley. “The community [Scott County] is wonderful and full of very accepting, generous folks.” He feels that the physicians of Scott County Hospital are first class and looks forward to joining their team. “This is a place where they provide excellent care to patients, and something the community can be very proud of.”

The Kansas Recruitment Center (KRC) seeks to enhance the quality and quantity of health care professionals in rural Kansas by helping health care providers, like Dr. Kracht and Dr. Brinkley, find a home practice in Kansas. For rural organizations, the KRC provides job opportunity postings and placement assistance. For health care professionals, the KRC serves as a career service center by matching candidates with openings in the state. To date the Kansas Recruitment Center has placed 108 heath care professionals throughout rural Kansas.

Further information is available at www.ruralhealth.kumc.edu or by phone at 1-888-503-4221 or 316-293-2649.

Facebook Is -- Literally -- a Lifesaver

RHES found this article interesting and wanted to share it with you.

Facebook Is -- Literally -- a Lifesaver by Newt Gingrich and Kamal Thapar, M.D. on healthtransformation.net, found via AOL News

(Dec. 6) -- Americans find long-lost friends on Facebook. They meet on Facebook. They post pictures of parties, vacations or even family photos on Facebook.

But what Mark Zuckerberg probably never dreamed of when he invented this social network tool to connect college students was that Facebook would someday save a life.

Social media has become a tool in the medical world to diagnose patients, treat them and save their lives.

In the past few years, we have urged hospitals and doctors to move from a paper record system to an electronic one to reduce the number of medical errors, improve efficiency and, as a result, save lives and money. Among the many benefits, an electronic medical record should give the treating physician a portable, immediately accessible and thorough account of a patient's entire medical history.

But now social media is helping the medical community enhance the practice of medicine even more.

This past summer, a 56-year-old woman checked into the emergency room of Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire, Wis., complaining of chest discomfort. She said she'd been in and out of several hospitals over several weeks, yet doctors couldn't find what was really wrong with her.

Within hours, she had lapsed into a coma. Doctors later determined that she'd sustained a massive stroke, causing paralysis and coma. There was also evidence of multiple prior strokes and fluid around her heart, something unusual for a patient so young. She rapidly deteriorated toward death.

She was a single mother who lived far from any close family members. Hospital personnel talked to her son, but he could provide little information. It was discovered that she had a Facebook account.

Every doctor will attest that to make a proper diagnosis he or she needs a thorough account of a patient's medical history. That's why the doctor-patient relationship is so important. It is also why you see physicians on TV shows like "House" go to great lengths to discover everything about a patient.

In the case of the woman in a coma at Sacred Heart, her diarylike postings on Facebook were a far more detailed and complete accounting of her health than even her stack of medical records. More important, they were a far more relevant accounting because they detailed her medical history in her own words.

On Facebook she posted her medications, symptoms, hospitalizations and conditions dating back months. She had dates, times and descriptions of how she felt and what was occurring with her body.

That led the medical team at Sacred Heart to discover that the woman not only had a hole in her heart but that she'd been throwing blood clots to the brain, which caused the strokes. As a result, a treatment plan including lifesaving brain surgery was put in place. Today, she is out of a coma, has made great progress and is undergoing speech and physical therapy.

What does this case tell us about the future of medicine? Like everything in society, social media is having an enormous impact on our personal lives, in ways we never imagined. Everyone self-publishes their own stories.

Police officers are using Facebook to fight crime and hunt terrorists. And now physicians are discovering a whole new world of utilizing social media to chronicle medical conditions of patients. As people document their health on the Web, it is easy for anyone -- including doctors -- to discover what is really going on.

We can spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the latest medical equipment to try to give patients the best possible care. But sometimes it's the patients' detailed "stories" that let us tailor a medical plan that will help them recover when a standard treatment won't do.

This intersection of medicine and the digital world is worth exploring as the Facebook generation takes us to new heights we never dreamed with the World Wide Web.

Yet it also reminds us that at the heart of our 21st century health system is the individual patient. A personalized system that puts the individual at the center and helps us make decisions based on the needs of the individual will become even more accessible -- and more important -- as the digital world expands in ways that can save lives and save money.

Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, is the founder of the Center for Health Transformation. Dr. Kamal Thapar is a neurosurgeon at Sacred Heart Hospital who utilized Facebook with a patient last summer to save her life. To protect the patient's privacy, her name has not been disclosed.

KRC is Pleased to Announce Two New Placements

Kansas Recruitment Center brings new health care providers to - 

Junction City, Kan.

Chasitty Knouf, RN, joined the team of Geary Community Hospital, Junction City, Kan., in September this year.

Knouf was born and raised in Salina and attended Brown Mackie College – Salina where she completed the prerequisites for a degree in nursing. In 2009, she graduated from Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

Knouf was excited about the nursing opportunity in Junction City. “Getting the chance to learn and grow as a nurse is what excites me most. I love my job at Geary Community Hospital!”

Teto Henderson, Human Resource Director, Geary Community Hospital states, “Knouf is vibrant and willing to learn. Her eagerness to grow with Geary Community Hospital made it an easy choice for us.”

Independence, Kan.

Elizabeth Barnes, RN, MSN, Nurse Practitioner, will be joining Montgomery County Community Clinic (MC3), Independence, Kan., this month. MC3 is a nonprofit primary health care clinic committed to increasing health care access to those in need in its community.

Barnes is excited to join MC3 and identifies with their mission. She looks forward to serving an underserved population in Kansas.

Barnes has just completed a post-master’s certification in wound, ostomy, and continence nursing at the University of Virginia School of Nursing in Charlottesville, Va. She received a Master of Science degree in nursing as a family nurse practitioner in May of this year. Previously, she completed a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, graduating from the Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., in 2006.

The Kansas Recruitment Center (KRC) seeks to enhance the quality and quantity of health care professionals in rural Kansas by helping health care providers, like Barnes, find a home practice in Kansas. For rural organizations, the KRC provides job opportunity postings and placement assistance. For health care professionals, the KRC serves as a career service center by matching candidates with openings in the state.

Further information is available at www.ruralhealth.kumc.edu or by phone at 1-888-503-4221 or 316-293-2649.