Cardwell Joins MedHelp
MedHelp is pleased to announce that Tonya Cardwell has been promoted from Director of Finance to the new Administrator and Chief Operating Officer. Cardwell has 16 years of experience in revenue cycle management. Prior to joining MedHelp, she worked as the Practice Administrator for North Park Eye Center in Hixson.
Alabama Public Health Association honors Thomas Moody, MD
The Alabama Public Health Association recently recognized persons from across the state who demonstrated exceptional merit in the field of public health.
Among the award recipients this year was Thomas E. Moody, MD, urologist with Urology Centers of Alabama. Moody was honored with the Ira L. Myers Award for Excellence, which recognizes individuals or groups that have made a significant impact upon some aspect of public health in Alabama.
Moody was recognized for his work in prostate cancer. He has screened over 3,000 men statewide for prostate cancer, free of charge, since 2006.
Moody is described by his peers as “an amazing man” whose commitment to fight prostate cancer in Alabama is unsurpassed.
MAG Mutual Distributes Largest-Ever Dividend Physician Policyholders Receive $16.5 Million in Distributions
MAG Mutual Insurance Company, a leading physician medical professional liability insurer, is distributing a $16.5 million dividend to more than 17,000 policyholders across the Southeast. This is the largest single-year policyholder dividend in the mutual company’s 30-year history.
Including this year’s dividend, MAG Mutual will have distributed nearly $62 million to physicians from June 2007 through May 2012. This is the fifth consecutive year MAG Mutual has issued dividends. The company has issued dividends for 13 of the past 17 years.
MAG Mutual Physician and Surgeon Professional Liability Insurance policyholders that were active as of April 1, 2011, began receiving dividends as credits with their renewal policies on June 1, 2011. Dividends have been calculated based upon the number of years the policyholder has been insured with MAG Mutual and the premium amount paid.
Southern Diagnostic Named to Fastest Growing List
Southern Diagnostic Laboratories was named to the 2011 Inner City 100 list of the fastest growing companies located in America’s inner cities. The program is a partnership between the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) and Fortune magazine to spotlight and support growing companies in urban areas and to highlight the importance of a healthy economy in developing healthy urban communities. SDL was ranked 32nd and was one of only two Alabama companies to make this year’s list.
SDL was also recently honored by the Birmingham Business Alliance as the 2011 Business Services Small Business of the Year. The award is presented annually by the BBA as part of National Small Business Week and recognizes companies in the Birmingham metro area that provide top-quality services to other businesses.
Trinity Medical Center Names Bariatric Center of Excellence Coordinator
Ann Couch, RN CBN CPC, has been named Bariatric Center of Excellence Coordinator at Trinity Medical Center. Prior to her employment at Trinity, she served as Bariatric Coordinator for Northeast Alabama Regional Medical Center and Freeman & Company Bariatric Center in Anniston.
A native of Texas, Couch received her associate’s degree in allied health with cum laude honors from Gadsden State Community College in 2007. She received her bariatric nurse certification in August 2009.
Couch is a member of the National Association of Bariatric Nurses and the Alabama Bariatric Professionals. She is also a member of the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
Trinity Acquires Powerful MRI System
Trinity Medical Center now has the most powerful MRI technology available with its recent purchase of GE Healthcare’s Discoveryä MR750 MRI system. Trinity is the only hospital in Alabama to have this technology.
The Discovery MR750’s powerful 3.0T magnet delivers strong, whole-body gradients, resulting in fast and accurate reproducible scans in high definition, providing physicians the ability to see smaller structures.
The Discovery MR750 MRI delivers outstanding images in body, breast, musculoskeletal, neurological, vascular, cardiac and pediatric imaging.
The technology will help simplify exams while improving diagnostic quality.
For patients the benefits include increased comfort, reduced exam times, and less need for rescanning due to patient movement.
Gooch Named Director, Emergency Services
Medical West Hospital, an affiliate of the UAB Health System, has named Monty Gooch, RN, BSN as Director, Emergency Services.
Gooch received his Bachelors of Nursing degree from the University of North Alabama. For the past three years, he served as Director of Emergency Services for Middle Tennesse Medical Center, and was with Parkway Medical Center in Decatur prior to that.
Brian Christine, MD Appointed to Board of Directors
At the 2011 meeting of the American Urologic Association, Urology Centers of Alabama physician Brian S. Christine, MD was appointed to the Board of Directors for the Society of Urologic Prosthetic Surgeons (SUPS).
The purpose of SUPS is to advance and promote the study and application of urological prosthetic surgery. Christine, Director of Erectile Restoration and Prosthetic Urology at Urology Centers of Alabama, has been a member of SUPS for a number of years.
The elevation to the Board of Directors is important, as Christine will now serve as one of the liaisons for SUPS in its interactions and association with the Sexual Medicine Society of North America (SMSNA). These two groups, SUPS and SMSNA, represent the largest organizations for prosthetic urologists and physicians who specialize in sexual medicine.
AL Chapter of ACS Holds Annual Conference
The Alabama Chapter of the American College of Surgeons held its Annual Conference at the Sandestin Beach & Golf Resort June 9-11. The Alabama Chapter, ACS also combined with the Mississippi Chapter, ACS and the Alabama Society of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery for joint sessions on Healthcare Reform, Statewide Trauma Systems and the Future of Surgical Practices, as well as an update from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama.
There were nearly 100 physicians in attendance at the conference that provided 12.5 CMEs. Committee members included Kirby Bland, MD, Mary Hawn, MD, and Scott Magnuson, MD from UAB.
Residents from UAB, University of South Alabama and the University of Mississippi competed in poster presentations for awards given by the chapters. Winners included: Lilian Azih, MD, Tyler Poston, MS and Chinwendu Onwubiko, MD, PhD. The chapters were proud to have Governor Robert Bentley, MD in attendance to speak on Issues Impacting Physicians in Alabama.