At UPMC, innovative clinical programs and state-of-the-art facilities are the foundation of excellence in patient care. Consistently ranked among America’s best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report magazine, UPMC has developed internationally recognized programs in transplantation, cancer, neurosurgery, psychiatry, and sports medicine, among others.
As President Obama touts the need for health care reforms that will improve quality and lower costs, doctors and nurses are working today in the “hospital of the future” at UPMC’s new Children’s Hospital.
The $622 million hospital and research facility, which opened in May, is one of the first all-digital pediatric hospitals in the country, a leader in the use of “green” practices to protect the environment, and a model of “patient-centered care.” Every aspect of the design, from spacious, private rooms, to a rooftop healing garden, focuses on the comfort, convenience, and safety of patients and families.
Built with no storage room for paper records, the hospital enters 99.5 percent of its data electronically — from doctors’ notes to medication orders. The payoff for this technology pioneer (the first pediatric hospital to introduce computerized physician order entry seven years ago) is better care for patients and improved communication for staff, a critical element at a teaching hospital where 70 clinicians will view the typical patient’s record 514 times over a five-day stay. Since 2002, Children’s has had a 55 percent reduction in medication errors and a 35 percent decline in mortality rates.
The 296-bed hospital and research center are also expected to win a coveted LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for environmentally friendly practices that extend far beyond the design and construction of the buildings. From its green education program for staff and patients, to water-efficient landscaping, and a new Pediatric Environmental Medicine Center, which is studying the links between environmental risk factors and disease, the green philosophy at Children’s Hospital is apparent in every aspect of its operations.
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The new 296-bed Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC is one of the most digitally advanced pediatric hospitals in the nation. The $622 million hospital and research center are designed around family-centered care, with amenities such as an atrium, private rooms, and one of the largest family resource centers in the country. |
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This video shows interior and exterior shots of the new Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, which opened in May as one of the first all-digital pediatric hospitals in the country. |
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A minimally invasive neurosurgical technique pioneered and refined at UPMC — called EEA or the Endoscopic Endonasal Approach — gives surgeons access to the base of the skull, central brain, and top of the spine by operating through the nose and nasal sinuses.
UPMC’s neurosurgeons and head and neck surgeons partner to optimize the procedure. Surgeons at UPMC have pioneered another technique for removing deep brain tumors — using an endoscope — through a small, clear tube called the neuroendoport. This tube, or port, allows doctors to access deep-seated brain tumors through a smaller opening in the lining of the brain than would be used in traditional brain surgery.
Approximately 1 to 2 percent of children and adolescents have OCD. The disorder is characterized by recurrent and persistent unwanted thoughts, images, or impulses, and/or repetitive behaviors or rituals that affected persons feel compelled to perform.
UPMC’s Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic has one of the few centers in the country with a treatment program specifically for children and adolescents. The program offers unique group, individual, family, and medication treatment that is more intensive and frequent than traditional one-on-one outpatient care, while being less restrictive than an inpatient program. Consistent with recent studies, group therapy conducted at our clinic has been effective in reducing the frequency and severity of OCD symptoms.
Many eye diseases can be successfully treated if detected early, but they often don’t display symptoms until it’s too late.
The UPMC Eye Center uses a new device called spectral domain OCT (optical coherence tomography), which detects very early stages of eye disease. This quick, non-invasive technology uses light to map a cross-section of the eye, producing full-color, 3-D images, which allow doctors to see the tiniest of details. Spectral domain OCT images specific areas of the eye that are prone to disease, so doctors can identify damaged areas easier — long before noticeable symptoms exist. By identifying eye disease as early as possible, doctors can protect patients from disease progression and treat it with less aggressive therapies than those used in later stages.
Diagnoses of bipolar disorder among children are on the rise, but little is known about the disease in children.
As a national leader in pediatric bipolar disorder research and clinical treatment, UPMC’s Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic has the only clinic in the United States solely dedicated to treating children with this illness. Highly recognized child psychiatry experts, David A. Axelson, MD and Boris Birmaher, MD, have developed the largest and most comprehensive treatment clinic for pediatric bipolar disorder in the country.
Approximately 10 to 20 percent of women struggle with symptoms of major depression during their pregnancies, but are they also at higher risk for preterm births?
According to new research by Katherine L. Wisner, MD, MS, director of the Women’s Behavioral HealthCARE program at WPIC, pregnant women who had untreated major depression in all three trimesters of pregnancy, as well as those who took certain antidepressants, had preterm birth rates exceeding 20 percent.
Telepsychiatry is an emerging trend in the field of psychiatry. For people living in rural areas, access to behavioral health care can be limited due to distance from psychiatric facilities and doctors.
With telepsychiatry, patients can have initial visits with a certified psychiatrist and receive diagnoses and even prescriptions, over a computer-based, long-distance video and audio system. It provides better access to services sooner — and gets the patients started earlier with the attention they need. WPIC is also participating in a new study comparing the effectiveness of online cognitive behavioral therapy, delivered through a website. It is augmented with therapist-moderated, weekly online chat sessions, to that of face-to-face group therapy for the treatment of bulimia nervosa — an eating disorder characterized by recurrent and frequent episodes of excessive overeating and purging behaviors.
UPMC’s Artificial Heart Program provides end-stage heart failure patients with access to the most advanced ventricular-assist devices (VADs), which are surgically implanted mechanical pumps that help blood to circulate more effectively.
Recently, UPMC surgeons implanted one of the first left ventricular-assist devices into the heart cavity instead of in the abdomen. The immediate benefit is less invasive surgery with a lower risk for bleeding and infection for the patient. UPMC surgeons also are examining the use of VADs in combination with bariatric surgery for morbidly obese patients with congestive heart failure. This will make cardiac transplantation available to those who are considered non-candidates based on morbid obesity.
UPMC and its academic partner, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, work together to provide patients with access to the most promising cardiac procedures and medications.
Cardiologists are studying the use of a naturally occurring protein to stimulate the growth of new blood vessels in the heart to improve blood flow for patients with severe coronary artery disease.
Pitt researchers also are participating in a clinical trial involving the delivery of a synthetic virus directly to the heart muscle. Through this work, they hope to stimulate the production of an enzyme that is reduced in patients with heart failure.
Soon, researchers also will use microbubble technology to detect early heart disease. Combined with ultrasound molecular imaging, this research will help detect heart disease sooner and deliver life-saving drugs directly to the heart.
To motivate sedentary adults over age 40 to live healthier, active lifestyles, the Center for Sports Medicine offers Start, a lifestyle-changing fitness program to help people incorporate realistic exercise into daily life.
Start guides participants through age-appropriate fitness, nutrition, and mental training for three months, preparing them to run or walk a 5K race. Since its inception in 2007, the program has helped participants to lower their blood pressure, lose weight, increase energy levels, and reduce joint pain.
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After completing 12-weeks of the Start program at the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine, participants undergo fitness evaluations with Ron DeAngelo, director of UPMC Sports Performance. |
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Dr. Vonda Wright, director of UPMC Sports Medicine’s Performance and Research Initiative for Masters Athletes, describes the Start program and the benefits of exercise to adults over age 40. |
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The UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program — the world’s first, largest, and busiest clinical and research program of its kind — focuses on keeping kids safe with proper evaluation and management of sports-related concussions.
UPMC doctors developed the world’s first computerized sports concussion evaluation system to help ensure safe return to sports activity after a head injury. This system, helping youth and pro leagues worldwide, also is being tested for use by the United States military.
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Drs. Mark Lovell and Micky Collins, director and assistant director of the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program, discuss concussion-related research results. |
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Dr. Jamie Pardini, a neuropsychologist on the clinical and research staff of the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program, reviews an MRI scan with a patient. |
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When it comes to providing quality health care and insurance, UPMC is one of the rare entities that marries both—for the benefit of its patients and insurance customers.
Nowhere are those advantages clearer than at UPMC itself. Thanks to engaging wellness programs and a benefits structure that offers targeted incentives to insurance members, UPMC has seen its medical costs rise more slowly than the national average while being recognized as one of the nation’s healthiest workplaces (one of the 17 healthiest, according to the National Business Group on Health).
More than 90% of UPMC’s employees participate in its wellness programs—including an online health questionnaire, required screenings and one-on-one health coaching--compared with 15% to 20% participation in such programs nationally. Best of all, employees have shown dramatic improvements in adopting healthy habits. For instance, thanks to smoking cessation efforts, about 13% of UPMC employees now smoke cigarettes, down from 17% two years ago; about 28% of employees are obese compared to 33.7% two years ago; and the prevalence of low back pain has fallen 16%. As a result, the rate of growth in UPMC’s health care costs has been running well below local and national averages for the past three years. Offering an important lesson as the nation debates health care reform, UPMC and the UPMC Health Plan are showing that investing in better health can put a brake on costs.
Through collaboration between its insurance and provider arms, UPMC is testing innovative programs that help patients while holding down health care costs—the Holy Grail in health care today.
One example: A wound care program that addresses the disability, mortality, higher hospital admissions and other problems that stem from chronic wound care, which accounts for 5% of annual Medicare and Medicaid spending.
Started in 2006, the program uses Health Plan data to help identify and treat patients with non-healing wounds. The team developed specific treatment guidelines, based on the latest medical evidence, and created a system for collecting and sharing digital photos and data with wound specialists. A dedicated wound care team, which includes UPMC specialists, primary care physicians and a Health Plan case manager, oversees an aggressive treatment plan for these members. Early results from the pilot program of 300 patients show increased healing rates of wounds, fewer amputations, fewer prescriptions written for pain medication and a drop in ER visits and hospital admissions. The next step: to take this program systemwide, creating a possible model for other health care providers and insurers across the country.
Patients with low-grade gliomas – the rarest form of brain cancer – may have a new treatment option through a Phase I vaccine trial being conducted at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.
The study evaluates the safety and immune response of a new vaccine that targets multiple glioma- associated antigens at different stages of tumor development. While most current vaccine trials target the more common form of brain cancer, it is hoped this trial will induce protective immunity to prevent or slow the growth of new tumor cells. The current treatment for patients with this disease is simply to manage symptoms or remove the tumor. Principal investigator Dr. Hideo Okada is focusing on patients with low-grade gliomas because of the lack of effective treatments and the slow growth rate of the disease, which allows researchers sufficient time to measure the immune response.
Nearly 10 percent of the U.S. population suffers from asthma, making it one of the most common chronic diseases in both children and adults.
Asthma attacks are responsible for over 1 million visits to the emergency room and 500,000 hospitalizations each year. While many patients can control their symptoms through medication, as many as 20 percent don’t experience relief from symptoms with current medications. To address the complex issues surrounding patients with severe asthma, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC formed the Asthma Institute. Patients who come to the Institute undergo extensive evaluations, with a focus on identifying the environmental, hormonal and infectious factors in their illness. Patients have access to cutting-edge diagnostic treatments, clinical trials and support services to help them live the healthiest lives possible.
Clinical Trial for Patients with Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancers |
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The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute is the primary site for a clinical trial of ABT-888, a drug previously proven in combination treatments to improve chemotherapy’s effectiveness by lowering cancer cells’ resistance to treatment.
This trial is examining the use of ABT-888 as a single agent for patients with BRCA 1 or 2 genetic mutations, which predispose patients to breast and ovarian cancers. This drug could be a treatment option for patients with BRCA mutations and advanced breast cancer who have exhausted all other treatment options. Other trials also have suggested that the drug may have fewer side effects than other therapies.