2006 - Nemours

Rapid population growth continues to define the Stateof Florida, and Nemours is growing right along with thepopulation explosion. The Pensacola clinic establisheda satellite clinic to the east in Destin. About the sametime, the Orlando clinic opened a satellite office to thenorth in Lake Mary. Both clinics have been wellreceived and embraced by the community.Ever-improving technologies allow Nemours physiciansto improve the quality and outcomes of care to children.A recent example is NemoursLink, a program allowingcommunity primary care practitioners access to Nemourselectronic medical records via the internet. All threeFlorida markets implemented the new system in 2006,integrating primary physicians, families and specialtycare of children for improved quality and satisfaction.One advancement is the use of robotics as a minimallyinvasive alternative for urologic or general surgery offeringless pain and earlier recovery (see Riley’s story on page18). Additionally, two Jacksonville physicians created“firsts” in the state: the partial removal of a spleen usingrobotics and the use of Balloon Sinusplasty.Nemours Florida physicians cared for more than109,000 children this year. Of these, almost 44,000were new patients. Additionally, Nemours providedmore than 230,000 outpatient visits. Nemours remainsthe predominant provider of pediatric specialty servicesin Jacksonville and Pensacola, while the uncertainty of theOrlando hospital and subsequent loss of some physicianscontributed to a slight decline in overall utilization.Despite the overwhelmingly positive support from theOrlando community for a Nemours hospital, our planscontinue to create some significant, yet short-term,challenges. Understandably and expectedly, somephysicians left the Orlando practice to pursue a greaterlevel of certainty for their future, which required anincreased recruiting effort to continue the pursuit ofa higher standard of care.The planning and design process for the new clinicand hospital that continued through most of the yearwas suspended in September to allow consideration ofother locations in light of significant developments inthe Orlando community. Those developments allowedthe Lake Nona site to gain favor. According to currentopinion polls, 93 percent of those surveyed favor thehospital being built in their community at no cost totaxpayers. In the final analysis, what matters most forparents of ill or injured children is timely access tosafe, high quality care.Jacksonville’s Division of Ophthalmology teamed up withthe Vision Is Priceless Council to develop Pediatric VisionScreening, an educational CD distributed to pediatriciansand family physicians in Florida at no cost to them. TheAmerican Academy of Ophthalmology is hosting a versionon its web site, while the American Academy of Pediatricsand the American Academy of Family Physicians willlink to the presentation on their web sites. In addition,the Children’s Eye Foundation selected Jacksonville asone of two national “See by Three” sites.The Division of Hospital Pediatrics in Jacksonvilleincreased the coverage of on-duty attending physicians.In collaboration with the University of Florida and WolfsonChildren’s Hospital, both Nemours affiliates, in-housecoverage was increased to 12 hours a day, and the numberof physician attendees increased to three on weekdays.The expansion improved the continuity and quality ofcare, patient safety and patient and family satisfaction.Rapid population growth continues todefine the State of Florida, and Nemoursis growing right along with thepopulation explosion.Pensacola’s Division of Critical Care led an effort toimprove care and outcomes through the implementationof new software for the pediatric intensive care unit atSacred Heart Children’s Hospital. The division beganusing a national database to compare patient care outcomesto national benchmarks. Additionally, a certified diabeticeducator was hired this year to develop an educationprogram and obtain American Diabetes Associationaccreditation for diabetic teaching.34 2006 Nemours Annual Report