Living Without Limits: Osteoarthritis and total joint pain
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common chronic condition of the weight-bearing joints and can affect the knee, hip and ankle.
While the symptoms of OA can vary from one person to the next, common symptoms include stiffness, joint pain and muscle weakness.
Join Dr. Nicholas T. Gates and Dr. Jonathon Spanyer of Commonwealth Orthopaedic Centers and Dr. Troy Schumann of St. Elizabeth Physicians on Tuesday, March 28 at 6 p.m. for a free educational session to learn about the effects of osteoarthritis on your joints.
Attendees also will receive information on how to manage symptoms through exercise, weight management, medications and total joint replacements. The event will be held at Highlands High School Performing Arts Center, 2400 Memorial Pkwy., Fort Thomas.
Attendees can register online at stelizabeth.com/totaljoint.
St. E – Edgewood gets chest pain accreditation
St. Elizabeth Edgewood has received Accreditation as a Chest Pain Center with Primary PCI from the American College of Cardiology (ACC).
“This recognition means that St. Elizabeth Edgewood has demonstrated excellence in caring for heart attack patients and those with chest pain who may or may not be having a heart attack,” explained Dr. Kami Tehrani, Cardiologist, St. Elizabeth Heart & Vascular Institute.
Hospitals that have achieved ACC Accreditation use an evidence-based, systematic approach to care for these patients. This allows clinicians to reduce time to treatment during the critical early stages of a heart attack. It also puts protocols in place to monitor patients when it is not initially clear whether a patient is having a coronary event. Such monitoring ensures patients are neither sent home too early nor needlessly admitted.
To achieve accreditation, hospitals must meet or exceed an array of stringent criteria and undergo a comprehensive onsite review. According to the ACC, hospitals that receive ACC Accreditation status have achieved a higher level of expertise in dealing with patients who come to the hospital with symptoms of a heart attack. They emphasize the importance of standardized diagnostic and treatment programs that provide more efficient and effective evaluation as well as more appropriate and rapid treatment of patients with chest pain and other heart attack symptoms.
This accreditation is one of several recent affirmations of the quality of care provided for heart attack patients at St. Elizabeth Edgewood. It was recently recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review for being among ten hospitals with the highest heart attack survival rates in the nation.
In addition, St. Elizabeth has been working with EMS providers in the community to reduce time-to-treatment for heart attack patients using a mobile device app that automatically alerts physicians and the cardiac treatment team when EMS has a patient having a heart attack. This has resulted in significant reduction in time-to-treatment for heart attack patients coming to St. Elizabeth Edgewood by life squad.
Christ physicians offering online scheduling
The Christ Hospital Physicians is enhancing the patient experience and transforming care in Northern Kentucky with a new online scheduling tool. Direct scheduling for sick visits has launched as a pilot program with Drs. Gerry Tolbert and Jerry Tolbert’s Burlington office.
“We’re excited to be the first office in The Christ Hospital Health Network to offer our patients this new option to schedule sick visits,” said Dr. Gerry Tolbert, family medicine physician at The Christ Hospital. “It’s another example of how we are actively pursuing our mission of improving the health of our community and creating patient value by providing exceptional outcomes, affordable care and the finest patient experiences.”
The direct scheduling is a new MyChart feature that allows existing patients of Drs. Tolbert and Tolbert to schedule sick visits directly through MyChart. Patients can log into their MyChart account and click on ‘Schedule an Appointment’, then select ‘Sick Visit’.
Patients can then follow the steps to select a provider, an appointment date and a time, and a reason for their visit. Immediately after an appointment is scheduled, the patient will be able to utilize eCheck-in.
Drs. Tolbert and Tolbert are currently accepting new patients. Their office is located at 1838 Florence Pike in Burlington. They can be reached at 859-334-0217.
To sign up for a MyChart account, visit www.TheChristHospital.com/MyChart and click on the ‘Sign Up Now’ button.
