SoutheastHEALTH, Washington University School of Medicine announce collaboration

SoutheastHEALTH and the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis announced a collaboration Thursday that SoutheastHEALTH president and CEO Ken Bateman said will improve health-care options for residents of Southeast Missouri.

Under the agreement, Washington University’s Cardiothoracic Surgery Division will partner with SoutheastHEALTH to provide education, quality assurance, access to clinical trials and more for at least the next five years.

Bateman said in an interview Wednesday the agreement would help expand the range of treatment options available to area patients.

The collaboration, he said, has been designed over the past year to help streamline the process by which patients receive treatment.

He said most of the patients from the Cape Girardeau area who go elsewhere for more advanced care go to St. Louis, so the collaboration with Washington University “made sense because they’re one of the top leading medical schools in the nation.”

The arrangement, he said, will include Washington University doctors conducting on-site quarterly reviews of each cardiac surgery performed at SoutheastHEALTH.

“That constant feedback from Wash U. docs in terms of quality assurance and peer review is certainly going to elevate the quality of the physicians here,” Bateman said.

Leading the collaboration will be Ralph J. Damiano Jr., chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and Paul D. Robison, Southeast Medical Group’s medical director of cardiothoracic and vascular surgery.

“By design, this collaboration will enhance the level of interventional heart care by bringing evidence-based innovations in surgical techniques and treatment options for our critically ill heart patients,” Robison said in a news release. “Dr. Damiano has been a valued collaborator of mine for years, and I’m pleased to bring this relationship and collaboration together for the benefit of SoutheastHEALTH and those we serve.”

Damiano said during a news conference Thursday he admires Robison and his staff at SoutheastHEALTH and views them as kindred spirits.

“We hope it to be a very close collaboration,” Damiano said, adding when it comes to delivering care efficiently, “Big networks, I think, have an advantage.”

Bateman said the partnership will allow SoutheastHEALTH physicians to “tap into the knowledge base of Wash U. ... [regarding] new procedures, latest protocols, emerging technologies.”

Washington University’s cardiothoracic surgery program, established in the 1930s, was one of the first such programs and is recognized as a leader in the field.

“This collaboration is about putting the patient first,” Bateman said. “Collaborating with physicians from Washington University on complex cases will help ensure the patient is seen at the right time and in the right setting.”

The collaboration, he said, will provide a more streamlined care strategy for patients whose needs require them to be treated in Washington University’s academic setting in St. Louis.

“This relationship kind of becomes a navigator for care,” Bateman said. “Even if they need to see other specialists or other follow-up care, we can help them navigate that rather than the patient working through that themselves.”

Bateman also cited the more than 1,000 clinical trials being undertaken at Washington University, to which SoutheastHEALTH patients will have access if appropriate.

The working relationship, Bateman said, also helps lay the foundation for future physician recruitment.

“They’re a major medical school,” Bateman said. “Obviously we want to recruit high-quailty physicians into SoutheastHEALTH. They’re going to help us recruit physicians both from within their residency as well as help us on a national basis.”

SoutheastHEALTH director of marketing and business development Shauna Hoffmann said Washington University has fewer than half a dozen comparable partnerships, and the collaboration speaks to the strength of SoutheastHEALTH’s reputation.

“We’re connected,” she said. “What it means for the community here is your access to the best medical care with Southeast connects you to [Washington University].”

Bateman said SoutheastHEALTH and Washington University are seeking to develop the relationship further by possibly adding local clinics staffed by Washington University physicians.

“We believe that within a year, we’ll have at least one or two clinics on site with Wash U. docs staffing it,” Bateman said. “I really think that this is going to be the biggest impact into this community in probably decades, bringing academic medicine directly into this market.”

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627