UM News

Steven M. Altschuler

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (November 24, 2015)—Steven M. Altschuler, a renowned physician and health care administrator who served as president and chief executive officer of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and The Children’s Hospital Foundation for the past 15 years, has been named senior vice president of health affairs at the University of Miami and chief executive officer of UHealth-University of Miami Health System.

In his new position, Altschuler will be responsible for the strategic and operational leadership of the University’s clinical delivery system, which includes the University’s hospitals, faculty practice plan, and clinics. He will report directly to UM President Julio Frenk and fulfill an advising role to the executive vice president and provost of the University, the senior vice president of business and finance and chief financial officer of the University, and the Board of Trustees in order to provide strategic leadership to align clinical and research investments.

Miller School of Medicine Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, the founder of UHealth and dean since 2006, will continue to serve as the head of the school, providing academic leadership to its educational and research missions.

“I am extremely grateful for the University’s confidence in me to lead this amazing system, along with the help of a skilled and dedicated team. The opportunity to be part of the institution during such an innovative era in health care and scientific research is exciting,” said Altschuler, who begins his new post on January 1, 2016.

“Steven Altschuler has a wealth of experience as a leader in both health care administration and the delivery of excellent and compassionate patient care. As senior vice president of health affairs, he will spearhead UHealth’s continued advancement as a world-class academic medical enterprise serving the Americas and beyond,” said President Frenk. “We are grateful to Dean Goldschmidt, who has been instrumental in the Miller School’s progress as one of the nation’s top medical schools and will continue to provide leadership in our academic and research efforts.”

Altschuler led CHOP’s transformation from a traditional academic medical center into a world leader in pediatric health care, research, education, and advocacy for children, with strong ties to the University of Pennsylvania. The organization has approximately 14,000 employees, including nearly 1,200 full-time physicians and researchers, at 50 different care sites in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In FY 2015, the foundation, hospital, and affiliates had approximately $5.4 billion in assets and $115 million in charitable contributions. Research expenditures were approximately $340 million, and the hospital supported the clinical and research training of 135 residents and 275 fellows. Since 2003, with the exception of only two years, U.S. News & World Report has ranked CHOP the No. 1 children’s hospital in the nation.

Altschuler was associated with CHOP as a postdoctoral fellow in 1982, becoming an assistant physician in 1984 and serving as chair of the Department of Pediatrics and physician-in-chief of CHOP from 1997-2000. He also was a faculty member in the Department of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania from 1985-2000. Since retiring from CHOP in June 2015, Altschuler has been board chair of Spark Therapeutics, a leading gene therapy company that is a spinoff of the Center of Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics at CHOP.

Altschuler received his B.A. in mathematics from Case Western Reserve University and his M.D. from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He was an intern and resident at Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Boston before serving as a postdoctoral fellow at CHOP.

“The recruitment of an esteemed leader like Dr. Altschuler reflects the continued momentum at the University of Miami and UHealth, as we seek to grow and improve our University’s contribution to our great city. This appointment is the latest step in the evolution of UHealth as a world-class medical enterprise that is driven to excel in both patient care and patient experience,” said Stuart Miller, chair of the UM Board of Trustees.Dean

Goldschmidt said it is a pleasure and an honor to pass the baton for UHealth and UM health affairs to Altschuler, whom he described as “an extraordinarily accomplished leader of medicine for the 21st century.”

“His past accomplishments are simply formidable, and our institution will benefit immensely from his expertise and talent,” Goldschmidt said. “I am delighted to have a chance to refocus all of my attention on the Miller School of Medicine and work with our faculty, staff, students, and trainees who are doing a fabulous job in promoting our ascension in the ranks of top-tier U.S. medical schools. All of us at the medical center are deeply grateful to President Frenk and the Board of Trustees for the recruitment of Steven Altschuler.”

As South Florida’s only academic-based health system, UHealth combines patient care, research, and education to create a leading-edge approach to health care. UHealth’s comprehensive network includes three hospitals: Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Hospital, and Bascom Palmer Eye Institute; more than a dozen outpatient facilities in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Collier counties; and more than 1,500 physicians and scientists.

Special to UM News

MIAMI, Fla. (July 21, 2015)—For the 12^th consecutive year—and the 14^th time overall—Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at UHealth—the University of Miami Health System has been ranked the nation’s best in ophthalmology by U.S. News & World Report in its 2015-2016 Best Hospitals edition. Every year since the rankings began 25 years ago, Bascom Palmer has ranked either first or second in the country.

“At Bascom Palmer, the well-being of our patients inspires us to excel in eye care, vision research, education, and clinical innovation,” said Eduardo C. Alfonso, professor and chairman of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. “Receiving the No. 1 ranking for 12 consecutive years recognizes the exceptional expertise of Bascom Palmer’s team. Together, Bascom Palmer’s world-class ophthalmologists, vision researchers, nurses, ophthalmic technicians, and support staff have one goal—to provide the ultimate in compassion and medical care to patients.”

“What Bascom Palmer does—be the best every day, year in and year out—is easy to describe but incredibly difficult to achieve,” said Pascal J. Goldschmidt, senior vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Miller School of Medicine and CEO of UHealth. “It requires a shared goal of world-class performance, and the unwavering commitment to meet that goal. We salute Bascom Palmer, with its outstanding faculty, staff and trainees, for consistent excellence in patient care, research, and education in the field of ophthalmology.”

Bascom Palmer’s physicians are recognized international leaders in their fields of expertise in every subspecialty in ophthalmology—diagnosing and treating eye diseases in adults and children. The institute’s clinician-scientists are developing the latest diagnostics and surgical techniques for patients with cataracts, glaucoma, and other blinding diseases. They are also involved in clinical trials using gene therapy, retinal chips, genomics, and stem cell therapy, and are studying genetic mapping of eye cancers to better target treatment.

From the more common eye illnesses to the most complex ocular diseases, Bascom Palmer researchers and physicians are leading the way in finding the underlying causes and genetic factors in ophthalmology, with the goal of then developing the most targeted therapy for each patient. Translating discoveries made in the laboratory to individualized treatments for patients—the hallmark of precision medicine—is leading to quicker results, improved patient outcomes and more hope.

Recently, Bascom Palmer’s surgeons implanted a “bionic eye” in a patient with severe retinitis pigmentosa to achieve a dramatic improvement in vision. Additionally, the Institute’s researchers are conducting laboratory studies on the molecular basis of degenerative diseases of the eyes that hopefully will lead to new clinical treatments, and have already identified key biomarkers in eye cancer that lead to more precise therapies, sparing patients from less effective treatments.

Earlier this summer, Bascom Palmer opened a $25 million, 20,000-square-foot eye center in Naples, Florida. Next year, the Institute will open its first international eye center in Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates, further extending its worldwide leadership in the field of ophthalmology.

In addition to its international reputation as one of the premier providers of eye care in the world, Bascom Palmer is the largest ophthalmic care, research and educational facility in the southeastern United States. More than 250,000 patients are treated each year with nearly every ophthalmic condition, and more than 18,000 surgeries are performed annually. With four patient care facilities in Florida (Miami, Palm Beach Gardens, Naples and Plantation), the Institute serves as the Department of Ophthalmology for the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, part of UHealth-University of Miami Health System.

The new rankings are accessible online at www.usnews.com/besthospitals.

UHealth and other U.S. health care providers are gearing up to adopt a new set of medical codes that are used to report diagnoses and inpatient procedures, a vital and ongoing project that the University community will hear more about in coming months.

All U.S. providers and hospitals covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) are required to replace the ninth International Classification of Disease (ICD-9) with the tenth version, ICD-10, on October, 1, 2014. The change is designed to greatly expand medical coding and documentation, in turn increasing the efficiency with which the University’s health system provides, analyzes, and tracks its health care services.

What will this new enhanced coding system mean for UHealth? This new system will increase the specificity of diagnosis codes and enhance the quality of documentation produced by the health care provider and supporting staff. The majority of billing and assessment of health care services relies on ICD codes, which is why an expanded and more comprehensive system will be of value to our network and the health care industry at large.

The ICD-10 system consists of two parts:

1. ICD-10-CM for diagnosis coding, which uses 3 to 7 digits instead of the 3 to 5 digits used with ICD-9-CM, but the format of the code sets is similar.
2. ICD-10-PCS is for use in U.S. inpatient hospital settings only. ICD-10-PCS uses 7 alphanumeric digits instead of the 3 or 4 numeric digits used under ICD-9-CM.  Coding under ICD-10-PCS is much more specific and substantially different from ICD-9-CM procedure coding.

Why is this transition important to UHealth? A key reason is because coding supports our clinical revenue. Proper preparation is key to the successful implementation of this new system. Of utmost importance is the training and educating of all our health care providers and employees who are involved in providing care or who support our clinical efforts in some capacity. It is imperative that our clinical documentation supports this new coding system and accommodates the increased level of detail needed to effectively transition to this new system.

UHealth’s transition is already well under way. Under the leadership of Dr. David Lubarsky, Chief Medical and Systems Integration Officer, an enterprise-wide project is constantly assessing our readiness, identifying issues and developing remediation plans. The project is composed of eight groups that are working diligently to prepare for upcoming changes, new system implementations, and process updates. A Project Management Office, led by Susan Davis and supported by Vivian Naiman and Marvin Katz, has also been established to assist our physician and administrative leadership with the required changes.

How will ICD-10 impact you?  Many faculty and staff are already involved with established workgroups. Future communications will be more specific about upcoming deadlines and rollouts. The assignment of Web-based education modules is under way, and department leadership will be communicating the requirements set forth by our Education Workgroup. For further information and inquiries regarding our progress, please contact the Project Management Office at [email protected].