New Beginnings owner attends conference
Rana A. Colaianni, founder and owner of New Beginnings Healthcare for Women LLC, recently attended a conference sponsored by the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine titled "Gut, Brain and Auto-immune Disorders: The Role of Food."
Some of the faculty included world leader in celiac research, Dr. Alessio Fassano; Dr. David Perlmutter, Dr. William Davis, author of "Wheat Belly"; and Dr. Gerald Mullin, director of integrative health services at Johns Hopkins.
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COLAIANNI
The speakers addressed new clinical research in the understanding of the immune system and food sensitivities, celiac disease and the connections between the GI tract and the nervous system. Also discussed was ALCAT testing, a simple blood test that measures the body's cellular response to a variety of substances including foods, chemical additives and environmental chemicals and molds, thereby identifying an individual's personal triggers of inflammation.
New Beginnings Healthcare for Women offers an integrative, holistic approach to health care for women and men. For more information, call 329-2273, go to www.newbeginningsforwomen.com or visit the facilities at 1017 Washington Blvd., Suite B.
Geisinger Medical Center unit wins national award for excellence
DANVILLE - The Acuity Adaptable Critical Care Unit at Geisinger Medical Center's Hospital for Advanced Medicine recently received the silver-level Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.
Established in 2003, the Beacon Award for Excellence recognizes caregivers who successfully improve patient outcomes and align practices with AACN's six standards for a healthy work environment. Units that achieve this three-year, three-level award meet national criteria consistent with Magnet Recognition, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the National Quality Healthcare Award.
"At Geisinger, we strive every day to provide the highest level of care to our patients, and receiving the Beacon Award for Excellence is affirmation that the hard work and dedication of our nurses is paying off and helping our area's most critical patients," said Tracy Edelstein, operations manager, Acuity Adaptable Critical Care Unit, GMC. "While we are proud to receive this award, we will continue to improve the care we deliver and strive to enhance the patient experience at Geisinger."
The six criteria met by the staff at GMC's Hospital for Advanced Medicine include leadership structures and systems; appropriate staffing and staff engagement; effective communication, knowledge management, best practices and learning and development; evidenced-based practice and processes; and patient outcomes.
Study finds prenatal microarray analysis beneficial in diagnosis of developmental disorders
DANVILLE - A study published last month in The New England Journal of Medicine has found that chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) is more accurate in the diagnosis of developmental delays and birth defects during the prenatal period than more routine genetic testing, indicating that CMA would be beneficial as a standard part of prenatal testing.
The study compared CMA, a genetic test that samples the entire human genome at a very high resolution, to karyotyping, which can only detect much larger genetic imbalances. The findings suggest that CMA is more accurate than karyotyping in identifying chromosomal abnormalities that can lead to developmental delays and birth defects.
"Whole genome analysis with new DNA-based methods has emerged as an essential diagnostic tool for the evaluation of developmental delays and birth defects in children," said Dr. David H. Ledbetter, executive vice president and chief scientific officer at Geisinger Health System, and co-author of the study. "The results of this study are encouraging and indicate that it could be a valuable prenatal diagnostic tool."
The study, which followed 4,406 women, found that in the majority of those women, CMA identified all of the chromosomal abnormalities that also were identified by karyotyping. But in women with a normal karyotype, CMA identified additional chromosomal abnormalities that were not initially found through karyotyping. Specifically, CMA identified chromosomal abnormalities in 1.7 percent of women considered at relatively low risk for genetic abnormalities (such as advanced maternal age and positive test results for chromosomal abnormality) and in 6 percent of cases with a fetal structural abnormality found through ultrasound examination.
"CMA clearly detects more abnormalities than other genetic tests that have been the standard of care for many years," Ledbetter said. "Based on our findings, we believe that CMA should become a standard part of prenatal testing and our hope is that this evidence will encourage insurance companies to cover this testing for patients."
Establishing clear genetic diagnoses helps families to obtain early intervention and a service for children with developmental disorders, Ledbetter said, and helps parents to determine whether they want to have additional children.
Additionally, by pinpointing progressively smaller chromosomal abnormalities, CMA can help researchers zero in on specific genes involved in brain development and function within a stretch of DNA in order to classify patients according to the type of chromosomal abnormality found, all in the quest to deliver patients more personalized treatment.
"CMA testing can assist immeasurably in the evaluation or confirmation of developmental disorders," Ledbetter said, "leading to earlier diagnosis and intervention and a significantly improved outcomes for the patients and their families."
Former local named
CEO of NJ hospice
Keith L. Boroch, a long-time resident of Williamsport and son of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony W. Boroch, joined Barnabas Health on Oct. 29, assuming the position of president and CEO of Hospice and Home Care Services.
He will be responsible for leading the newly aligned Barnabas Health Hospice and Palliative Care Centers and Barnabas Health Home Care agencies, which includes eight locations throughout New Jersey.
"Mr. Boroch is uniquely qualified to lead our hospice and home care agencies," said Barry H. Ostrowsky, president and CEO of Barnabas Health. "He is a proven leader with experience as an administrator for hospice and home care in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and has a broad knowledge of the health care industry and hospice and home care in particular."
Barnabas Health Hospice and Home Care agencies have provided care to patients and families throughout New Jersey for more than 30 years. Each year, Barnabas Health Hospice and Palliative Care Centers deliver care to more than 2,000 patients, while Barnabas Health Home Care records more than 150,000 home care visits to patients in the comfort and privacy of their homes.
Prior to joining Barnabas Health, Boroch was president of the Visiting Nurse Association of St. Luke's Inc., a subsidiary of St. Luke's University Health Network in Bethlehem, Pa. A certified public accountant, Boroch received a bachelor of science degree from Bloomsburg University and a master's in corporate finance from Drexel University.
Ellen Krajewski receives governor's appointment
Ellen Krajewski, president and CEO of Susquehanna Community Health and Dental Clinic Inc., recently was appointed to the nine-member eHealth Partnership Authority by Gov. Tom Corbett.
The PA eHealth Partnership Authority replaces the PA eHealth Collaborative and is a positive step toward improving health care delivery and health care outcomes in Pennsylvania by providing leadership, strategic direction and investments in health information technology and health information exchange initiatives. The collaborative also is charged with coordination of eHealth projects statewide.
Krajewski, a resident of Liberty Township, Tioga County, heads the clinic, a federally qualified health center in Williamsport that serves Lycoming County residents.
