COVINGTON – St. Tammany Quality Network (STQN) presented its 2022 fourth-quarter Medical Director’s Award to the Gastroenterology Co-Management Team (GI-CMT) for their outstanding performance in GI quality measures.
The GI-CMT consists of 11 gastroenterologists – Drs. Phillips Jenkins, Russ Wardlaw, Nathan Ranney, Hamid Hussain, Steve Guarisco, Felix Rabito, Larry Gensler, Sai Veerisetty, Brandon Brousse, Greg Mula, and Malcolm Andry – along with Lacylynn McGehee, RN BSN, the director of the Endoscopy Department at St. Tammany Health System’s flagship St. Tammany Parish Hospital.
“This is an amazing group of physicians dedicated to improving the health of our community. They are focused on early detection of colon cancer as well as the endoscopy patient and family experience” said Dr. Mike K. Hill, STQN medical director. “Everyone over the age of 45 should have screening for colon cancer, and this group is involved in coordinating efforts to reach out to our community.”
The GI-CMT is also involved in monitoring endoscopy quality and efficiency measures at STHS, where the high-performing team of nurses, technicians and physicians in the Endoscopy Department perform more than 4,600 endoscopy cases a year.
Given the proven correlation between screenings, early detection and improved outcomes, STHS recently launched a community campaign to bring awareness of the need for colorectal cancer screening to western St. Tammany Parish. The goal is to screen a minimum of 85% of eligible patients who receive their primary care within the employed and community physicians participating in the Quality Network.
STQN continuously strives to define and improve the healthcare needs of our community. Promoting wellness is a key component of this quest.
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About St. Tammany Quality Network
St. Tammany Quality Network is a physician-led organization that demonstrates a commitment to quality and outcomes by creating a medical community aligned around quality initiatives and payer engagement; using a common information technology platform to capture disease-specific data to assist in proactive patient care; and collaborate on patient-centric initiatives that enhance the quality and improve efficiency of health care delivery.