Latest News

1.20.20

Semmes Murphey Physicians Named Among the Best Doctors

The Memphis Flyer recently partnered with Best Doctors, Inc. to provide a list of the best physicians in the Memphis/Shelby County area. Among those listed were four Semmes Murphey physicians, including Dr. Adam Arthur, Dr. Frederick Boop, Dr. Kevin Foley, and Dr. Paul Klimo.

Founded in 1989 by Harvard Medical School physicians, Best Doctors is a global benefits provider and medical information services company that connects individuals facing difficult medical treatment decisions with the best doctors, selected by impartial peer review in over 450 medical specialty/subspecialty combinations, to review their diagnosis and treatment plans. This list was compiled through a biennial poll, conducted by the Best Doctors' team of researchers. The process uses a polling method and balloting software to gather the insight and experience of tens of thousands of leading specialists all over the country.

"The result is the Best Doctors in America® List, which includes the nation's most respected specialists and outstanding primary care physicians in the nation. These are the doctors that other doctors recognize as the best in their fields. They cannot pay a fee and are not paid to be listed and cannot nominate or vote for themselves. It is a list which is truly unbiased and respected by the medical profession and patients alike as the source of top-quality medical information."

All four physicians were named Best Doctors in the Neurological Surgery category, while Dr. Boop and Dr. Klimo were also listed in the Pediatric Neurological Surgery category.

To view the full list, click here.

1.15.20

Dr. Klimo Wins Paper of the Year, Two Years in a Row

For the second year in a row, Dr. Paul Klimo was awarded the Pediatrics Paper of the Year by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS). The paper, “The Preventable Shunt Revision Rate: A Multicenter Evaluation,” was published in Neurosurgery in March 2019. In this paper, Dr. Klimo reviews two years of shunt operations data from participating centers in North America to determine predictors for failure.

The study shows that approximately one-third of early shunt failures are preventable, leading Dr. Klimo to suggest methods to reduce the risk of all causes for preventable shunt failures.

To read the full article, click here.

1.7.20

Dr. Arnautovic to Co-Chair and Co-Direct Neuro-Oncology Symposium

Dr. Kenan Arnautovic is co-charing and co-directing a symposium for the Neuro-Oncological Aspects in Modern Neurosurgery Friday, January 31, 2020, at the Conference Auditorium, Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Dr. Arnautovic says he is "looking forward to another educational neurosurgical event between the US and Southeast European Neurosurgery."

Under the High Auspices of the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ANUBiH)

Organized by:

The Association of Neurosurgeons in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Southeast Europe Neurosurgical Society

Endorsed by:

Semmes Murphey Clinic
Department of Neurosurgery, University of Tennessee, Memphis, TN, USA
Clinical Center University of Sarajevo
Faculty of Medicine University of Sarajevo
Croatian Society for Cerebrovascular and Endovascular Neurosurgery

Symposium Co-Chairs: Kenan Arnautović, Ibrahim Omerhodžić

Symposium Directors: Kenan Arnautović, Lidija Lincender-Cvijetić, Zulejha Merhemić, Ibrahim Omerhodžić, Lukas Rasulić, Krešimir Rotim

Scientific Committee: Nurija Bilalović, Semir Bešlija, Roman Bošnjak, Harun Brkić, Eldin Burazerović, Aleksandar Čaparoski, Zlatko Ercegović, Ian Stefan Florian, Vesna Ivanišević, Mirsad Hodžić, Goran Lakičević, Mirza Pojskić, Tomislav Sajko, Vjeran Saratlić, Haso Sefo, Bruno Splavski, Rasim Skomorac, Enra Suljić

See the full program here:

Scientific Program

11.5.19

SVIN 2019 Annual Meeting to Highlight Advances in Stroke Care Worldwide

The Society of Vascular and Interventional Neurology (SVIN) is committed to improving stroke prevention strategies as well as expanding access to the most impactful and modern acute stroke treatments to patients worldwide. Stroke and interventional neurologists who are members of SVIN continue to work collaboratively to achieve better outcomes for stroke patients.

In the past year, many important advances in stroke science have occurred that will have a tremendous impact throughout the United States and worldwide. The WEB-IT Study, lead by Semmes Murphey endovascular neurosurgeon Dr. Adam Arthur, of the Woven Endobridge (WEB) endovascular aneurysm embolization device was published and has lead to the application of this technology in the United States. This study demonstrated the superior safety and efficacy of the WEB compared to previous technologies for the treatment of wide neck bifurcation aneurysms. His study in addition to others presented at the Meeting will undoubtedly have an important impact in both improved patient outcomes and access to modern stroke therapies.

The SVIN 2019 Annual Meeting, taking place November 20-23 in Atlanta, GA, is a premier scientific forum for leaders in the field of stroke and neurointerventional surgery. Semmes Murphey physician, Dr. Lucas Elijovich is the Chair of SVIN's 2019 Annual Meeting, and says, "We are excited to have investigators like Dr. Arthur (and many others) representing five different continents at the Annual Meeting to share their expertise and science...bringing together a diverse multidisciplinary group is one of the many strengths of SVIN, and we believe it is of immense benefit to our patients."

Semmes Murphey is proud to have so many world-renowned physicians who lead the way in advancing the field of neuroscience.

Sources:
news-medical.net
Society of Vascular and Interventional Neurology

10.30.19

Congratulations to Dr. Arnautovic - 2nd Vice President for WFNS

Dr. Kenan Arnautovic was voted in as one of seven 2nd Vice Presidents for the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies.

The World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) is a professional, scientific, non-governmental organization comprising of 130 member societies, consisting of 5 Continental Associations, 119 National Neurosurgical Societies and 6 Affiliate Societies, representing over 30,000 neurosurgeons worldwide. WFNS aspires to promote global improvement in neurosurgical care. The mission of the WFNS is to work together with our member societies to improve worldwide neurosurgical care, training and research to benefit our patients.

We are proud to have one of our very own represent such a prestigious and influential organization that strives to better neurosurgical care around the globe.

October is Dysautnomia Awareness Month

Over 70 million people worldwide live with some form of dysautonomia. In order to help raise awareness, we wanted to send out an email about what dysautonomia is and how Semmes Murphey Clinic can help patients with this disorder.

What is dysautonomia?

Dysautonomia, or autonomic dysfunction, is a term used when there is a malfunction of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) occurring.

What is the Autonomic Nervous System?

The autonomic nervous system controls the “automatic” functions of the body that you do not think about every day. This includes blood pressure, heart rate, digestion, temperature regulation, and even the size of your pupils. There are two parts of the autonomic nervous system; the sympathetic nervous system: your fight or flight responses, and the parasympathetic nervous system: your rest and digest responses. Both of these parts of the ANS must function correctly, and both must balance each other sufficiently in order for your body to function well.

What does autonomic dysfunction look like?

Often patients present to our clinic with dizziness, lightheadedness, or even fainting due to dysregulation of blood pressure and heart rate. Other symptoms that can present include constipation, gastroparesis, bladder regulation issues, sleep dysregulation, sweating dysregulation, orthostatic intolerance, and fatigue. The autonomic nervous system is involved in so many different organ systems, often patients present with multisystem complaints.

What are the types of autonomic dysfunction?

There are many types of autonomic dysfunction: Neurogenic Orthostatic Hypotension, Autonomic Neuropathy, Neurocardiogenic syncope, Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia, Multiple System Atrophy, Pure Autonomic Failure, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, Diabetic Autonomic Neuropathy, Familial Dysautonmia, Baroreflex failure and others. Autonomic dysfunction can be secondary to many other disorders, diseases, and even viral or chemical exposures.

How do we help these patients?

Semmes Murphey has an Autonomic Care Team. In collaboration with our general neurologists, Debbie Turner, DNP, and Kelli Patrick DNP provide autonomic services at Semmes Murphey Clinic to help diagnose and treat autonomic dysfunction. They can help to determine if there is an imbalance or miscommunication happening throughout the autonomic nervous system through starting with a very detailed consultation and history, and then can provide testing such as spectral analysis and head-up tilt table testing to measure how the autonomic nervous system is working. Treatment is aimed at restoring balance to the autonomic nervous system to help decrease symptom burden. Raegan Oliver, MA, and Kandis Childs, MA work alongside these providers to help ensure the best care is provided for these patients.

9.9.19

Welcome Dr. Kyle Smith to the Semmes Murphey Team!

We are very pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Kyle Smith to our team of expert doctors.

Dr. Smith maintains special interests in complex spine, minimally-invasive spine surgery, and cranial and spinal tumor surgery. He performs outpatient spine procedures and manages operative and non-operative treatment of spine and brain disorders. We are excited to have him join our staff and add his expertise to our patient care services.

Click the link below to read more about Dr. Smith!

8.9.19

Karen Adams, Director of Operations, Interviewed with Memphis Medical News

Karen Adams is the Director of Operations here at Semmes Murphey and is a key player in helping our clinic run smoothly. Recently interviewed Memphis Medical News among other healthcare administrators, Karen talks about how the role of an administrator has changed over the years, the challenges that she faces in the day to day operations, as well as the keys to success.

“You must be forward-thinking and learn to predict change,” she said. “Healthcare isn’t a static industry.” Adams referenced important milestones for Semmes Murphey, such as when the practice converted to electronic records and placed electronic kiosks for patients to check-in inside its offices. “Technology has changed the way we do business internally,” Adams said. “We have to look at solutions and leverage them for high productivity and efficiency.”

Read the full article in July's issue of Memphis Medical News.

8.9.19

At the cutting edge of spine — Key thoughts from Dr. Kevin Foley on technology, big data and more

Kevin Foley, MD, is the chairman of Semmes Murphey Clinic and director of complex spine surgery at Semmes Murphey.

His practice focuses on minimally invasive surgery, robotics, and disc regeneration. He has written more than 35 book chapters and has 125-plus scientific journal publications. He has also invested in several medical devices and been issued 150 patents. Earlier this year, Dr. Foley received the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Cushing Award for Technical Excellence and Innovation in Neurosurgery.

Here, he shares key thoughts on the most exciting technology to watch and how the spine field is evolving.

Question: What emerging technology are you most interested in today and why?

Dr. Kevin Foley: I am interested in technologies that have the potential to improve upon various aspects of contemporary spine surgery, especially those that can add value by improving the quality of spine surgery at a competitive cost. For example, I am involved in the development of progenitor cells derived from human disc tissue to treat degenerative disc disease and postpone or avoid fusion, ultrasonic imaging combined with artificial intelligence-enhanced algorithms to detect critical neural structures and prevent damage to these structures, a bioresorbable, osteoconductive, wet-field mineral-organic bone adhesive to repair and enhance bony structures and improve spinal fixation in poor quality bone, an improved means of generating intraoperative three-dimensional images, and a cost-effective spinal robotic system.

Q: How do you think your practice will change in the next three years? What are you doing today to prepare?

KF: Over the next year or two, my practice will likely change incrementally. Already, for example, the majority of my spinal surgery cases are performed minimally invasively and over half are performed in our surgery center. This trend will continue and slowly increase. Beyond that near term, I expect to see more significant changes in reimbursement, continued pressures on providers to lower costs and risk-share, the adoption of the above and other new technologies, especially if they improve the value of care and/or address previously unmet clinical needs, and increasing involvement of physicians in managing the healthcare system. We are the key drivers of improved value.

We are doing several things at Semmes-Murphey Clinic to prepare for the future. We have entered into co-management agreements with the two largest regional healthcare systems, we are constructing a prospective bundle of our services to market to businesses, and we continue to emphasize and measure quality. In that regard, we have been major contributors to the Quality Outcomes Database and will be a vanguard site for the newly organized AANS-AAOS American Spine Registry.

Q: What is the most dangerous trend in healthcare, spine or orthopedics today and why?

KF: I believe the most dangerous trend in healthcare has been the tendency of too many physicians not to get involved in the management of the field. Delivering quality patient care can be time-consuming and exhausting, but we ignore the management of healthcare delivery at our peril and ultimately, to the detriment of our patients.

This article was written by Laura Dyrda with Becker's Healthcare Online

7.15.19

Dr. Adam Arthur - Interview with NeuroNews International

Adam Arthur was one of few neurosurgeons in the USA to develop a busy practice in both open cerebrovascular surgery and endovascular neurosurgery. As is so often the case, he has had an array of influential mentors that helped guide him as he paved his career path. Now, as not only a Semmes Murphey physician but the current president of the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS), he tells NeuroNews about the important trial results he is awaiting this year, the highlights of the 2019 meeting, and the specific technology he is looking forward to seeing evolve.

"I love working in a team with smart, motivated people. I love getting to work with my hands, doing real things that have measureable results. I love getting to help patients, and being able to work with new technology. It is unbelievable that I get to do all of those things as a “job”."

Read his full interview here.

Semmes Murphey