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                                                           Marijuana    page 43











          Volume 14 • Issue 9 • $5.00  March 2018
                          THE REGIONʼS MONTHLY NEWSPAPER FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS & PHYSICIANS


                                                                    REAL ESTATE


                                                        Baptist Plans to Rebuild

                                                Fishermen’s Community Hospital


                                                      BY DANIEL CASCIATO

                                             Five months after Hurricane Irma severely
                                            damaged Fishermen’s Community Hospital in
                                            Marathon, acquired last summer by Baptist
                                            Health South Florida, plans are officially under-
                                            way to rebuild.
                 Dr. Franck Rahaghi                                                                                             Matt Gracey
                                             “We committed to the Middle Keys back on
                                            July 1 when we acquired Fishermen’s, well
             Scleroderma                    before the hurricane hit,” says Rick Freeburg,                             Danna-Gracey:
                                            Chief Executive Officer of both Fishermen’s
                                            Community Hospital and Mariners Hospital.
              Foundation:                   “Baptist Health is here to stay. We’re still com-                               Providing
                                            mitted to providing high-quality healthcare to
               Education,                   the Middle Keys community.”                                               Premier Medical
                                             Construction of the $40 million facility is      Rick Freeburg
                 Support,                   anticipated to begin during the first half of 2019,                           Malpractice
                                                                                                 Continued on page 38
                 Research                                                                                             Advice to South

                                                   VITAS and Centric Consulting                                      Florida Providers
                BY LOIS THOMSON
                                                   Create Award-winning Mobile
          "It just so happens that was one of the
        few things I knew," laughed Dr. Franck                                                                             BY DANIEL CASCIATO
        Rahaghi, recalling an incident that     Solution to Improve Patient Care
        occurred while he was in medical school                                                                       One of the biggest medical malpractice
        at the University of California San                                                                         changes South Florida healthcare
        Francisco. One of the professors showed a        BY VANESSA ORR                                             providers need to be mindful of this year
        patient in class and said the person had                                                                    is last year’s decision by the Florida
        Raynaud's phenomenon in the fingers,  In January, VITAS Healthcare, the nation’s lead-                      Supreme Court to strike down malprac-
        and other manifestations, and asked if  ing provider of end-of-life care, won a 2018                        tice damage caps. In June 2017, the high
        anyone knew what it was. "I was so happy  Process Excellence Network (PEX) award for its                    court ruled that the law limiting pain-
        I made a diagnosis of a rare disease."  mobile solution to improve the patient experi-                      and-suffering damages in medical mal-
          That rare disease was scleroderma, an  ence. And while Patrick Hale, CIO, EVP, is cer-                    practice cases is unconstitutional.
        autoimmune disease whose symptoms    tainly happy with the recognition, he’s even more                        “This was an important event for med-
        often include sensitivity to cold in the  proud that the company’s foray into the mobile                    ical malpractice insurance in Florida
        extremities, thickening of the skin, short-  environment has made patients’ and clinicians’                 because markets are already changing,”
        ness of breath, difficulty in swallowing,  lives easier.                                                    says Matt Gracey, CEO and co-founder
        stiffness and pain in the joints, and dam-  “Providing the most efficient and best care for                 of Danna-Gracey, the largest independ-
        age to internal organs. Dr. Rahaghi's  our patients is our mission and passion, and the                     ent medical malpractice insurance
        knowledge of the disease has had an  mobile app helps us do that,” he said. “It allows                      agency in the state of Florida. Danna-
        impact on both his career and his service  our clinicians to spend time engaged with patients               Gracey offers physicians professional lia-
        to others.                           instead of on technology, and that improves the   Patrick Hale         bility coverage, workers compensation
          He became a pulmonary specialist and  quality of experience at bedside.”                                  insurance, a robust cyber and regulatory
        went to the Cleveland Clinic in Florida to  VITAS’ mobile solution, which they developed in partnership with Centric Con -  defense coverage program, EPLI (em -
        start a pulmonary hypertension clinic. "It  sulting, won in PEX’s best technology-enabled process improvement project category.  ployee practices liability insurance) cov-
                                                                                                                    erage, as well as disability, life, and
                         Continued on page 13                                                   Continued on page 14                 Continued on page 33


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