A healthy destination

NWA health care providers add services, locations

NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Dr. Steven Harms of The Breast Center in Fayetteville is recognized nationally for his work with breast MR.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Dr. Steven Harms of The Breast Center in Fayetteville is recognized nationally for his work with breast MR.

Darrell Lawhon traveled 760 miles for his gastric bypass surgery.

The 41-year-old Bishop, Texas man had the procedure performed by Dr. Josh Roller of Roller Weight Loss & Advanced Surgery. Lawhon learned about Roller through a friend and decided to check him out.

"I could have had the surgery done closer to home, but Dr. Roller is a specialist," he said. "This is a big surgery, and I wanted to make sure it was done right."

He has lost more than 105 pounds since his surgery a couple of years ago.

The Northwest Arkansas Council pointed to the region's health care offerings as a growth opportunity in the three-year strategic plan it unveiled in January. The Greater Northwest Arkansas Development Strategy for 2015-17 outlines four key areas and 15 priorities for the region's development, including building the area as a health care destination.

"It's about figuring out those specialty areas to attract consumers that don't compete with other nearby areas," said Mike Malone, the council's president and CEO.

The International Medical Travel Journal defines medical tourism as travelling to a different place to receive treatment for a disease, ailment or condition, and who are seeking lower cost of care, higher quality of care, better access to care or different care than they could receive at home.

Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Development at the University of Arkansas, said the area has some of the pieces needed to stretch its health care reach, but is still missing components such as a children's hospital.

Northwest Arkansas has three major medical provider systems: Northwest Health System, Mercy Northwest Arkansas and Washington Regional Medical Center. The area also has specialty hospitals and clinics, a Veterans Administration Medical Center and a branch of the state's medical school.

"You have to demonstrate excellence and be ranked where it counts," Deck said. "I think reputation is a big missing piece."

Arkansas is often near the bottom of many national health care rankings. The 2014 State of American Well-Being rankings by Gallup-Healthways places Arkansas 43rd in the nation for overall health. The ranking places the state 48th for physical health and 42nd for financial health, meaning managing of economic life to reduce stress and increase security.

Malone said one way to improve that perception is to have centers of excellence in the area. A center of excellence refers to a team, a shared facility or an entity that provides leadership, best practices, research, support and training for a focus area.

Sharif Omar, CEO of Northwest Health System, points to bariatric surgery as one such area. Roller's clinic is affiliated with Northwest Health System and Physicians' Specialty Hospital.

The bariatric weight loss surgery program at Physicians' Specialty Hospital and Dr. Roller were designated as metabolic and bariatric surgery accreditation and quality improvement program by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and the American College of Surgeons.

Omar said Northwest is in application process of becoming a bariatric center of excellence.

He said becoming the best at something requires performing a lot of surgeries.

"Bariatrics is the same, and we do tons of them," he said.

Roller and Dr. Yong Kwon performed 103 bariatric surgeries in 2013 and 288 last year. The pair did 46 surgeries in January and February.

Omar said it's important for each of the area's medical systems to develop its own offerings without duplicating some services, adding that hospital administrators don't necessarily work together, but they watch what other systems are adding.

Dr. Steve Goss, president of Mercy Clinic Northwest Arkansas, pointed to Washington Regional Medical Center's emphasis on neuroscience.

"They have put a big emphasis on neuro so we aren't going to focus on that," he said. "We have a fair amount of transfers that go there."

Washington Regional opened the Northwest Arkansas Neuroscience Institute in August and hired three neurosurgeons who specialized in endovascular neurosurgery, a process that uses catheter technology and radiological imaging to provide minimally invasive treatment for illness including stroke and cerebral aneurysm.

"This is world-class neurosurgery. This is done in less than 40 places worldwide," Dr. Larry Armstrong said when the center opened.

Goss said the systems compete, but are trying to carve out their niches. He said heart care is one of Mercy's focuses.

Eric Pianalto, president of Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas, said the system recently invested in new technology for a catheterization laboratory, an examination room with diagnostic imaging equipment used to look at heart arteries and chambers. The equipment was recently approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration, and he said Mercy was the fifth facility in the United States to use it.

Northwest Arkansas is also home to a world-renowned specialists in breast imaging. Dr. Steven Harms works at The Breast Center, a Medical Associates of Northwest Arkansas clinic with locations in Fayetteville and Bentonville. Harms helped develop the use of magnetic resonance imaging for patients at high-risk of breast cancer. He travels the world and hosts visiting medical personnel to teach about breast imaging.

"If you build something special, you want to teach other people how to do it," he said. "Northwest Arkansas is our most important focus."

He was on the faculty at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Baylor University Medical Center and M.D. Anderson Cancer Institute, but made his way back to his hometown in 2004.

He said research is part of staying at the forefront of any field, and the Breast Center has participated with leading institutions across the world. He said the center headed a multicenter trial that showed the best diagnostic measures for breast MRI yet reported in the field. The center is now part of a larger international trial headed by a Milan, Italy group using breast MRI prior to surgery.

Harms also sees patients from around the globe, said Jason Wilson, Medical Associates of Northwest Arkansas CEO.

"Part of that is because of his reputation and word-of-mouth," he said.

Medical Associates of Northwest Arkansas has 16 clinics and 85 physicians and providers across the area.

Wilson said 12 percent of the system's patients traveled from outside Benton and Washington counties last year and about 3 percent came from out-of-state.

Lawhon had never been to Northwest Arkansas before his surgery a couple years ago. He has flown back a couple of times for checkups.

Patients Beyond Borders, a publication on medical tourism, estimates the medical tourism is a $38.5 billion to $55 billion industry worldwide with the average patient spending $3,500 to $5,000 per visit, including all related medical costs, transportation and accommodations.

"We went to Northwest Arkansas and didn't know much about the area before coming up. There were things to do while we were there that I didn't know about," Lawhon said, citing things like Crystal Bridges of America Art in Bentonville and the Clinton House Museum in Fayetteville.

"Northwest Arkansas is a nice place," he said.

NW News on 03/29/2015

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