ECN Sponsors CCHE Staff to Attend CERNER Health Conference and Visit St. Judes

Tag Archives: children with cancer

ECN sponsored two of Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357’s (CCHE) staff, Operations Director Eng. Ayman Ibrahim and Pediatric Oncology Registrar Dr. Claudia Mousa, and to attend the Cerner Health Conference in Kansas City, Missouri from October 7-10, 2012. They then went on to visit St. Judes in Memphis, Tennessee as the second component of their ECN-sponsored trip.

At the Cerner Health Conference Mr. Ibrahim and Ms. Mousa learned about the notion of “power chart oncology” and drafted an implementation scheme for such a power chart, providing insight into possible areas of improvement in the current module being used by CCHE. They also looked into improvements via M-Page, Powertouch and Dragoon 3600 technologies, as well as implementing lights on applications and a better patient summary discharge process, all potential means of updating the CCHE electronic medical record system. It must be noted that CCHE has more highly integrated medical records than 96% of American hospitals. Such medical records produce many benefits, including making patient information more readily available to doctors who need them.

Upon their return, the pair provided CCHE and ECN with a copy of their action plan for CCHE to further build upon their education.

The sponsorship of these two distinguished individuals is a prime example of ECN’s commitment to furthering the educational repertoire of qualified Egyptian doctors. It is our expectation that they will take their lessons learned and put them into practice at home in order to benefit pediatric oncology in Egypt as a whole. Below is a letter sent to us by both doctors detailing their trip and summarizing the impact of their shared experiences on their future work at CCHE:

“It has only been a few days since our insightful trip to the US, which could not have been possible without ECN’s financial support and its firm belief in the worthiness of promoting Hospital 57357’s mission: offering quality healthcare and [the chance for a] cure to a maximum number of children with cancer in Egypt and the surrounding region.

We feel blessed for having been given the opportunity to attend the annual Cerner conference in Kansas, where we were exposed to the latest developments in pediatric oncology informatics, and later to observe St. Jude’s Hospital how other similar centers are implementing and making maximum use of the Cerner pediatric oncology informatics technology.

Grateful for this eye-opening experience, we return home enthusiastic and eager to make the best of what we have been exposed to, having been encouraged by the fact that our own work experience at Hospital 57357 is of value and impact to other centers as well for the ultimate purpose of improving over-all outcomes of children with cancer around the world.

This trip has been beneficial in highlighting how we could optimize the usage of our informatics resources and how we can upgrade our Cerner system. Networking with other Medical/IT teams at the conference and at the St. Jude opened up new opportunities for collaboration and exchange to enhance our ability to effectively offer the best quality services to our patients.

Again, we would like to thank ECN for its continuous support. We, in turn, pledge to put into action all the knowledge we have received. In this respect, we have prepared a detailed plan of action with a timeline for various tasks and procedures which we look forward to implement immediately to enhance and sustain performance and healthcare services’ quality. “

 

Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center to partner with Egypt Cancer Network and Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt

Creating Egypt-based fellowship training program for physicians from Egypt, the Middle East and North Africa Region

BOSTON – Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center is announcing a partnership with the Egypt Cancer Network and Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt in an effort to improve childhood cancer survival rates and outcomes within Egypt, the Middle East and North Africa. The organizations are collaborating to create an Egypt-based fellowship training program in pediatric oncology for physicians in those regions.

“Since beginning a twinning program between the Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center and the Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt in 2006, we have seen significant improvement in the outcome of pediatric cancer patients in Egypt,” said Mark Kieran, MD, PhD, director of medical neuro-oncology at Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center and member of the medical advisory board for the Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357’s pediatric oncology fellowship program. “However, there is still a shortage of expertise and resources needed to treat children with cancer in this region.”

“The fellowship is designed to improve the childhood cancer survival rates and outcomes within Egypt, the Middle East and North Africa,” said Kieran. “This collaboration will allow the exchange of information, knowledge and experience for both doctors from the region and from the United States, providing the opportunity for the improvement of treatment and care practices.”

The collaboration will provide a formal fellowship framework for pediatric oncology training and mentoring for Egyptian, African and Middle Eastern pediatricians in line with international standards and will create a pool of qualified pediatric oncologists who can ensure continued progress in improving outcomes for children with cancer in this region.

As part of the fellowship, between 2 and 6 pediatric physicians from the Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt will travel to Boston to work with specialists at Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center (DF/CHCC).  In addition, DF/CHCC physicians will rotate at the Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt to train oncologists there in the latest treatments and care techniques.

About the Dana-Farber / Children’s Hospital Cancer Center

Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center (DF/CHCC) combines the strengths of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a world-class cancer institute, and Boston Children’s Hospital, an internationally known pediatric hospital. For over 60 years, these two Harvard Medical School affiliates have provided comprehensive care for children and adolescents with cancer. Committed to conducting research to better understand and treat childhood cancers, DF/CHCC is the Pediatric Oncology Experimental Therapeutics Investigator Consortium’s (POETIC) only Phase I Clinical Trial site in New England, and is home to one of the world’s most sophisticated and accomplished Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation centers. DF/CHCC also offers comprehensive transitional and long-term survivorship programs to childhood cancer survivors of all ages.

 

ECN recently had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Robert Watson, one of the three co-founders of the charitable organization Songs4Children.The organization, based in Palo Alto, CA, held a unique fundraiser for ECN during this past Ramadan entitled “Hope Sings”. Songs4Children has since made ECN its’ primary fundraising cause.

Songs4Children was begun in the name of using music to raise money for and spread awareness of initiatives which would service children. It was through Songs4Children co-founder Mariam Helmy, who is of Egyptian descent, that ECN was first nominated as a potential cause. Ms. Helmy, in conjunction with co-founder Ms. Sophie Cristal and Mr. Watson, hosted their first opera recital in the early summer of 2012. Since then, they have had two performances, and are working towards hosting their first full opera performance, due to take place in November of this year.

ECN is thrilled to be chosen as Songs4Children’s cause and will be partnering with Songs4Children to continue to spread the word about ECN’s initiatives, all of which are designated towards helping children with cancer in Egypt and the region. Please continue to check our events and our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/EgyptCancerNetwork) for more information about the upcoming show in November and in order to purchase tickets. For more information about Songs4Children, please visit their website at www.songs4children.org.