Atlanta Business Chronicle
by Erin Moriarty
http://www.bizjournals.com

The ink has long since dried on Georgia’s tort reform legislation, but legislators are keeping a watchful eye on the state’s supply of physicians.

The state lags behind much of the nation in doctors per capita and in the availability of medical education to train new doctors, according to testimony at the recent meeting of the Joint Senate and House Health & Human Services committees.

Georgia ranks 38th among U.S. states for physician supply and 35th in the availability of medical education, said Edward Salsberg, associate vice president of the Association of American Medical Colleges.

“From the national perspective, I think there’s more that Georgia can do,” Salsberg said.

Nationally, the Association of American Medical Colleges has asked all medical schools to increase their enrollments by 30 percent by 2015, citing concerns about a doctor shortage beginning in 2016. It also cites projections that the U.S. population over 65 will double between 2000 and 2030, creating a strain on the health-care system.

Several of Georgia’s medical schools have begun gradually increasing their enrollments. The state gained a new medical school last year, and another new medical school is being planned in Savannah.

These changes will boost the supply of new doctors, but no new hospitals have stepped up to offer residency programs to provide those new doctors with clinical training, said Benjamin Robinson, executive director of the Georgia Board for Physician Workforce.

In order to prevent new doctors from going out of state for their residency training, Georgia likely will need to increase the number of slots available in its residency programs, Robinson said.
Baby boom

An Atlanta business geared toward pregnant women and new moms is rapidly expanding.

Clare Schexnyder, a former CNN producer, and Cyndy Norford, a former Wachovia executive, started Oh Baby! Fitness LLC a year ago in September to offer fitness classes for pregnant women and new moms. The two met soon after they had their first babies a couple of years ago.

Schexnyder got the idea for the entrepreneurial startup when she was six months pregnant and producing a story on prenatal and postnatal fitness for CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the topic.

Schexnyder and Norford started the business with just a couple of partnerships with local hospitals, but in the first year, they have branched out to 70 classes in 20 locations. They now have agreements with five local hospitals and a number of fitness centers across metro Atlanta from Buckhead to Lawrenceville.

“It’s getting to the point where [fitness centers] are contacting us,” Schexnyder said.

Upon request, they will begin offering classes this winter at several Gold’s Gym locations on the southside, as well as a handful of gyms in the western suburbs, Schexnyder said.

“It’s becoming way too much for me to do as a mom,” said Schexnyder, who has a 2-year-old. “I’m on the phone all the time, and my daughter’s favorite thing to say is ‘Mommy off phone, now!’ ”

The classes range from pregnancy Pilates and water aerobics to classes where new moms can do yoga, Pilates and water aerobics with their babies alongside them.
Quality moves

Emory Healthcare has added three new chief quality officers.

Dr. Nathan Spell was named chief quality officer at Emory University Hospital, while Dr. Richard Gitomer was named to that post at Emory Crawford Long Hospital and Dr. Penny Castellano was appointed chief quality officer of The Emory Clinic. They began their new roles on Sept. 1.

The chief quality officers will work with physicians and hospital employees to help Emory measure, assess and improve the quality of care.

“These are people who can really focus on expanding and accelerating the pace of our quality initiatives,” said Dr. William Bornstein, who has been the chief quality officer for Emory Healthcare for several years.

The chief quality officers will report to Bornstein, who said creating these new positions was just one of many internal quality initiatives at Emory.

“There is no part of quality that we are not measuring,” said John Fox, president and CEO of Emory Healthcare.
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