JamesLHollyMD.com

	James L. Holly, M.D.

About SETMA Joint Commission Contact Information History Mission Statement Medical Home Scope of Services I-CARE Initiative Infusion Center The SETMA Way - What is it? SETMA's Model of Care Patient-Centered Medical Home The SETMA Approach to Patient Care	In The News Letters Vital Signs - Examiner Publication SETMA's Providers as of January, 2015 SETMA Knows - Abraham Lincoln and Healthcare Analytics SETMA – 1999 – Four Seminal Events PC-PCC Award January, 2015 Vital Signs Spring 2015 Vital Signs Q&A for PC-PCC Award Links to SETMA 2012 eHealth Innovator Award for LESS initiative Handout for Attendees eHealth Conference January 12, 2012 eHealth Initiative 2012 Award Program Application The eHealth Initiative's 2012 Award Letter 2012 National Quality Forum National Healthcare Improvement Award Effective prioritization of performance improvement goals Dashboard to Measure and Manage Whole System Performance Commitment to transparency Date-driven improvement of NQS priorities Demonstration of readiness to assume responsibilities of an ACO Demonstrated results on publicly reported performance measures Public Reporting Quality Metrics for 2009, 2010, 2011 Internally Tracked Reporting Quality Metrics for 2009, 2010, 2011 Complete Application in PDF Format SETMA's Medical Home Pilgrimage 2009 Medical Home Series I 2010 Medical Home Series II 2011 Medical Home Series Two 2009, 2010, 2011 Medical Home Miscellaneous Articles The Dr. and Mrs. James L. Holly Distinguished Professorship Universal American Letter of Transmittal for Support Dr. Holly's Acceptance Address for the 2012 Distinguished Alumnus Award CMS Medical Home Feedback Report Qualify & Cost SETMA questions Influenza Data SETMA I - October 2011 SETMA II - October 2011 Mark A. Wilson Clinic SETMA West - October 2011 SETMA and Fox 4 News - Healthy Living Videos SETMA Advertisements - Display and Video SETMA Announcements Featured Content Archive	Syllabus PC-MH Externship SETMA's MS4 Patient-Center Medical Home Selective Syllabus Introduction to SETMA's Senior Externship and Syllabus An Introduction to the Origins and Beginnings of Southeast Texas Medical Associates, LLP Patient-Centered Communication PC-MH Health Affairs August 15, 2013 Policy Brief -- Health Gap SETMA 8.20.13 Provider Training -- Health Affairs 2.14.13 -- Patient Engagement SETMA Provider Training 8.20.13 during First Senior Medical Student PC-MH Externship Medical Home Coordination Review Tutorial 2011 Medical Home Series Two Teaching Tool for PC-MH Course - Patient Care Activation, Engagement, Shared-Decision Making	Patient Information What Does Patient-Centered Medical Home Mean to You? What Does Patient-Centered Medical Home Mean to You? Health information exchange Patient Rights and Responsibilities Patient Directions Contact SETMA – Secure Texting What is HIPAA? Authorization To Release or Obtain Medical Records Complete Privacy Policy Website Privacy Policy	Presentations Invited Presentations SETMA Provider Training
Governance Board Governance Board Responsibilities Governance Board Leadership Training The SETMA Team and The SETMA Culture SETMA's Mission, Vision and Goals: Patient Safety and Quality Care Harassment, Neglect, Abuse, Exploitation - Role of HCAHPS & CAHPS Healthcare Provider Standards Providers Responsibility Medication Refills, Reconciliation and Maintenance Provider and Leadership Use of Data and Analytics Commitment To All Patients -- Ethnic Disparities Kaizen - Board Creates Culture of Safety and Quality SETMA's Policy and Practice for Advanced Directives SETMA's Policy on Completion of Medical Records Care Guidelines : Improve processes to evaluate and treat Integrated patient safety program (Sentinel Events) Effectively Manages all programs, services or sites Provides Patients with information about Primary-care Medical Home Organization-wide Planning to Maintain Focus on safety and quality Organization-wide Planning to Maintain Focus on safety and quality SETMA's Performance Quality & Safety Judged by CMS SETMA's Performance Quality & Safety Judged by CMS SETMA Awarded by HIMSS for Quality and Safety 2011 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards Application Healthcare Quality Award 2012 Principles of Quality and Metrics Principles Contacting SETMA & Secure Texting PC-MH Mission, Vision, Goal, Access, End-of-Life Communications and Public Reporting Change Existing Processes to Improve Performance Team Members Focused on Safety and Quality	Your Life Your Health View Articles by Subject Aging Well Behavioral Health Cardiovascular Disease Risk Care Coordination Care Transitions Children's Health COGNOS Project Diabetes Exercise Healthcare Reform:Public Policy HIPAA & Security Labor Day Less Initiative Medical Home Medical Records Men's Health Mental Health Nutraceuticals Nutrition Smoking Cessation Thanksgiving Weight Management Women's Health All Articles	Public Reporting Public Reports by Year (2009-2017) Public Reports by Type Fall Risk, Pain, Functional, Wellness, Stress Assessment Fall Risk, Pain, Functional, Wellness, Stress Assessment for 2011 AND 2012 Core Measures: SETMA & Baptist Hospital Core Measures for January to December 2011 PQRS Diabetes Measures - Blood Pressure Diabetes Measures - Glyco and LDL Diabetes Measures - Nephropathy Screening, Foot Exam, and Eye Exam Preventive Measures - Screening (BMI, Colorectal Cancer, Mammography, Osteoporosis) Preventive Measures - Influenza, Pneumococcal, Urinary Incontinence Preventive Measures - Tobacco Use NQF Care for Older Adults Comprehensive CHF Care Diabetes Measures Diabetes Measures - Blood Pressure Control Diabetes Measures - Glyco and LDL Diabetes Measures - Smoking Cessation Female Measures General Health Measures Medication Measures Persistent Medications Medication Measures Pediatric Measures HEDIS (NCQA) Effectiveness of Acute Care Effectiveness of Chronic Care - Clinic/Hospital Effectiveness of Chronic Care - Clinic Only Effectiveness of Chronic Care - Diabetes (Smoking Cessation) Effectiveness of Chronic Care - Diabetes (Glyco and LDL) Effectiveness of Chronic Care - Diabetes (Blood Pressure Control) Effectiveness of Preventive Care Effectiveness of Preventive Care - Older Adults Effectiveness of Chronic Care - Diabetes Measures Effectiveness of Chronic Care - Persistent Medications (MPM) NCQA Diabetes Recognition Program Audit LESS Initiative PCPI PCPI Hypertension PCPI Diabetes PCPI Chronic Stable Angina PCPI Care Transitions PCPI CHF PCPI Weight Management PCPI CKD Stages IV V SETMA Lipid Audit Lipids Treatment Audit Tutorial Lipids Tutorial AQA COGNOS Project SETMA Audit for CKD Stages I III Patient Satisfaction Survey	Accreditations/Awards Achievements which have Advanced SETMA: The Time-line, Philosophy and Principles which Underlie that Advancement Awards	Diabetes Center of Excellence Education Diabetes Order Referral Form Seven Stations 2011 Advances in Diabetes Diabetes Tutorial Diabetes Prevention
EPM Tools Association of Medication and Diagnosis Automated Team Function Behavioral Health Adult Weight Management Tutorial Annual Questionnaires: Fall, Functional, Pain, Stress, Wellness Behavioral Health in SETMA's Patient-Centered Medical Home Model of Care Depression Tutorial Fall Risk Tutorial Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Tutorial Intensive Behavioral Therapy (IBT) Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease Medicare Preventive LESS Initiative Tutorial Medical Home Transtheoretical Model Assessment Stages of Change Tutorial Pain Management Tutorial Reduction of Antipsychotic Medications Toolkit Smoking Cessation Tutorial Stratifying End-of-Life Risk for Hospice Services Tutorial Chronic Conditions Tutorial Chronic Renal Disease Management Tool Tutorial Calculating the Stages of Renal Disease Proteinuria Disease Management Tools Acute Coronary Syndrome Tutorial Adult Weight Management Tutorial Angina Tutorial Cardiometabolic Risk Syndrome Tutorial Chronic Renal Disease Tutorial Congestive Heart Failure Tutorial Diabetes Tutorial Hypertension Tutorial Lipids Tutorial Lipid Quality Audit Tutorial Primary Pulmonary Hypertension Tutorial Framingham Cardiovascular Risk Cardiometabolic Risk Assessment Framingham Heart Study Risk Calculators Tutorial Frederickson Classification of Dyslipidemia LDL Level Lipid Disease Management Risk Assessment General principles about ICD-9 Codes and HCC/RxHCC Codes Charge Posting Tutorial Coding to Ensure Accurate Health Risk Scoring E & M Codes Tutorial HCC & RxHCC Risk HCC/RxHCC Risk Tutorial ICD-9 Code Training Manual Hepatitis Screening Hospital Based Tools Hospital Care Summary and Post Hospital Plan of Care and Treatment Plan Tutorial Admission Orders Tutorial Daily Progress Notes Tutorial Care Transition Data Set from PCPI Tutorial Using The Clinic and Hospital Follow-up Call Templates Respiratory Failure Tutorial Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS): Tutorial for SETMA's Internal HCAHPS Survey Master GP Suite of Templates Master GP Suite of Templates Tutorial Medical Home Support Materials Department of Care Coordination, Director of Care Coordination and Care Coordination Referral Template Electronic Tickler File Electronic Tickler File Tutorial Follow-up Calls Intensive Behavioral Therapy (IBT) Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease Medicare Preventive Services Medical Home Coordination Review Tutorial Medical Home Plan of Care and Treatment Plan Medical Home Transtheoretical Model Assessment Stages of Change Tutorial Patient-Centered Medical Home Annual Questionnaires Patient-Centered Medical Home: SETMA's Medical Home Coordination Review (MHCR) Tutorial Patient Document for Coordination of Care Transitions of Care Management Coding (TCM Code) Tutorial Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Quality Metric Tool Tutorial Nursing Home Depression Tutorial Fall Risk Tutorial Hydration Assessment Tutorial Nursing Home Guidelines for Care Tutorial Nursing Home Principal Suite of Templates Nutrition Assessment Tutorial Reduction of Antipsychotic Medications Toolkit Skin Care Tutorial Outpatient Infusion Center for Intravenous Antibiotic Therapy and Other Meds Preventive Health Tools Adult Weight Management Tutorial CHF Exercise Tutorial Diabetic Exercise Tutorial Diabetes Prevention Tutorial Exercise Prescription Tutorial Hypertension Prevention Tutorial Intensive Behavioral Therapy (IBT) Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease Medicare Preventive Initial Preventive Physical Exam & Annual Wellness Visit Tutorial LESS Initiative Tutorial Progression to Type 2 Diabetes Smoking Cessation Tutorial Progression to Type 2 Diabetes Quality Metrics ACO and Medicare Advantage Stars HEDIS: NCQA, History, Quality, Safety, STARS, ACO ACO Quality Measures Performance Tool ACO Quality Measures Performance Tool Tutorial STARs - A Tutorial for Utilizing SETMA's Deployment of the STARS MA Program Specialized Tools Annual Questionnaires: Fall, Functional, Pain, Stress, Wellness Association of Medication & Diagnosis Chronic Conditions Tutorial Chronic Care Management Code (CCM) Tutorial Depression Tutorial Drug Interactions Tutorial Electronic Tickler File Tutorial Evaluation Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in the Male Fall Risk Tutorial Future Labs Tutorial Hydration Assessment Tutorial HCC Risk Training Tool Hypertension: Fulfilling Quality Metrics for the PCPI Program Laboratory Results - Signing Off: Why and How Medication Module Tutorial Medication Reconciliation Tutorial Nutrition Tutorial Pain Management Tutorial Problem List Reconciliation Tutorial Progression to Type 2 Diabetes Referral Skin Care Tutorial SOAAP Opioid Risk Assessment Stratifying End-of-Life Risk for Hospice Services Tutorial Texas State Reportable Infectious Diseases Tutorial Transitions of Care Management Coding (TCM Code) Tutorial	Transforming Your Practice Library Introduction to SETMA's TCPI Library Transforming Your Practice (TCPI) Summary Document of TCPI CMS Quality 12.2015 TCPI Leadership and Governance Care Coordination HIPPA and Security Data Analytics Care Transitions LESS Initiative Medical Records Clinical Decision Support Hospital Care Tools Disease Management Tools Preventive Health Tools Behavioral Health Transformation Tools New Transformation Tools Patient-Centric Care Nursing Home Medical Home Display and Explanation of SETMA's Patient-Centered Medical Home Tools	Medical Home The Story and the Ideals Introduction to Preventive Health Tools PC-MH Patient Engagement & Alternative Payment Models Preventive Care: The Best Way to Treat Illness is Don’t Get it Coordination of Care Patient-Centric Care Population Health Transition of Care - One form of Care Coordination HCAHPS - Hospital Consumer Assessment Of Healthcare Providers and Systems CAHPS - Consumer Assessment of Health Care Provider and Systems Teaching Tool for PC-MH Course – Patient Care Activation, Engagement, Shared-Decision Making Display & Explanation of PC-MH Tools SETMA's Medical Home Pilgrimage Concierge Medicine not Medical Home Medical Neighborhood Security & HIPPA Referrals Patient Web Portal Health Information Exchange Medication Reconciliation The Automated Team Coordination of Care Medical Home Description & Standards AAAHC Joint Commission NCQA Planetree URAC NCQA Interview February 14, 2014	Facebook	Letters

Your Life Your Health - Cholesterol, Hypertension, Diabetes: The Silent Killers

Muhammad Aziz,M.D.

April 11, 2002

Your Life Your Health - The Examiner

You are driving on the highway, and suddenly hear trouble in your car. You park your car on the shoulder and get out. The wind is blowing across the highway; cars and trucks are zipping by making a great deal of noise. Realizing the potential danger, you are careful to protect your life by being cautious and attentive to the passing cars and trucks.

You might be thinking, this sounds familiar. We tend to take precautions when we are alarmed, afraid or in danger. However, when it comes to our health, we often throw caution to the wind. Many Americans are not careful about their health. There are certain diseases which are very common but everyone ignores them until they hit you hard and life is changed dramatically for the worse. Professionals in the medical field call these the Silent Killers.

These are the physical problems which develop silently and only become obvious when a serious, life threatening and sometimes irreversible health problem manifests itself. These silent killers can affect our families, friends and loved ones. When they occur, we may take precautious for a few days. Some of us even make an appointment to see our physician, but fail to return for complete follow-up if we feel a little better.

Some major silent killers are cholesterol problems, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Associated complications are heart disease and strokes with vascular disease.

High cholesterol is the most important factor in heart disease and blood vessel disease, but a lot of patients do not take it seriously. They never follow their diets or take their medications consistently.

It is very important to understand that a single blood test, with a good cholesterol result, does not mean you are healthy forever. You should check your cholesterol on a annual basis, even if it is normal. Every person has a different target level of LDL (bad cholesterol). You can discuss this with your physician or log on to the American Heart Association web site for more details on determining your target LDL.

Once you are on cholesterol medication, you need to check your blood periodically. Fortunately, drugs available today for cholesterol are fairly safe. You have to take your medicine regularly and for life, in order to keep your target LDL level maintained. Cholesterol causes clogging of the coronary arteries to the heart, carotid arteries in your neck that go to your brain, and the other arteries to your kidneys and extremities. Your aim should be to protect these vital organs by keeping all arteries clean. This can be accomplished through exercise, diet, or medication if necessary.

High blood pressure silently and slowly puts pressure on your heart, brain and kidneys, and damages them over time. You may not feel the adverse effects initially, as the process is slow. However, one day you may suddenly get chest pain and the doctor tells you that you are having a heart attack, or you have had a stroke. Then it is too late.

Keep your blood pressure checked. Blood pressure monitors are readily available and easy to use. Record your blood pressures regularly, first thing in the morning. Your doctor's office staff should also check your blood pressure on every visit. If you are on blood pressure medications, remember to take these daily for life.

Diabetes mellitus itself is not a killer, but its complications are. If you keep your diabetes under control all the time, not only when you have to visit your doctor, your life expectancy does not change. It is a tedious job to keep sugar controlled. A fasting blood sugar less than 100mg/dl, is the key to success. Physicians can easily determine whether a patient is truly keeping their blood sugar controlled by testing a Hemoglobin A1C. This needs to be checked every 3-6 months and gives the history of sugar control over the past three months.

Patients with diabetes tend to have cholesterol problems, circulation problems, nerve problems, eye and kidney problems. Diabetics also need to see an eye doctor on a yearly basis, if they have no current vision problems, but more frequently if a problem exists.

Another important issue to avoid those "silent killers" are cancer screenings. You should have your colon checked every 5 years, and more often if you have a family history of colon cancer. Remember, colon cancer caught early is 95 % curable, but caught late it is 95% fatal. For prostate cancer, men should check their PSA on a yearly basis after age 50, and earlier if a they have a family history of cancer. Women should have mammograms yearly after age 40, earlier if a family history of maternal breast cancer is present. Women should also have a Pap smear every 1-2 years, once they are sexually active. Nothing is as important with breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer or cervical cancer as early detection. Nothing will detect these early as well as an annual preventive health care visit to your health care provider.

Get your blood pressure checked, cholesterol controlled, blood sugar in target range and protect your vital organs from the devastating effect of diabetes.

These are your responsibility. You can't expect anyone else to take care of your health, if you are not willing to take an active and indeed a proactive role in managing your own health care. You need to have a healthcare provider who will demand that you stop smoking, that you get your flu and pneumonia immunizations and that you get regular preventive health care screening.

You need to make healthy choices every day in your life. You need to eat less, exercise more and change the kinds of foods that you eat. Remember, almost all "fast" foods are bad for you. Foods with high sugar and fat content are bad for you.

There are not enough medications in the world to make up for you neglecting your responsibility of making healthy choices in your habits and in your obtaining of preventive and screening healthcare. You should have at least one visit to your healthcare provider per year which is not associated with an acute health problem or an illness. If you have diabetes, you need three or four a year routinely, regularly, consistently, without regard to your state of health. If you have controlled blood pressure problems, you should see your healthcare provider at least two times a year.

If your healthcare provider is not willing or able to discuss your personal risk factors for these "silent killers," find a healthcare provider who will. If you do not have a healthcare provider who routinely checks your blood pressure, weight, height, cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, LDL, urine, and blood sugar, then find a healthcare provider who will.

Ask questions!!! You should know as much about your health as your doctor on nurse practitioner. While the basic science behind your health issues may be beyond your level of interest, the practical applications and the practical implications of that science should not be beyond your level of interest and they certainly are not beyond your ability to understand.

Remember, it is your life and it is your health.

About SETMA	In The News	Syllabus PC-MH Externship	Patient Information	Presentations
Governance Board	Your Life Your Health	Public Reporting	Accreditations/Awards	Diabetes Center of Excellence
EPM Tools	Transforming Your Practice Library	Medical Home	I-CARE Initiative	NextMD