HOUSTON (August 4, 1998) - Texas Surgical Associates (TSA), a sub-specialty group practice of board-certified cardiovascular and thoracic surgeons, recently shared their accomplished goals and successes of their first year as a group. Formed in response to changes in managed-care market expectations, TSA was established by 10 prominent Houston surgeons-including five members from Dr. Michael DeBakey's team at Baylor College of Medicine.

"TSA's primary objective was to translate our high standards and expertise of surgical training in the Texas Medical Center to a geographically dispersed area to serve patients citywide," says Wade Rosenberg, TSA founding member and president. "Among our accomplishments, we're very proud that we've already contributed dramatic improvements to cardiovascular programs at major regional hospitals, including St. Joseph Hospital and Clear Lake Regional Medical Center."

"We are very pleased with the quality of the cardiovascular program at St. Jo's," says Scott Scheinin, director of cardiothoracic surgery at St. Joseph Hospital and founding member of TSA. "As a group, we are able to contribute our collective strengths and knowledge to enhance services at institutions all over Houston."

TSA one-year anniversary highlights include:

• Collectively, TSA physicians performed more than 5,000 cases their first year.
• To date, TSA has group agreements with 27 major insurance providers.
• At St. Joseph Hospital, TSA contributed to doubling the number of cardiovascular cases while substantially decreasing mortality rates.
• At Clear Lake Regional Medical Center, TSA increased coronary artery bypass procedures three-fold with marked reduction in mortality. In addition, TSA played an integral role in Clear Lake's approval of a $7 million expansion of two open-heart surgical suites scheduled to open next spring.
• To demonstrate commitment to quality outcomes, TSA voluntarily joined as participants of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) National Cardiac Surgery Database, which allows them to compare their clinical outcomes to surgeons nationwide.
• TSA centralized physician operations, including scheduling, quality assurance and utilization management, clinical services and billing. In addition, they established a database that documents their outcomes and serves as a research resource.

TSA physicians, the majority of which maintain their teaching and research commitments to Baylor College of Medicine and The University of Texas Medical School, are Robert T. Baldwin, Michael W. Gallagher, Donald M. Gibson, Jimmy F. Howell, Javier A. Lafuente, Gerald M. Lawrie, Cesar Nahas, George P. Noon, Mahesh K. Ramchandani, Wade R. Rosenberg and Scott A. Scheinin.

TSA provides cardiovascular, thoracic, transplantation and general surgical programs at The Methodist Hospital, St. Joseph Hospital, Memorial City Hospital, Memorial Hospital Southwest and Clear Lake Regional Medical Center.

According to David Stone, executive director of TSA, the group has been approached by additional health-care providers about establishing or enhancing cardiovascular programs at their respective facilities. "Our physicians are excited about partnering with more hospitals on a select basis in response to the public's need for high-quality cardiovascular services."

TSA's 5,000-square-foot clinic is located in Scurlock Tower, 6560 Fannin, Suite 1402, Houston, Texas 77030.