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Volume 55 · Number 2 Fall/Winter 2013

Volume 55 Number 1 Spring/Summer 2013

Need Continuing Education Credits?

Yvonne Hermann practicing her phlebotomy skills on Christina Huff during a training session. The group KSSAMT board members during a forum session. Several members of the Kentucky State Society American Medical Technologist will attend the AMT 75th Educational Program and National meeting in Pittsburg, PA in July. It will be a jammed pack week full of opportunities for CE credits. You can earn continuing education credits by attending the conference seminars. Come join us, learn about the AMT organization, meet other AMT members from across the country, make new friends, and visit old friends. Look inside for more details!

The Bluegrass Tech Kentucky State Society American Medical Technology

www.americanmedtech.org

WHAT’S INSIDE?

Recap - Medical Assisting Week Southern District Council Notes Coffee Break Case Study President’s Message 2014 Newsletter Changes Kentucky Health Info Editor’s Comments

KSSAMT Fall Meeting Recap!Thanks to Lisa Drennan RN, CMSRN lead Medical Assisting Instructor at Daymar Col-lege in Bowling Green, KY for hosting our Fall Educational meeting in October. The educa-tional meeting was a great success, with AMT members from across the state attending the all day session. We were greeted with an energetic, fun-filled welcome from Bowling Green’s tour-ism rep representative,

Duncan Hines. He offered lots of fun facts, tidbits, and door prizes to the audience.Hines spotlighted tourist attractions, events and lots of things to do while in the area. The educational seminars included top-ics from; diabetes, molecular testing, special Coagulation testing, toxicology, info about the Kentucky women’s health registry as well as resume and career building tips.

Kentucky State Society American Medical Technology

Daymar College shared their Celebration of Medical Assisting Week with us. The medical assisting students were very involved in getting the word out in their community by contacting mayors and county judges in and around the Warren County area, to request proclamations for Medical Assisting Week from Oct. 21-25. The hard work and dedication the students put into the project paid off, they received eight proclamations, and recognition through newspaper announcements. We Congratulate the medical assisting students and leaders involved in this project: Alicia Anspach, Walteria Bell, Rusty Cooper, Kasey Dalton, April Ginez, Cassady Walker, and Angela York.

Want more?- look under newsletter tab on KYwebpage.Scan the QR code and see the proclamations and photos!

Download a QR code reader from the ITunes store, or Kaywa readers.

Medical Assisting WeekCelebration!


First, I would like to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers and phone calls during a fam-ily illness that I had to leave the convention early. I hate that I missed seeing all of my AMT fam-ily, but everyone was in my thoughts everyday of the meeting and I can’t wait to see everyone next year in Chicago.

The National meeting was held in Pittsburgh, PA on July 8th - 12th. I know it was a great meet-ing with excellent speakers and educational ses-sions. It was announced at this meeting that the 2014 meeting will be held July 6th - 10th, 2014 in Chicago, IL at the Drake Hotel, $125.00 per night. For those of you who have been wish-ing for an exotic meeting location, your wishes have been granted for 2015. We will be meeting in late June 21-26, 2015 at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel in Kohala Coast, Hawaii, $169.00 per night. Now, is the time to start saving and plan for what will prove to be a wonderful time. We will be the only people in the resort for this period. The resort, and a sister facility, are offer-ing these rates for three nights before and after the meeting. Some news from AMT office: A reminder for all members to watch for e-blasts regarding their state activities. If they are not receiving any they should go on-line and make sure they have the correct e-mail address listed in their personal profile. The national office is now sending a bi-monthly e-newsletter to all members for whom they have an e-mail address. Once again, if not receiving these they need to check their listed address. Also, the national office is redesigning the national web page.

Changes should be coming soon. It is intend-ed to be more intuitive and user friendly. And lastly, the national office has contracted with a professional writer to produce an AMT History book that will be available for purchase at next year’s 75th anniversary meeting in Chicago. The author may be contacting some of the members for input. The North Carolina story board chal-lenge had a few takers. First place went to Ore-gon. New AMT Board members: Chris Seay and Peggy Oiler. Jeannie Hobson was reelected to a full three year RMA term. The officers are Mary Burden as President, Everett Bloodworth as Vice-President, Jeff Lavender as Secretary, and Janet Sesser as Treasurer. New AMTIE Board Members: Charles Baker and Dorothy “Mimi” Roush. I would like to congratulate my district award winners: Honor Roll states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Publications awards: Kaye Tshop from Tennessee for 1st place journal, and Kathleene Hardy from Florida for 2nd place newsletter. Distinguished Achievement: Salima-ta Kone-Coulibaly and Nettie Lucille Norphleet from Alabama, Patricia Crouse Harris, from Virginia, Deborah Janeczko from Florida, Annie Washington from Tennessee, and Zobida Khan-Mohammed, from Trinidad & Tobago. Excep-tional Merit: Peggy D. McCutcheon from South Carolina. Silver Service: Tommie Williams from North Carolina. GEM Award: Arthur Contino and Kathleene Hardy from Florida and Joyce Lybrand from South Carolina. Thanks for your hard work and dedication to AMT.

Shannon H. Newman, BSMT AMTSouthern District Councillor


By Marsha B. Cattaneo, MT

Patient History:Male, 59 years old with a complicated history of including hyperlipidemia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, remote history of histoplasmosis infection, significant burns to his lower extremities that require multiple skin grafts (of note: the patient suffered a chemical burn of approximately 70% TBSA that required prolonged antibiotic use; once he recovered, he remained in a semi-immune compromised state and was susceptible to multiple infections over the past several years), interstitial lung disease, and most recently, the patient was diagnosed with a bilateral frontal lobe abscess. As the result of this abscess, the patient also suffered occasional seizures. Per recommendations of Infection Disease, he underwent a craniotomy including an aspiration of the abscess. One week later, the patient developed shortness of breath. X-ray revealed a moderate to large left pleural effusion. A chest tube was placed to drain effusion, antibiotics were started and the patient continued to receive his antifungal therapy.

Laboratory Findings:CBC: WBC – 3,000/μL, RBC – 2.67 106/μL, HGB – 7.9 gm/dL, HCT – 23.9 %, and PLT – 71,000/μLWound and fungal culture gram stains of abscess: 2+ WBCs and “fungal elements seen,” per Dr. Snyder. Organism later identified as Cladophialophora bantiana.

Background:Catenate (in chains), dry conidia and an absence of differentiated conidiophores characterize Cladophialophora. The septated hyphae have conidiophores similar to vegetative hyphae; long, sparsely branched, wavy chains of smooth oval conidia (2.5 – 5 X 6 – 11 μm). The very long conidia (with as many as 30 cells) do not display conspicuous dysjunctors (scars of attachment). The genus Cladophialophora contains 10 pathogenic species, 7 of which are almost exclusively known from humans and warm-blooded animals. The most significant species are C. bantiana and C. carrionii. C. bantiana, a remarkable neutrotropic mold, has an ability to grow at 40oC, and does not liquefy gelatin (two characteristics that differentiate it from C. carrionii). It has a characteristic 558-bp intron at position 1768 of the small-subunit (SSU) ribosomal operon (67). Colony growth is slow, maturation occurring within 15 days. The surface of the colony is olive-gray to brown or black and velvety. The reverse side is black.

Pathophysiology / Pathogenicity:Some species of Chaetothyriales (such as C. bantiana) are able to cause deep or disseminated infections in hosts with no know immune disorder. If untreated, such infections may take a chronic, fatal course (within 1 – 6 months) after a destructive disease process. Cladophialophora bantiana has a predilection for the central nervous system and consequently causes cerebral phaeohyphomycosis. The portal of entry may be the lung, but frequently symptoms are confined to the brain. The frequency of these infections is relatively to extremely low, but given the potentially severe course of the disease, as well as the sometimes very high degrees of resistance to antifungal drugs, attentiveness to these fungi is mandatory. Extreme care in handling and a biological safety cabinet must be used with this organism.Cof

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References:Larone, Davise H., MT(ASCP), Ph.D. F(AMM), Medically Important Fungi, A Guide to Identification, (ASM Press, 2011), p.206.Versalovic, James, MD, The Manual of Clinical Microbiology, 10th Edition, (ASM, 2011), pp. 1945, 1951 – 1952.Winn, Washington C. Jr. MD MBA, Koneman’s Color Atlas and Textbook of Diagnostic Microbiology, 6th Edition, (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2006) pp. 1214.Discussion:The most significant species are C. bantiana and C. carrionii. C. bantiana, a remarkable neutrotropic mold, has an ability to grow at 40oC, and does not liquefy gelatin (two characteristics that differentiate it from C. carrionii).

Answer: True

Question:Two main characteristics that differentiate C. bantiana from C. carrionii, is C. bantiana’s ability to grow at 40oC and it does not liquefy gel. T or F, cont.


President’s Message Christina Huff RMA, RPTI hope everyone had a Great Christmas! We had our KSSAMT meeting in Bowling Green, KY on October 19, 2013 it was wonderful. There were 42 members in attendance. I would like to my team for making this meeting a success. Thanks to Daymar College for hosting our meeting. I want to thank all those who participated in our meeting. The speakers were great. We truly appreciate their time and expertise to help our members reach their con-tinuing education goals.Just a few reminders, National Convention will be in Chicago, Illinois, July 6-11, 2014. The KSSAMT Fall meeting will be in September. The Magnolia Educational weekend, presents “Smokin' in the Smokies”, in Gatlinburg, Oc-tober 17 and 18, 2014. I hope everyone makes plan to attend. I wish you all a Happy New Year!

2014-CHANGES!Starting in June - The Bluegrass Tech is going electronically ONLY!

We have over 1000 Kentucky AMT members and we want to keep you informed.Go to the AMT website and visit the Kentucky page. We don’t want you to miss out on KSSAMT news.

See the newsletter in color, checkout the photo gallery and upcoming events.Watch for email blasts for updated newsletters and events!

Kentucky Health - Do you know?(from the American health rankings webpage)

• Kentuckyhasthehighestsmokingrateinthenationat28.3percentoftheadultpopulation,withmorethan930,000adultsmokersinthestate.

• Inthepastyear,theprevalenceofobesityincreasedfrom30.4percentto31.3percentofadults;morethan1.0million adults are obese in Kentucky—almost one-third of the adult population.

• Inthepastyear,immunizationcoverageamongchildrendecreasedfrom77.6percentto68.2percentofchildrenaged19to35months.

• Thehighschoolgraduationrateincreasedbymorethan15percentsince2003,withanewhighthisyearof79.9percentofincomingninthgraderswhograduatewithin4years.

• Thisyear,thenumberofchildreninpovertyexceeds1in4personsyoungerthan18years;thefirsttimesince1995.In2001itwaslessthan1in6personsyoungerthan18years.

• After2decadesofsteadyincreases,thepercentageoflowbirthweightinfantsstabilizedaround9.1percentofbirthsforthepast4years,whichisstillahighrate.

See more at: http://www.americashealthrankings.org/KY#sthash.0tTPYyrn.dpuf


PresidentChristina Huff, RMA, RPT (AMT)Bowling Green, KY(270) 279-0495 [email protected]

Newsletter Editor / National Vice PresidentEverett Bloodworth, MT, AMTBenton, KY 42025(270) [email protected]

Secretary / NMLPW CoordinatorSelena KingMorgantown, KY 42261(270) 781-5111, Ext. [email protected]

NMAW CoordinatorLisa Bromley, RMA (AMT)Cadiz, KY 42211(270) 762-1100, Ext. [email protected]

Julia Hardcastle, MT (AMT) ex-officioBowling Green, KY(270) [email protected]

Vice President / Proctoring ChairJudy Fortune, RMA (AMT)Bowling Green, KY 42101(270) 781-5111, Ext. [email protected]

TreasurerYvonne Hermann, MT (AMT)Oakland, KY 42159(270) [email protected]

Co-Editor / Member at LargeSanda Jones, MT, AMTShelbyville, KY 40065(502) [email protected]

2014 KSSAMT BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Editor’s CommentsEverett Bloodworth / Sanda Jones, Co-Editor

Thanks to everyone for a successful AMT year, we had a great National meet-ing in Pittsburgh, and Kentucky had a successful educational Fall Meeting, Day-mar College M.A. students put on a Great Celebration week! We encourage you to visit the Kentucky webpage for photo’s, announcements, events and more. The newsletter will be available electronically in June.

We hope to offer advertising in our upcoming newsletters. If you haven’t scanned the QR codes, please give them a try. Stay tuned for more!

EVERETT BLOODWORTH, MT (AMT)930 Pine Street · Benton, Kentucky 42025

UpcomingEvents

July 6-11th, 2014AMT’s 76th

National ConventionChicago, Illinois

September, 2014KSSAMT Fall Meeting

October 17 & 18, 2014Magnolia

Educational MeetingGatlinburg, TN

Find activities no matter what your budget•SoartothetopoftheWillisTower•GotoaCubsorSoxgame•GetculturedatthefamedArtInstitute•ShoptheMagnificentMile•SeerenownedChicagoarchitecturefromtheChicago

River on a boat cruise•WalkthebeachatOakStreet(neartheconventionhotel)

Chicagohassomethingforeveryoneandanyone:•SecondCity-famedcomictrainingground•TheSignatureLounge-drinkandseetheviewfromthe95thflooroftheJohnHancockTower

•SheddAquarium,AdlerPlanetarium,FieldMuseum,MuseumofScience&Industry

•Chicago-stylepizzaandhotdogs

FEATURES:LocatedonChicago’s“GoldCoast”and“MagnificentMile,”anareaknownforitsaffluentstatus.TheprestigeandreputationthattheGoldCoasthasenduredoverthelastcenturyremainstoday.TheMagnificentMileistheshoppinghubofChicago.

•TheDrakewasselectedasthemarkofexcellencebySuccessfulMeet-ingsmagazine,andreadersofMeetingNewsawardedtheDrakethehonorofExcellenceinMeetingandServicefacilities.

•Eachguestroomhasacoffeemaker,ironandironingboard,hairdryer.

•LocatednearmanyshopsandrestaurantsandadjacenttoOakStreetBeachonLakeMichigan.

•AMTattendeeswillgeta20%discountattheDrake’srestaurantsDrakeBros.Deli,andCoqD’or.

For additional information:

Contact AMT:

10700WestHigginsRoad,Suite150

Rosemont,IL60018

Phone847/823-5169•Fax:847/823-0458

E-mail:[email protected]

Website:www.americanmedtech.org

The Drake Hotel140EastWaltonPlaceChicago,IL60611Phone312.787.2200Toll-freereservations800.553.7253Website:http://www.thedrakehotel.com

the bluegrass tech - americanmedtech.org · the bluegrass tech kentucky state society american...

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