What's New

For Immediate Press Release
March 21, 2012

14 IL Bone & Joint Institute Providers Certified in the AMA 6th edition

Fourteen physicians and two physical therapists at Illinois Bone and Joint Institute (IBJI) are now certified in the AMA Guides to Impairment, 6th edition. IBJI providers serve workers’ compensation patients at locations in Chicago, Gurnee, Libertyville, Glenview, Bannockburn, Arlington Heights, Lincolnwood and Morton Grove. At least a dozen additional IBJI physicians will participate in training and take the certification exam at the end of March 2012.

The providers currently certified in the 6th edition include: Medical Doctors James C. Cohen; Robert C. Dugan, Thomas F. Gleason, Peter Hoepfner, Ira Kornblatt, Alan League, Michael Lewis, Edward J. Logue, Steven Mardjetko, Tomas Nemickas, Rhutav Parikh, Charles Slack, Jeffrey Visotsky, Craig Williams. Complete information about each physician, including their areas of expertise, can be found at www.ibji.com/physicians. Doctors of Physical Therapy Joseph Castronovo and Richard Talenti also became certified in impairment ratings on March 3, 2012.

To make an appointment for a work comp patient, please contact the physicians at locations listed on www.ibji.com. To make an appointment for an IME, with or without impairment ratings, you can call 877-385-8755. Contact IBJI’s Industrial Rehabilitation Program to connect with the therapists named above at jcastronov@ibji.com.

This information is not intended to provide advise or treatment for a specific situation. Consult your physician and medical team for information and treatment plans on your specific condition(s).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Andy Salmen

Phone:  847-720-7007 Email: asalmen@ibji.com

*Photos available upon request

Addition of a Ground-Breaking MRI Scanner Means Ultimate Patient Comfort and Unparalleled Image Quality

The Illinois Bone and Joint Institute (IBJI) announces the installation of the Oasis High-Field Open MRI.  This technology delivers the best possible combination of high quality images and unsurpassed comfort for patients of all sizes.

Chicago, IL - July 1, 2011 - The Illinois Bone and Joint Institute, Chicago's leading provider of orthopedic care, announces the addition of the "Oasis" High-Field Open MRI System.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI, revolutionized the diagnosis of orthopedic, rheumatologic, and other medical conditions.  MRI scans produce superior images of the body interior, but without the use of radiation, as can be the case with other diagnostic services, such as X-rays and CAT scans. Medically, the MRI offers the best option for detecting the onset or existence of internal medical conditions and pathology.

As part of their ongoing mission to offer the convergence of quality and convenience, IBJI MRI has added the most technologically advanced Open MRI scanner available to their Bannockburn, IL, location. "Pressing forward with this innovative 1.2 Tesla Open MRI System allows us to provide our referring physicians with excellent image quality and our patients with the comfort they deserve," says Thomas F. Nagelli, Director of MRI Services. "With the combination of the faster scan times and the open architecture, we are able to best serve patients of all types in this bore-less MRI System."

The Oasis MRI has an industry-leading patient table and an unobstructed lateral opening, which means that it is capable of obtaining exceptional image quality for people of any age, weighing up to 660 lbs; for an array of medical conditions; and regardless of whether claustrophobia is a concern. Also, this unit is well suited for Pediatric and Geriatric support, allowing parents and caregivers to be in constant contact with their loved ones throughout scans.

As an added benefit to our patients, "We are excited to also be introducing Arthrograms at our Bannockburn facility, which will be performed by a Board Certified Radiologist," Mr. Nagelli added.

Through IBJI MRI, physicians benefit from the flexibility of customizable protocols, the premium images their cutting-edge technology produces, and from the sub-specialized image interpretations given by Board Certified Radiologists. In turn, patients enjoy the ultimate MRI experience through the unparalleled comfort and service IBJI MRI staff provide. Also, with 8 MRI locations conveniently located around the Chicagoland area, and with the expanding scope of their services, IBJI MRI is poised to meet their mission of serving their physicians and patients best.

With nearly 90 orthopedic physicians specializing in over 25 clinical areas, the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute (IBJI) is the leading provider of orthopedic, rheumatologic, or podiatric services in the Chicago-land area. If you would like more information about high-field open MRI or other orthopedic issues, contact Andy Salmen by calling 847-720-7007 or by emailing him at asalmen@ibji.com.

Okay, so maybe that's not as common a saying as it is with police; but anyone who has experienced an acute non-emergency orthopedic injury knows being able to see a competent orthopedist is critical. Whether it’s a sports, work, or hobby-related injury, being able to get immediate expert treatment is the only thing you're thinking about. You may think that you need to wait 3-4 days to see an orthopedist – but good news – that is no longer true!  A new option is available.

OrthoAccess for Immediate Orthopedic Care

When you break a bone, you normally go immediately to the emergency room, where you'll spend several hours just to have x-rays taken, a cast put on, then referred to an orthopaedic specialist. Why put the extra effort, and money, into this process when you can go directly to the orthopaedist. When you have a non-emergency problem like spraining your ankle, straining a muscle, or just getting bruised during the course of your normal day, why wait a few days to see a physician? OrthoAccess is designed to provide assessment, treatment and follow-up care for most orthopedic injuries. These injuries include breaks, sprains, strains, bumps, bruises, sports injuries, and minor car accidents...just to name a few.

Melody Winter-Jabeck, Administrator of IBJI Glenview-Wilmette division, explains this ground breaking clinic like this:

"IBJI OrthoAcess will allow residents to receive immediate care for orthopedic injuries  that don't necessarily warrant a lengthy and costly visit to the ER. Not only do we provide excellent immediate care, our clinic will be staffed by IBJI's world-class orthopaedic doctors, not general physicians or medical assistants."

Where is OrthoAccess?

IBJI currently offers two convenient locations serving the Northshore area:

With early morning, evenings and weekends hours, it's easy to get in right away to start the healing process sooner rather than waiting to get into a traditional clinic. With MRI and imaging centers right on site, you are well positioned with the IBJI's OrthoAccess to begin your healing journey.

As we continually honor our veterans and their families by providing the best possible orthpaedic care, some of our surgeons take it a step further.

Dr. Matthew Jimenez, an art loving orthpaedic surgeon with IBJI, continues to get notice for his painting, Boots of a Fallen Soldier, currently touring with the "Wounded in Action" exhibit. Dr Jimenez was also featured in this last Sunday's New York Times Sunday Edition due to this exhibit and his painting.

Exhibit Shows the Impact of War, Through the Artists and the Soldiers

While Memorial Day has become more an excuse for barbecues than a salute to our military, "Wounded in Action" reminds us how war can inspire artists, whatever their medium. Read the rest of the NYT story.

Most physicians write highly-detailed academic treatments of very narrowly-defined clinical situations, which are rarely understood (or even read) by anyone outside a small community of medical specialists.  Orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Michael Lewis, of Illinois Bone and Joint Institute, has elected to take the opposite approach:  a book that is expansive on life, designed to appeal to different ages and even different attention spans.  A book that can not only be read by all – but can inspire all.

Until recently, the preferred surgical approach for patients with herniated discs in the cervical region of the spine (the uppermost section extending into the neck) was a Cervical Discectomy and Fusion.  That treatment, which fuses the damaged disc is still widely used, and offers very good outcomes for most people.

Today there is a new technology that offers patients another treatment option.  Performed in Europe for more than a decade, it involves actually replacing the damaged disk with an artificial one.  Cervical Disc Replacement is being performed by a few American orthopaedic surgeons, among them Dr. Stanford Tack of IBJI-Libertyville.

Not all patients with herniated cervical discs are candidates for a disc replacement.  Age, activity level, overall spine health and level of disc disease are all considerations.  But for many patients, Dr. Tack suggests replacing the disc rather than fusing it to another one.

(IBJI-Morton Grove, IL) -  Dr. Matthew L. Jimenez is passionate about philanthropy.  Not content to just write a check in support of his orthopaedic profession, Dr. Jimenez decided last year to roll up his sleeves and build from scratch a brand new Foundation designed to combat fragility fractures caused by low-impact falls.

Incorporated in December 2008, the Foundation for Education and Musculoskeletal Research (FEMR) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity serving Chicago-area residents. FEMR's mission is to become a community resource to increase osteoporosis awareness and prevent disabilities related to bone trauma.  As you may know, each year in the U.S. more than 11 million senior citizens fall—that’s one out of every three people older than 65 years of age, making it the leading cause of injuries to our senior population. Treatment of the injuries and complications associated with falls costs the U.S. more than $20.2 billion annually.

Dr. Steven Haddad, an Illinois Bone and Joint Institute surgeon practicing in Glenview IL, was one of only six surgeons in the country who had access to a new, upgraded version of the Agility Ankle Prosthesis when it first became available in late 2006. Part of the 6-member Evaluations Team for the Agility Ankle LP, Dr. Haddad continues to use the newer technology with much success. The Agility Ankle LP became available nationally in 2007.

According to Dr. Haddad, "there is remarkable improvement in the newly designed prosthesis. It is more stable than the previous design, and poses a substantially lower risk of sinking into the patient's bone." Such subsidence is one of the more serious complications of ankle replacement surgery, occurring as early as 2-3 years post-operatively. This may lead to failure of the implant, and necessitate revision surgery. It can happen due to an inadequate support from the patient's own bone structure, or as a result of inflammatory bone destruction when the plastic lining of the artificial joint wears down.

IBJI physicians at Glenview are at the forefront of a growing trend in surgery that drastically cuts post-operative infections. Best of all, it's easy, painless and inexpensive.

It began in late 2003 when Dr. Lance Peterson, at Evanston Northwestern Hospital (ENH) in Glenview, IL, approached IBJI surgeons James Kudrna and William Robb. Promising research being done in Europe led Dr. Peterson, an infection disease specialist, into partnership with Dr. Kudrna and Dr. Robb in order to hospital-borne infections. The ENH pilot program involved the physicians performing a simple pre-operative nasal swab on their patients undergoing Total Knee and Total Hip Arthrosplasty. This screening protocol reliably identified the presence of the bacteria, Staphylococcus Aureus (or S. Aureus), which is responsible for the majority of post-surgical infections. Though the media have focused recently on MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus), non-MRSA staph infections are actually much more common in patients recuperating from surgery and can be just as serious.