PHMG Weekly: why is performance expectation being changed

In This Issue

Survey Results

Patient Literacy

This Week's Q&A

Question

For FY 2013, only 2.5 percent of my salary is based on my CG-CAHPS performance (since it is the only one of four components that can be measured). Why is it going to 5 percent in FY 2014?

Answer

We have come to the realization that Quality & Patient Experience are the most easily measurable & important metrics available. They are also the ones that will be publicly reported soon. MGLT and the PeaceHealth Board Compensation Subcommittee approved each of these at 5 percent in FY14, but we found we cannot measure Quality effectively until after Epic is implemented. Considering we are well below national benchmarks (PHMG-wide) for Patient Experience, we feel that to move the needle on this, we need to put more incentive in place. Importantly, we have created an up-side with a 7.5 percent payment for those who are at 75th percentile.

Submit your question

Health Literacy

Help Patients Understand

Evidence shows that patients often do not understand much of the information given to them by clinicians and may consent to procedures or medication without understanding why they are necessary.

Watch AMA video (23 min.)

View AMA manual on literacy

PeaceHealth Physicians & Providers,

Dr. Howard Graman

So that you have a chance to get better acquainted with the PHMG leaders who are here to support you and the medical group, you can expect to begin seeing messages in the Weekly from different members of the team. Below are some observations from Dr. Karen Sharpe on a key aspect of patient care.

I want to reinforce that Dr. Sharpe and others on the team are a resource for you. If you have questions or feedback on the areas of work they are leading, please feel free to connect with them.

Also, below is a brief update on our first PHMG-
wide provider engagement survey. Expect to see more details unfold over the next month or so in the Weekly and in local forums and other venues.

Early Survey Results

Overall Participation Rate of 56%

Thanks to everyone who answered the provider engagement survey last month. poster-your-opinion-counts

We had an overall participation rate of 56 percent and the following rates by community:
Cottage Grove -- 67 percent
Ketchikan -- 65 percent
Vancouver -- 62 percent
Florence -- 56 percent

Whatcom -- 56 percent
Eugene/Springfield -- 55 percent
Longview -- 49 percent

Clear themes are emerging as PHMG's People & Culture committee reviews the preliminary results & prepares for the action planning session on Feb. 28. It will take a few weeks to share all of the key results and next steps. Stay tuned.

Again, thanks to all who voiced their opinion. Your input is valuable in helping to improve our group.

I was shocked and moved

Video Sheds Light on Patient Misunderstanding
by Karen Sharpe, MD
PHMG Medical Director, Primary Care

Since coming to PeaceHealth, I've been looking forward to getting back into patient care. Last month, I became a member of the PeaceHealth Southwest medical staff and had a fairly atypical physician orientation. Among other things, the last 40 minutes of the day was spent on health literacy in the population and how we, as caregivers, can improve our patients' health by improving our communication style.

I was shocked and moved by the patient literacy video put out by the AMA (see left sidebar). If you have time, listen to the first 7:20 minutes of it, which shows patients explaining their interpretation of their doctor's instructions.

Since watching the video, I have resolved to look more closely from our patients' perspective at what and how we communicate with them.

If you're interested in more on patient literacy, contact Kelly Pick, MSN, who offers a program to help providers and caregivers learn effective means of educating patients. Call 360-514-6788 or email at kpick@peacehealth.org.

PeaceHealth Medical Group
1115 SE 164th Ave., 2nd Floor | Vancouver, WA 98683

www.peacehealth.org/phmg

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