 | | Dr. Howard Graman |
I just returned from a week of clinical work that was at once the hardest I can recall as a physician (except perhaps for residency) as well as the most gratifying. I joined several other providers and volunteers for PeaceHealth's medical mission in El Salvador
where we cared for 1,647 patients in 4.5 days.
During one of these days, I saw 57 patients in 90 degree heat and I loved every minute of it! Our patients live in rural settings where there is little or no access to healthcare as we know it. While we provided much needed advice and treatment, I believe the patients benefited most by the simple gift of our compassion and attention to their concerns. We truly accompanied them in their illnesses and for this they were uniformly incredibly grateful. I would love to see more of our PHMG providers and caregivers volunteer for this life-changing opportunity to give of yourself to those in great need. I guarantee you will return a changed person, as have I.
For more information about PazSalud (Spanish for "PeaceHealth"), please contact Kathy Garcia. You can also learn more about the mission at pazsalud.org.
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Patient-Centered Medical Home
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Congratulations to the Pilot Sites
by Karen Sharpe, MD
Medical Director for Primary Care
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PHMG is in the process of designing and implementing an organizational approach to a patient-centered medical home that combines best practices from within and outside the organization.
 | | Dr. Karen Sharpe |
This model will emphasize the central role of a "clinic team" led by a primary care physician which is enhanced by a cadre of virtual team members.
As part of this process, the PCMH Steering Council has selected the following clinics to participate in the PCMH pilot:
- Bellingham Center for Senior Health
- Bellingham Internal Medicine
- Bellingham Pediatrics
- Family Medicine Southwest
- Fisher's Landing Family Practice
- Senior Health and Wellness Clinic (Eugene)
Congratulations to these six clinics. They will now be tasked with defining and creating a patient-centered practice, defining team member roles and responsibilities to determine how the clinics will be organized and staffed, implementing the key features identified as core components of the PeaceHealth Medical Home, and achieving standardization of core business and clinical functions.
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HMAs Slated for Go-Live on Feb. 26
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Our Phase 1 Health Maintenance Alerts (HMAs) will go-live in Epic on Feb. 26. When a patient is due for one or more of the tests or screenings below, providers will be notified through an alert in the patient header or the Snapshot report, see Health Maintenance Alerts for Providers for more information and screen shots. A step-by-step job aid -- Before the Visit by Clinical Support Staff -- describes how caregivers will conduct chart scrubbing and huddles with the paper Health Maintenance Worksheet and the Health Maintenance Alerts that will be available in Epic.
All of the Phase 1 HMAs are tests and screenings previously on the Health Maintenance Worksheet
used by providers and staff during the scrubbing process for the daily huddle:
- Diabetes
- Hyperlipidemia
- Hypertension
- Hypothyroidism
- Well Man/Woman
- Colonoscopy
- PAP Smear
- Mammogram
- DEXA Scan
- Immunizations
We will soon be working on Phase 2 HMAs and building out supporting Best Practice Alerts (BPAs).
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