In This Issue

Tips for discussing health record, quality recognition and more

PatientConnection

Activations update
As of Aug. 14, there are 39,097 total activations.

Tips for activating patients �

Provider Compensation Plan

As we move forward with updates to our PHMG Provider Compensation Plan, we're scheduling local meetings during August 20 - 29 to further your understanding of the plan. Your department's meeting date/time will be communicated soon by your local leadership.

The implementation date for Provider Compensation Plan changes is January 2015. We look forward to your continued engagement in the coming weeks.

Provider Experience

Thank you for participating in our 2014 Provider Experience Pulse Survey. Your feedback is extremely valuable as we take the pulse of PHMG.

We asked you how we're doing as a medical group, and the results are sobering. Each leader has work to do if we are to re-gain your trust and to provide you with a practice environment that makes possible the professional satisfaction you deserve.

You may click and view our overall survey results for PHMG. Your Dyad leaders will share community-specific results with you, as well as to seek your input for improving our performance.

Thank you for your continued service to our communities and PeaceHealth's mission.

Dr. Howard Graman

I just returned from a visit to our group in Ketchikan, Alaska. Whenever I go there I am reminded of how many different ways we have to serve our PeaceHealth mission. Providing care in a remote setting poses unique challenges that are not faced in other environments and requires a certain level of courage on the part of our team there.

Since we have only five clinical specialties in Ketchikan in addition to primary care -- OB/GYN, general surgery, ortho, anesthesia and radiology -- our providers are often in a position to manage complex patients who would normally be referred out. The limitations on some diagnostic equipment pose questions of when to send a patient for further evaluation when it could mean hundreds or thousands of dollars in transportation costs. Many of our patients in Alaska have a strong desire to receive all their care near their home so they sometimes refuse advice to go to larger centers for consultation, further stretching our folks to go beyond what we would consider their normal scope of care.

On numerous occasions patients become acutely ill with a life-threatening condition that requires transport and our team has to stabilize and treat them until fixed wing aircraft can be arranged for transport. Sometimes due to weather and availability, patients are supported in Alaska for many hours or even days. This takes the term "working to the top of your license" to a new level. Recently Dr. Patrick Ballard, our family physician in Prince of Wales Island (even more remote than Ketchikan), had to treat a flail chest/pneumothorax with two chest tubes in order to stabilize a patient in preparation for an airlift to Harborview.

Finally, due to the small medical staff and the need to cover the hospital, our team has higher frequency of call than you find in most traditional settings. Despite these daunting aspects of their work, I find our PHMG Ketchikan team to be incredibly committed to living and serving in that environment. The people of Southeast Alaska are the better for it, and I certainly admire them and appreciate their contributions.