Merced Mariposa
Physician Volume 1 | Number 1
YOU
are our most powerful advocate
Promoting the science and art of medicine, the care and well-being of patients, the protection of the public health, and the betterment of the medical profession…
Merced Mariposa
Physician
MMCMS Leadership
8
Officers
Tahir Yaqub, M.D. President
Quality Awards Honor Merced County Physicians and Clinics for Improved Health Practices
Timothy S. Johnston, M.D. President-Elect Oscar V. Ramos, M.D. Secretary-Treasurer Eduardo T. Villarama, M.D. Immediate Past-President
Governors
Thomas A. Barrett, M.D. Gabriel Garcia-Diaz, M.D. Alfred B. Johnson, M.D. Atul T. Roy, M.D.
10
YOU
are our most powerful advocate
Ajinder Singh, M.D. Glen A. Villanueva, D.O.
13
CMA Delegates Donald P. Carter, M.D. Pamela Roussos, D.O.
The Increasing Importance of Patient Experience for Medical Practices
CMA Alternate Delegates Leena Chaudhury, M.D.
Timothy S. Johnston, M.D.
Staff
Chrisy Muchow Executive Director
Contact Information 2848 Park Avenue, Suite C Merced, CA 95348 (209) 723-2976 Fax: (209) 723-8371 chrisy@mmcms.org www.mmcms.org
Merced Mariposa Physician is published quarterly by the Merced-Mariposa County Medical Society 2848 Park Avenue, Suite C | Merced, CA 95348 P (209) 723-2976 | F (209) 723-8371 E chrisy@mmcms.org | W www.mmcms.org Merced Mariposa Physician does not assume responsibility for author’s statements or opinions; opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Merced Mariposa Physician or the MercedMariposa County Medical Society. Acceptance of advertising in Merced Mariposa Physician, a publication of the Merced-Mariposa County Medical Society, in no way constitutes approval or endorsement by MMCMS of products or services advertised, and MMCMS reserves the right to reject any advertisement.
For Advertising Opportunities Contact Chrisy Muchow at (209) 723-2976 or chrisy@mmcms.org.
17 CMA Announces Innovative Physician Wellness Effort
MORE ARTICLES, EVENTS & RESOURCES: 5
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE… Tahir Yaqub, MD MMCMS President
12
EVENT: The Business Case for Creating the Extraordinary Patient Experience
18
EVENT: CME CRUISE Rome to Venice
20
EVENT: Fourth Annual Air Pollution and Climate Change Symposium
Stratford Evans Merced Funeral Home
1490 B Street Merced, California 95341 Phone: (209) 722-4191 Fax: (209) 722-4198 www.stratfordevansfunerals.com KENT FLORO Location Manager
FD #538 kent.floro@dignitymemorial.com
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE…Tahir Yaqub, MD Dear Colleagues, I am honored to be your President for 2019, thank you for putting your faith in my leadership. I would like to thank Dr. Villarama for his leadership in 2018 and the Officers and Board of Governors for their support and leadership as well. I also want each and every member to know how much your membership and support is valued by the Merced-Mariposa County Medical Society (MMCMS), we appreciate you so much, thank you.
As we look toward 2019, following are some of the things that MMCMS has done this year or is working toward doing:
As you know, membership in MMCMS includes membership in the California Medical Association (CMA) and 2018 was a year that showcases just what the CMA portion of your dues is paying for. In 2018 CMA:
We held our annual Medicare Changes event in
Secured over $1 billion in funding for improved access
to care with Proposition 56. Secured $220 million to establish a loan repayment
program to incentivize physicians and dentists to serve Medi-Cal patients and $40 million for the University of California to support, retain and expand physicians trained in California. Defended the medical profession and patients from
dangerous legislation that would have significantly cut physician reimbursement without improving patient outcomes, including AB 3087 (Kalra), which would have limited access to health care providers, created state-sanctioned rationing and increased out-of-pocket costs for patients.
At the beginning of January we updated our logo and
branding including our website, our e-publication, our magazine and all printed and electronic materials. January and we had a record attendance of 51 people! This is an extremely valuable event for any physician’s office that accepts Medicare. We had our first Board of Governors meeting of the
year in February. Highlights of this meeting were a discussion with Dr. Joerg Schuller and Yolanda Brewer of Dignity Health about recruiting and retaining the residents that are trained here in our community and a vote to oppose AB 290, a bill which has the potential to hurt dialysis patients’ access to care. The Board of Governors meets quarterly and we regularly discuss membership, finances, upcoming events, approve new applicants, etc. In March, Dr. Johnston, Dr. Carter, Dr. Roussos and
staff reach a favorable and historic legal settlement to restore independence and self-governance against the hospital, resulting in the hospital reopening.
Chrisy, our Executive Director, participated in the 2nd Quarter online meeting with District VI (our CMA district) that is necessary under CMA’s Governance structure. They reviewed eight resolutions submitted by physicians throughout California. This group, which also includes Dr. Chaudhury, meets quarterly online with our District Delegation to the CMA. Members can review resolutions by logging on to the CMA website and going to https://www.cmadocs.org/ resolutions.
Stopped predatory practices by health insurance
On April 9 we will be having our MMCMS/CAP CME
companies, including attempts to substantially limit same-day services (modifier -25 payments) and automatically downcode emergency services based upon the ultimate diagnosis.
Event. The topic is “The Business Case for Creating the Extraordinary Patient Experience.” For more information see page 12.
Helped the Tulare Regional Medical Center medical
Recouped nearly $11 million from payors on behalf of
CMA’s physician members. For more information about 2018 CMA achievements go to cmadocs.org/year-in-review.
In April, Dr. Roussos, Chrisy and I will be attending the
California Medical Association’s Legislative Leadership Conference. We will meet with our State Senate and Assembly representatives to lobby on behalf of the physicians of Merced and Mariposa counties. (Continued on page 7)
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In October the slate of nominees for MMCMS board
So far this year we have approved 3 new physicians
and elected positions will be mailed out and our election will be in November. December 11 is our Holiday Party.
for membership. Hai T. Duong, MD (Anesthesiology/ Pain Medicine) of the Valley Center for Pain Management (his own private practice), Natasha Kyte, MD (Internal Medicine) of Dignity Health Medical Group and Tejaswi B. Thippeswamy, MD (Family Medicine) of Golden Valley Health Centers. Other events and happenings that we are working on for 2019 are: We will start gathering information for the 2019-
2020 MMCMS Membership Directory soon. June 12 is our annual Member Social. We will participate in Resident Orientation for the
incoming residents in June. We are working toward having another educational
We are continually working to support and protect the physicians of Merced and Mariposa counties by responding to issues as they arise. It is support from members like you that make things like this possible and the stronger MMCMS is the more voice we have at the CMA level. Our membership has been stable over the last couple of years, but as physicians retire or move it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain our membership numbers. Good membership numbers result in financial stability for MMCMS. We are asking that you will support MMCMS by not only continuing your membership but by encouraging our non-member colleagues to join.
event for staff in the Fall. September 19 is our annual General Membership
meeting. Dr. Peter Bretan, CMA President-Elect has been invited. In October, your local Delegation to the CMA will be participating in the CMA’s House of Delegates (the policy setting body for CMA).
Thank you again for your support through your membership, we appreciate you more than you know. Tahir Yaqub, MD MMCMS President
www.mercedradiology.com PROVIDING PROFESSIONAL RADIOLOGY SERVICES TO Mercy Medical Center Castle Family Health Centers • Patient’s First Medical Center and other Health Care Providers in the Greater Merced Area
P.O. Box 3649 • Merced, CA 95344 209-722-9729 (722-XRAY) • Fax: 209-384-9729
Quality Awards
Honor
Merced County Physicians and Clinics for Improved Health Practices
Almost half of all residents of Merced County —126,000 people—receive health coverage from the Central California Alliance for Health (the Alliance) and get their health care through its local network of providers, clinics and hospitals. The Alliance is the not-for-profit, Medi-Cal health plan for Merced, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, and nearly 84,000 of its 350,000 members receive coverage through the Affordable Care Act.
T
he Alliance’s health care network in Merced County has rated in the top 10 percent nationally for avoiding antibiotic use for acute bronchitis, according to benchmarks by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), an independent organization that assesses the majority of health plans in the U.S. Other significant improvements for the Alliance’s network in Merced include: increased ratings for eye exams for diabetes patients, well-child visits that include health education for nutrition and physical activity, improved asthma treatment and access to primary care physicians for 12-19 year olds. Using its HEDIS® (Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set) measures, the NCQA assesses outcomes annually for health plans – covering 70 percent of all Americans enrolled in such plans. “These ratings show continued progress in addressing key public health issues in Merced County,” said Dr. Dale Bishop, Chief Medical Officer at the Alliance. “When health issues such as asthma and bronchitis are
prevalent in the region due to air quality, high ratings on care of bronchitis indicate that a community-based approach is helping.” “Increasing access to preventive services and health screenings improves patient’s health status and, lowers costs for the whole system,” Bishop continued, noting that the Affordable Care Act enabled a significant portion of Merced County’s population—not previously insured at all—to get coverage and access to excellent healthcare providers through the Alliance. “Take antibiotic use for bronchitis, for example. Approximately 90 percent of bronchitis infections are caused by viruses, and these are not treatable with antibiotics. Overuse of antibiotics leads to development of resistant organisms that can cause infection and are more difficult to treat, and, of course, cost more money to treat.” (Continued on page 9)
About the Alliance: Central California Alliance for Health, the Alliance, established in 1996, serves more than 340,000 members in Santa Cruz, Monterey and Merced counties. Using the state's County Organized Health System (COHS) model, the Alliance delivers innovative community-based health care services with the goal to improve medical outcomes and cost savings. The award-winning plan employs over 500 employees in the three counties and manages a budget of $1.1 billion. The Alliance prides itself on its close partnership with contracted providers to promote prevention, early detection and effective treatment, and overall to improve access to quality health care for its members. Website: http://www.ccah-alliance.org/. About the NCQA: The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA’s website contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices. About HEDIS: HEDIS® is the measurement tool used by the nation’s health plans to evaluate their performance in terms of clinical quality and customer service. HEDIS® is a registered trademark of the National Committee for Quality Assurance.
Alliance Honors Its 2018 Health Care Network for High Performance To acknowledge providers in its network for their partnership and performance on HEDIS measures, the Alliance last year launched its own recognition program, presenting top physicians and clinics in the county with its own Gold, Silver and Bronze Quality Awards—based on the number of Alliance members each clinic serves. Merced Faculty Associates medical clinic in Delhi is among the clinics recognized by the Alliance for achievements in improving quality of health. The clinic won an Alliance Gold Quality Award—the top award given by the health plan—for work to improve patient care based on HEDIS measures in the category of clinics serving 1,000 plus members. Rebecca Shaw, CEO of the clinic, agreed that collaboration is key. “We review data provided by the Alliance and our medical records system from the prior year and look for measures we feel are attainable and most beneficial for patient care. This last year we concentrated on asthma, diabetic patients, well-child and well-adolescent visits. We’re excited to see the efforts we’ve put forth are not only recognized by the Alliance but help us achieve better health for our patients.” While Merced, a mostly rural county, still faces many challenges around access to health care and a dearth of providers, the Alliance has been working with local clinics to do all they can to boost health outcomes.
Besides extensive efforts to bring more physicians and nurses to Merced, the Alliance is partnering with two California State Universities to bring additional medical training to the county. The Alliance also supports telehealth options to increase physician access from remote areas, offers a 24-hour nurse advice line for members and encourages clinics to expand office hours to accommodate workers’ schedules. The Alliance has been “painting the town” in health messaging to amp up health outcomes related to national quality measures, and for the good of the overall community. To boost awareness of childhood immunizations in Merced County, the Alliance spearheaded a campaign to hang banners over Merced streets, post messages on billboards, collaborate with school nurses, send mass postcard mailings and create looping video messages played in hospitals and doctor’s offices. These efforts are all just pieces of the puzzle in collaborating to improve health quality, Bishop said. “Health care providers identify the problems they are facing and present them to us. We help them figure out how to get patients in the door for treatment—that means going above and beyond the call of duty to make that happen. These results reflect our providers’ dedication to excellence and members’ dedication to their personal health care.”
2018 WINNERS OF ALLIANCE GOLD, SILVER AND BRONZE QUALITY AWARDS IN MERCED COUNTY 100-1,000 Medi-Cal Members Gold Quality Award: Golden Valley Health Center, Newman Silver Quality Award: Newman Medical Clinic, Newman Bronze Quality Award: Merced Faculty Associates, El Portal
1000+ Medi-Cal Members Gold Quality Award: Merced Faculty Associates, Delhi Silver Quality Award: Long Thao, MD, Merced Bronze Quality Award: Livingston Community Health, Livingston
YOU
are our most powerful advocate
By Katherine Boroski, Senior Director of Strategic Communications at the California Medical Association
C
ritical issues affecting today’s physicians are being decided in the legislative arena at a fast and furious pace. Health care reform, medical liability, and scope of practice are just a few of the vital issues being debated and voted on by elected officials in Sacramento. The California Medical Association (CMA) has some of the best lobbyists, lawyers, and other advocates in the Capitol, but the most powerful weapon in advancing the cause of physicians and their patients is you. Hearing from a physician with experience on the front lines of medicine can make all the difference for a legislator facing a complicated health care issue. That is why grassroots advocacy is so important. >>>
YOU are our most powerful advocate WHAT IS GRASSROOTS ADVOCACY? Grassroots advocacy is a “bottom up” approach to social change that utilizes real physicians from the community to shape public policy. Grassroots advocacy harnesses the power of effective one-on-one relationships multiplied over and over until a critical mass of support effectuates the desired change. Effective advocacy is about communication and relationships. Advocacy must be an ongoing commitment and priority. Relationship building is essential and starts with persistence and repetition. Below are tips on how you can become an effective grassroots advocate on behalf of the physicians and patients of California. RECOGNIZE YOUR POWER: You are the subject matter expert on how health care issues impact your community. When it comes to matters of health, you are the specialist and the lawmaker is a generalist. Legislators don’t need to know everything you know about a particular issue – they just need to know enough to be convinced to take action. ENGAGE POLICYMAKERS AND MAINTAIN RELATIONSHIPS: Get to know your elected officials by meeting with them and attending events in the community and at the Capitol. Educate them about your issues and ask to be added to their mailing or e-mail lists for upcoming events. Volunteer for campaigns, attend fundraisers and participate on advisory committees. BE THE RESOURCE: Serve as an advocate on behalf of the physician community and your patients by offering your expertise and experience. TELL YOUR STORY: Tell policymakers your stories to illustrate the entire picture. There is power in sharing the realities of your profession. SHARE AND AMPLIFY ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Increase public awareness by promoting your legislative advocacy on social media. If you meet with an elected official, post and tag photos on social media and promote with key groups and media.
CMA IS HERE TO HELP AVAILABLE RESOURCES CMA’s Legislative Hot List provides a summary and the status of CMA-sponsored bills, as well as the progress of other significant legislation. Real-time call to action alerts for legislative priorities. Sample letters for advocating positions on legislation/regulations. Sample telephone call scripts for calling Capitol offices to voice positions on legislative bills/issues. OTHER WAYS TO GET INVOLVED Text DocLobby to 52886 to sign up for text alerts and you will immediately notified when we need you to take action. Participate in CMA’s Legislative Advocacy Day, which is held annually in April. This year’s Legislative Advocacy Day is April 24, at the Sacramento Convention Center. Become a CMA social media ambassador. Represent CMA by participating in media interviews for television, radio, newspapers and podcasts. Author op-eds to educate the public on health policy issues. Become featured as one of our #CMAdocs. Follow @doclobby on Twitter.
Learn more at cmadocs.org/grassroots.
CONNECTING WITH YOUR ELECTED OFFICIAL THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA Social media is an excellent platform to communicate with your elected officials, especially Twitter. The key is to “tag” the elected official(s) you’re addressing using their official Twitter account. Keep in mind that many elected officials may have both a campaign Twitter account and an “official” Twitter account – the latter is preferred. With Twitter, you have only 140 characters to convey your message, plus an image or link. Try writing out your full message first, then review with a critical eye and pare down accordingly. Always keep it professional, even if you’re tweeting your opposition to a legislator’s bill. Most legislation can be viewed as either solving a problem – or creating one, depending on which side you stand. When tweeting in support of something, or to encourage a vote for something, make sure you’re stating WHY (ie, the problem) and what you want the legislator to DO about it (ie, the solution). Keep in mind that a legislator may not be familiar with all the bill numbers in a session, especially if they’re not the ones introducing that legislation. Any reference to legislation should be #hashtagged, with a very short description of the bill after. For example: As a practicing physician, I know how critical vaccinations are to prevent the spread of disease. @DrPanMD, vote YES on #SB277 #vaccine bill. You can also sign up for the CMA Social Media Ambassador program, which provides training, advice and content to help keep your colleagues and other medical professionals informed, connected and engaged.
The Increasing Importance of Patient Experience for Medical Practices By Norcal Group
P
atient experience—“the sum of all interactions, shaped by an organization’s culture, that influence patient perceptions across the continuum of care”1—is playing an increasingly significant role in the business success of medical practices. The impact is felt throughout the practice: online physician ratings, reimbursement levels, patient acquisition, and patient retention. In light of this, practices should consider ways to enhance the overall experience that patients have with their practices.
choices. As retail consumers, your patients interact with salespeople, cashiers, and other store employees where they shop. They also interact in similar ways with you and your staff. If you don’t make a good impression or meet their perceived needs, they often share their bad experiences with friends and family, on social networks, and in online physician reviews just as they would share bad retail experiences.
PATIENTS ARE HEALTHCARE CONSUMERS WITH CHOICES
Consider this:
Today’s patients have become healthcare consumers, better educated with greater access to information to guide them than ever before. They’re acting in many ways more like modern retail consumers than the passive recipients of medical care of years past.2 Because healthcare consumers are also retail consumers in other areas of their lives, they expect great customer service from their medical provider just as they do with the retailers they visit—and they realize they have
reviews were related to general customer service issues such as wait times and staff interactions. Patients are using online physician reviews to help choose their physicians. Shifting reimbursement models are incorporating patient satisfaction metrics.
96 percent of patient complaints in online physician
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Beyond the word-of-mouth and online damage, a bad patient experience can have on your practice’s reputation, patients can also—and many times do— switch providers to seek a better patient experience, even at the expense of convenience or when limited by restrictions placed on them by an insurance network. In one study, 48% of patients said they would be willing to move out of their network for a doctor with favorable online physician reviews.3 Patients trust that most physicians will provide quality medical care. For the modern healthcare consumer, it’s often the overall experience that determines their choices.
SHIFTING REIMBURSEMENT MODELS ENCOURAGE A FOCUS ON THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE Another way the patient experience affects the business of a healthcare practice is that reimbursement models continue to shift from a fee-for-service model to a value-based system that incorporates measures of patient satisfaction. Under the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) track of the Quality Payment Program (QPP), CMS will include patient satisfaction measures to adjust Medicare payments either up or
CAN AN IMPROVED PATIENT EXPERIENCE IMPROVE PATIENT OUTCOMES? Physician and staff communication is a critical factor in the patient experience and one of the most important factors in patient reviews of physicians.5 An essential aspect of this communication, empathy can also lead to better patient outcomes, greater patient satisfaction, lower malpractice risk, and less stress and physician burnout. As studies suggest, communication that helps patients better understand their physicians can have a therapeutic effect, reducing pain, increasing function, and improving blood pressure, while making patients “more likely to acknowledge health problems, understand treatment options, modify their behaviors, and comply with medication schedules.”6 Physician empathy can lead to other improved health outcomes as well:
Increased immune function Shorter post-surgery hospital stays Improved control of blood sugar Decreased asthma attacks Shortened duration of colds
IMPROVING THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE
Making changes in your practice to create a great patient experience begins with thinking like a consumer. What are the things that create a bad customer experience when you shop or visit retailers? They’re likely the same ...communication that helps patients better understand things that will create a poor experience for patients in your practice. A their physicians can have a therapeutic effect, reducing great customer experience starts pain, increasing function and improving blood pressure... with things as simple as maintaining a well-organized office, improving scheduling, pleasant staff interactions, and communicating issues as they arise with patients, including down, and already does so with the Value-Based following through on commitments like follow-up Purchasing (VBP) program for hospitals using HCAHPS phone calls.5 surveys. While it’s unclear whether online physician reviews on sites like Zocdoc and Healthgrades (as opposed to the official CMS patient satisfaction survey vehicles) will one day affect physician reimbursement, recent developments suggest that it’s possible. For example, United Healthcare posts Healthgrades’ patient satisfaction data and reviews on its online physician directory, which policyholders can reference when choosing a physician. If health insurers follow the same trajectory as retail commerce, reviews and ratings could one day play a more significant role in a practice’s financial bottom-line.4 A recent study showed that 72% percent of patients check online reviews as the first step they take when Considered in this light, selecting a physician.3 improving the patient experience—which, in turn, helps improve physician ratings—can have a great impact on your practice.
The patient experience you provide at your practice should also be tailored to the patients you currently serve and those you are trying to attract. A strategy that appeals to one patient demographic may not appeal to others. Baby boomers, gen-xers, and millennials, for example, have different preferences regarding communication methods and technology.2 For example, millennials (73%) and gen-xers (70%) find text messaging for appointment reminders extremely or very appealing, while only 45% of baby boomers do.7 Tailoring your approach to the demographics of your patient population as you work to improve the patient experience is an essential starting point. Practices that focus on providing an excellent experience for their increasingly sophisticated healthcare consumers can see positive results. When (Continued on page 15)
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the patient has an overall good experience, it is more likely that they will focus on the positive experience with their physician, rather than on any minor inconveniences they might have faced during their visit. A patient focusing on the positive aspects of their experience is more likely to share those positive experiences in patient satisfaction surveys, online physician reviews, and with their families, friends, and social networks. In a healthcare industry increasingly influenced by formal patient satisfaction surveys, online physician ratings, and shared experiences on social media, your practice’s health may depend on improving the patient experience.
The NORCAL Group of companies provide medical professional liability insurance, risk management solutions and provider wellness resources to physicians, healthcare extenders, medical groups, hospitals, community clinics, and allied healthcare facilities throughout the country. They share an A.M. Best “A” (Excellent) rating for their financial strength and stability. Website: http://norcal-group.com Phone: 844.4NORCAL Email: customerservice@norcal-group.com REFERENCES
1. The Beryl Institute. 2/7/2019)
“Defining Patient Experience.”
(accessed
2. Brett Chambers. “The Generational Differences in Healthcare Technology.” Physicians Weekly, July 12, 2016 (accessed 2/7/2019) 3. Gaby Loria. “How Patients Use Online Reviews.” Advice. (accessed 2/7/2019)
Software
4. Susanne Madden. “Online Reviews: Payers Are Paying Attention Too.” Physicians Practice, January 31, 2018. (accessed 2/7/2019) 5. Vanguard Communications. “Online Complaints? Blame Customer Service, Not Doctors’ Care.” (accessed 2/7/2019) 6. Karen Cook. “Improving Physicians’ Communication Skills.” Hospitals and Health Networks, May 28, 2015. (accessed 2/7/2019) 7. Solution Reach. “The Patient-Provider Relationship Study: The Ripple Effect Starts with Boomers.” 2017. (accessed 2/7/2019)
ADDITIONAL LINKED SOURCES
Kerri Wing, RN. “A Guide to Reporting on MACRA in 2018.” Physicians Practice, February 9, 2018. (accessed 2/7/2019) NORCAL Group. “Encourage Positive Online Physician Ratings with These Best Practices.” (accessed 2/7/2019) NORCAL Group. “Empathy Benefits Both Physicians and Patients: Case Studies and Best Practices.” (accessed 2/7/2019) Micah Solomon. “8 Ways to Improve Patient Satisfaction, Patient Experience And (By The Way) HCAHPS Scores.” Forbes, January 11, 2015. (accessed 2/7/2019) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “Hospital Value-based Purchasing.” September 2017. (accessed 2/7/2019)
By Katherine Boroski
A
s the delivery of health care undergoes fundamental shifts and the rate of burnout among physicians continues to rise, physician wellness and professional fulfillment have become hot topics throughout the health care community – and for good reason.
In a recent Medscape survey, nearly two-thirds of U.S. doctors said they felt burned out, depressed or both. More troubling still, one-third of respondents said such feelings affected their relationships with patients.
The new initiative is a statewide collaborative effort with physician wellness experts from the Stanford Medicine WellMD Center: Tait Shanafelt, M.D., associate dean, chief wellness officer and professor of hematology; and Mickey Trockel, M.D., project co-leader and clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.
Under the leadership of CEO Kathleen Creason, CMA’s Physician Wellness Services will be the most comprehensive effort in the country to increase physician wellness as a vehicle to improve the quality of care they provide patients. “The well-being of the nation’s physicians is a critical factor in
maintaining access to care and the quality of our health care system,” - Kathleen Creason
Burnout can erode the quality of patient care and decrease patient satisfaction. It can also limit patient access to care, as physicians experiencing burnout often cope by reducing the number of patients they see, reducing their clinical time or leaving the profession entirely. To help physicians succeed in their life's work of caring for patients, the California Medical Association (CMA) has made physician wellness and the prevention of burnout a core priority. By advancing initiatives that enhance efficiency, professional satisfaction and the delivery of care, CMA is striving to help physicians navigate and succeed in a continually evolving health care environment. To that end, CMA is working with nationally recognized leaders on physician wellness who bring unparalleled academic expertise and hands-on experience to build an organizational initiative to improve physician fulfillment and well-being.
“CMA is extremely proud to work with Dr. Shanafelt and his team to better combat physician burnout, which occurs from medical school through active practice,” said CMA President David H. Aizuss, M.D. “This program’s scope, innovative approach and resources are unmatched in the nation, and it will substantially improve physician wellness while supporting patient access to quality care.” The program will utilize a population health framework to address systemic contributors to physician burnout, along with providing tailored support for physicians at increased risk or experiencing specific challenges. In addition to creating tools to support changes that the health care system can make to increase physician well-being, the program will assist those already expressing signs of burnout. “This collaboration will implement a comprehensive approach to promote the wellness of California’s physicians,” said Dr. Shanafelt. “Given the strong links between physician distress and the care they provide patients, we believe improving physician wellness benefits not only physicians, but the patients and communities they serve.” (Continued on page 18)
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The program will also include offerings that range from local physician commensality groups (to help physicians reconnect with their peers and to find meaning in their work) to tools that help physicians calibrate their well-being, while also linking those physicians who have markers of burnout to additional resources. Training will be made available to empower physician leaders to build practice environments that support professional fulfillment. The program will also include an annual comprehensive, longitudinal assessment of the experiences of California physicians to identify new opportunities and measure progress. “This project aims to promote wellness for all physicians, deliver specific interventions to those most at risk for burnout, and provide timely interventions to those already in distress,” said Dr. Trockel. “Along with broad focus on promoting well-being, this tiered approach also sets the ambitious goal of preventing physician suicide in California.” National studies led by Dr. Shanafelt indicate that burnout is more common among physicians than U.S. workers in other fields. Physician burnout has also been associated with risk for suicide among physicians. “The well-being of the nation’s physicians is a critical factor in maintaining access to care and the quality of our health care system,” said Creason. “The program will help physicians conquer these issues, so they can do what they do best – care for patients.” For more information on CMA’s Physician kcreason@cmadocs.org or (916) 551-2031.
Wellness
Services
Program,
contact
Kathleen
Creason
Katherine Boroski is Senior Director of Communications for the California Medical Association. She can be reached via email at kboroski@cmadocs.org.
at
Merced Mariposa
2848 Park Avenue, Suite C | Merced, CA 95348