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Driving Member Satisfaction and Practice Improvement
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE to Members
By Dr. Alisa Nance, RPh 2018–2019 NCAFP President
~ THE NCAFP COMMITTEES ~
As my year as President of the NCAFP ends, I look back to all I have learned. I have learned so much more about Family Medicine, the AAFP, the NCAFP, my fellow physicians, but mostly about myself. I have always loved being a family physician. What has been the most revealing is how passionate one becomes when representing so many talented and gifted people!
These are exciting times: times where the value of Family Medicine is being understood, where the longterm relationship with a patient is not only rewarding but improves care and lowers cost. We are on the cusp of payment reform, as we shift to value. Thank goodness, we, as family physicians, GET IT! We must remain poised to be the change agents for this shift.
To complete my committee introduction series, I would like to highlight NCAFP’s Member Satisfaction and Practice Environment Committee. With a mission to rebuild the excitement of Family Medicine across all practice settings, this committee’s goals are as follows:
• Improve the practice environment by providing education on different practice styles and opportunities to enhance practice efficiencies/effectiveness.
• Increase networking opportunities and support
for NCAFP members.
• Help family physicians thrive (not simply survive) by promoting physician health and wellness and preventing burnout.
• Engage patients as advocates for Family Medicine.
• Celebrate successes and accomplishments of family physicians by telling the stories of our members.
• Encourage mentoring, teaching and community engagement.
• Provide quality education that impacts patient care
Executive Officers President Alisa C. Nance, MD, RPh President-Elect David R. Rinehart, MD Secretary/Treasurer Jessica Triche, MD Immediate Past President Tamieka M.L. Howell, MD Executive Vice President Gregory K. Griggs, MPA, CAE
At-Large Directors Talia M. Aron, MD Jewell P. Carr, MD Garett R. Franklin, MD Shauna L. Guthrie, MD, MPH Dimitrios “Takie” P. Hondros, MD Jennifer Mullendore, MD Mackenzie Smith, MD Ying Vang, MD Slade A. Suchecki, DO Brian McCollough, MD Elizabeth B. Baltaro, MD
Family Medicine Residency Directors Mark L. Higdon, DO (Novant FMR)
Resident Director David S. Baker, MD (MAHEC-A)
Resident Director-Elect Elizabeth Ferruzzi, MD (Novant)
Student Director Cameron G. Smith (Campbell)
Student Director-Elect Katelyn Turlington (WFSOM)
and the practice of Family Medicine.
The committee’s members include: Dr. Shauna Guthrie, Chair; Dr. Talia Aaron, NCAFP Board Liaison; Dr. Nichole Johnson, New Physician; Dr. Sarita Lavani, Resident Physician; Dr. Charlie Rhodes, Past President; Scott Macbeth, Student; Dr. Takie Hondros, NCAFP Executive Board Liaison; and Dr. Dalia Brahmi, Dr. Lisa Cassidy-Vu, Dr. Sonia Duggal, Dr. Vickie Fowler, Dr. Mark McNeill, and Dr. Nadine Skinner as members-at-large.
The committee is actively working with the following strategic initiatives:
• Providing opportunities for group chat sessions for medical students and residents (which took place with students at the Continues on next page
Medical School Representatives & Alternates
Chair (ECU) Chelley K. Alexander, MD Alternate (Campbell) Nicholas Pennings, DO Alternate (Duke) Anthony J. Viera, MD, MPH Alternate (UNC) Cristen P. Page, MD Alternate (Wake) Richard W. Lord, Jr., MD, MA
AAFP Delegates & Alternates
AAFP Delegate Michelle F. Jones, MD AAFP Delegate Karen L. Smith, MD AAFP Alternate Richard W. Lord, Jr., MD, MA AAFP Alternate Robert L. Rich, Jr., MD
Dr. Mark McNeill
Dr. Mark McNeill is our member spotlight for this issue. He is the epitome of living out the member satisfaction and work environment goals - being raised in Raeford, NC, and receiving all his education in North Carolina, including his undergraduate degree in Biology from Appalachian State University, medical school training at East Carolina University and residency training in Family Medicine at the Mountain Area Health Education Center Program (MAHEC). He found his first inspiration of efficiencies and low overhead practices from his locums tenens year in New Zealand.
After New Zealand, Dr. McNeill moved back to Clyde, NC, to pursue his interest in rural Family Medicine. There he practiced full scope Family Medicine with Midway Medical Center for over three years while leading the practice from paper
to electronic health records. He was able to see how the, “successful use of an EHR is about workflow; looking at who touches what and why contributes to whether your technology increases or interferes with your efficiency.”
From there, Mark moved to Asheville to become the EHR champion at Community Family Practice. This is where he was able to see the value of patient portals in EHR technology. It was there at the start of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Meaningful Use, and he then realized that patient portals were the key to moving to simplification. “Wow! [Portals] could really streamline things like patient phone calls and scheduling.” Mark also learned from Ideal Medical Practices, a non-profit organization that educates and supports small, independent practices to understand how to achieve low overhead, high efficiency, high technology practices. In addition, he was inspired by a portal-heavy practice focused on Medic-
Family Medicine Day residency recruiting event).
• Providing education to members on leadership development and personal growth during NCAFP’s upcoming annual meeting.
• Continuing practice management education partnerships with the NC Medical Society and providing education on a wide range of topics (coding, workflow efficiency, value-based healthcare, population health, how to use EHRs effectively, and basic standards for what to expect in a practice setting) that improve patient care and the practice of Family Medicine.
• Working with NCAFP’s Student and Resident sections to identify burnout education opportunities and resources that might be included in future student and resident programs. This also includes sharing best practices from current efforts by medical schools
and residency programs.
The Committee also supported practice environment sessions held at the 2018 Winter Family Physicians Weekend: Practice Management 301, DPC Discussion, MAT Training, and Value-Based Healthcare. It also promoted an educational session on collaborative care codes and models of care at the 2019 Spring Symposium.
At next month’s Winter Family Physicians Weekend (December 5-8, 2019), Practice Management 301 will feature Leadership, Coding, Accountable Care, and Population Health. In addition, Dr. Kim Yu will be delivering an optional two-hour workshop on physician wellness as a part of the “Physician Health First” initiative. A “Practice Models Summit” will present a range of practice models available in Family Medicine. Dr. Jan Beste will be present-
aid run by MAHEC in Flat Rock.
Combining his portal and Ideal Medical Practice concepts, Mark was able to strike out on his own in Asheville, NC. He opened Trillium Family Medicine as a full-service, high-tech, portal-based practice accepting traditional insurances. His practice recently celebrated its seventh year this fall! Dr. McNeill has been able to educate patients to use the portal for scheduling, questions, refills, and to incorporate an interview with the patient as a portion of their medical record note. This patient-centered data prepares Dr. McNeill and the patient for the visit and eliminates additional documentation, since it is completed prior to the appointment. With such efficiency, he can work with only 2 full-time employees - an office manager and a medical office assistant. He just recently hired a part-time physician-assistant. Dr. McNeill does not need a scheduler or large staff, and he has found himself more available with more access, and can see fewer patients per day.
Dr. McNeill says what he’s learned the most about himself in this process is “how important autonomy is”, and how “better workflow leads to more happiness and less burnout.” He learned from a wise mentor that the success of a physician is not just about “availability, affability, and ability…. it’s about availability, availability and availability!” He also believes, “availability builds better relationships and less anxiety with and in the patients, which in turn leads to better satisfaction.”
Dr. McNeill has lectured for six years about his practice model, trying to be a change agent for the nay-sayers who believe the hamster wheel productivity model, is “just my life now,” and “I just can’t do anything about it.” I heard Dr. McNeill explain his idea of solving workflow problems with portals in 2016. I was amazed and initially felt, like most physicians, that I had no autonomy. Yet, I’m living proof, like Dr. McNeill, that you have more power than you think! Utilizing the portal will shrink your inbox of patient calls and questions. Retraining patients to ask for appointments via the portal or having open scheduling also frees up your front office staff. Replying to very frequently calling patients in writing via the portal once a day reduces staff and patient frustration.
The benefits go on and on... just ask Dr. McNeill!
ing on the main stage on, “Managing Up—Influencing the Hierarchy.”
The NCAFP had many networking and CME opportunities in 2019, including:
• The Spring Symposium in Charlotte.
• An update on Street Drugs in Winston-Salem in June.
• Thirty Minute Exchanges - Exploring Hot Topics in Wilmington in September.
• And the Essential Elements of Managing Common Chronic Diseases in Family Medicine held in Raleigh just last month.
This was the first year we tried to meet physician learners in their backyards throughout the year
in lieu of our Myrtle Beach summer conference. Attendance has been excellent and touched more North Carolina members than out-of-state guests. We look forward to continuing this effort in 2020 as we change the regional locations to engage new and returning attendees!
Finally, I was also able to attend and contribute to a regional Direct Primary Care (DPC) Summit panel discussion on the value of primary care and its role in reducing cost and increasing value. Attendees were prospective DPC physicians and local employers looking to offer this model as a benefit for employees.
Future endeavors of the Member Satisfaction and Practice Environment Committee are to continue to provide brief comments or Member Spotlights in this magazine and work toward achieving high membership benchmarks, as well as, promoting full scope of practice for family physicians. Stay tuned!
