Doctor’s Note: November Newsletter Introduction from Dr. Claire Boogaard

Happy November!  This month always puts me in a state of Thanksgiving, as I reflect on the end of one year and prepare for the next. This year I have many personal things to be thankful for, but I am also reminded of the gratitude I have for my profession and the power of collaboration. It is true that burnout in healthcare is real; however, many of us stay because of the great potential for positive impact on children, family, and society. I am grateful for you all, because this Network continues to remind me that progress is possible and bearable when we work together.

Over the past year, the PHN has continued to successfully stride towards the quadruple aim of improved patient care, population health, cost savings, and provider/staff wellness. Through our adolescent QI initiative and our behavioral health initiative, practices implemented system improvements to improve vaccine uptake, SDOH screening, and mental health screening and follow-up for the patients in our network. Through Arcadia, we have been able to identify needed areas of focus to improve patient and practice level outcomes, allowing us to target outreach to those patients with gaps in care (intrigued? Get access by contacting us at PHN.Arcadia@childrensnational.org). Improving these outcomes and negotiating with payers is returning shared savings to the contracted teams doing the hard work (money distributions are expected by the end of this month!). We have used our collective voice to contract on vaccines, better understand our EMRs, and learn best practices.  We are also dedicated to better understanding health care utilization and equitable health care delivery, so that we meet the needs of the most vulnerable patients first.

As we head into the holiday months, I hope we all find time to rest and recharge. I’m looking forward to “refilling my cup” over the holidays and I hope the same for you. For better or worse, this work is not done but I am grateful for the continual learning, collaborating, and problem-solving of this network.

Sincerely,

Claire Boogaard, MD, MPH

PHN Medical Director