Tim Ferris opened the April 29 spring meeting with a brief overview of personnel changes, upcoming dates of note, and important issues facing the MGPO and the hospital. He discussed national health care policy highlights, transforming ambulatory care, investing in digital health, and inpatient capacity issues.
Personnel Changes
Ferris announced the following personnel changes:
- Jovita Thomas-Williams is the new Mass General senior vice president for Human Resources.
- New division chiefs since the last meeting:
- GI: Wolfram Goessling, MD
- Gynecologic Oncology: Eric Eisenhauer, MD
- Maternal-Fetal Medicine: Anjali Kaimal, MD
- Nephrology: Eugene Rhee, MD
- Thoracic Surgery: Yolonda Colson, MD
National Health Care Highlights
Noteworthy statistics regarding Massachusetts health care include:
- Massachusetts is ranked #2 in health care quality, according to the “2018 Scorecard on State Health System Performance.” The rankings are based on 36 measures covering 4 areas: access, prevention and treatment, avoidable hospital use and cost, and healthy living.
- Massachusetts has one of the lowest uninsured rates: 3.7% in 2017, compared to the 8.8% national average.
- In 2017, the total health care spending growth in Massachusetts was below the national rate, continuing a multi-year trend.
- Massachusetts ranked 44th out of 51 states in the cost of commercial family premiums (employer and employee shares) relative to median household income in 2016.
- Boston is one of the lowest priced markets for academic medical centers (AMCs).
Physician Questions
How is the AllWays Health Partners transition going? Overall, the transition of the MGH/MGPO health insurance administrator from Blue Cross Blue Shield to AllWays Health Partners has gone well. Not all mental health clinicians have signed on, so AllWays continues to personally contact clinicians to help them join the network under the same payment reimbursement they had with Blue Cross.
What keeps you up at night? Ferris mentioned a few issues, including sending appropriate cases of secondary care to community hospitals, such as Newton-Wellesley Hospital, which creates more access at Mass General for tertiary care.
Part of this work creating more access involves transforming ambulatory care, which requires operational standardization. We need to change the workflow to what works best for patients and modernize our systems to meet the expectation of patients, such as online scheduling. Ferris explained that our office systems are not well-suited to take advantage of modern technology; however, a few groups have piloted online scheduling and more efficient use of appointment slots, resulting in an increase in patient access and satisfaction. He added that we should be leading the digital revolution. Transforming ambulatory care is the first step.
Inpatient capacity is also an ongoing challenge. We often have 90 patients waiting for beds in the Emergency Department, yet it’s sometimes difficult for clinicians working on the inpatient floors to feel the urgency of those waiting patients. That is a patient safety issue and we must continue to work on programs that can help alleviate the backup, such as providing home care alternatives for appropriate patients.
Join the conversation, and let the MGPO know your thoughts, suggestions, and comments.