LHP is pleased to congratulate Metropolitan Pediatrics as the winner of the 2023 LHP Quality Awards and $2,000 prize for deploying clinical staff as Immunization Champions and improving routine childhood vaccination rates.

We are also proud to recognize:

• The Oregon Clinic Gastroenterology South (2nd place and $1,500) for setting up advice teams of nurses and medical assistants to facilitate timely and appropriate care.
• Broadway Medical Clinic (3rd place and $1,000) for using health portal messages to inform patients they are due for colorectal cancer screening then giving an option for a referral for colonoscopy or to receive a FIT-DNA test kit to their home. 
• Hillsboro Pediatrics for their Kinder coach program to support parents in preparing their children for kindergarten.
• Legacy Internal Medicine residents for implementing dotphrases to standardize workups and communication with relevant data from patient charts.

RECOGNITION

Quality improvement requires great effort, coordination, and dedication across care teams. To show our appreciation, Dr. Chaffin and our teams will be delivering awards and special treats to staff who submitted projects and learning more about what they did to achieve these results. 

Please join us in celebrating all the people who made these projects possible. You can review a summary of this year’s quality projects below. LHP is also compiling all past projects into an online toolkit to help share learnings across the network and show examples to help other clinics get started and consider implementing something similar. We will share that resource in a future newsletter.

PROJECT SUMMARIES

Metropolitan Pediatrics - Immunization Champions

Metropolitan Pediatrics implemented an Immunization Champions program to improve childhood vaccination rates in the face of COVID-19 and other challenges. The program involved recruiting, training, and deploying clinical staff as Immunization Champions who worked with a centralized population health team to review and correct immunization data, provide targeted outreach to patients, and schedule appointments. 

The results:  Improved vaccination rates, increased staff satisfaction and empowerment, reduced workload and data errors, and higher value-based payments.

The Oregon Clinic Gastroenterology South - Advice teams

The Oregon Clinic Gastroenterology South created Advice Teams to improve continuity of care and staff engagement for patients who call or message for advice. The Advice Teams consisted of small groups of nurses, medical assistants, and providers who were familiar with each other and their patients. They also scheduled same-day urgent visits for patients who needed immediate evaluation or intervention. 

The results: The Advice Teams improved patient access, reduced ER referrals, increased staff education and collaboration, and enhanced patient and provider satisfaction.

Broadway Medical Clinic - Colorectal cancer screenings for 45–50-year-olds

Broadway Medical Clinic launched a colorectal cancer screening campaign for 45–50-year-olds using email and patient portal messages. The campaign informed patients about the new screening guidelines and offered them two options: a referral for a colonoscopy or a stool DNA test kit. The campaign also provided a secure link for patients to indicate their preference and get additional information and resources. 

The results: The campaign increased screening rates, reduced phone calls and manual outreach, and simplified the process for patients and staff.

Hillsboro Pediatrics - Kinder coach program

Hillsboro Pediatrics participated in a Latinx School Readiness Project that aimed to improve kindergarten readiness for Latino children. The project involved hiring and training a Community Health Worker (CHW) as a Kinder Coach who provided individualized assessments, interventions, and referrals for 3–4-year-old patients and their parents. 

The results: The project helped parents overcome systematic barriers, access local resources, and support their children's development. It also improved patient and staff experience, provider referrals, and behavioral health integration.

Legacy Internal Medicine residents - Dotphrases

Legacy Internal Medicine residents developed dotphrases for ten common inpatient problems to standardize and streamline workup and communication. The dotphrases auto-populated relevant data from the chart and prompted the user to consider different diagnoses and tests. 

The results: The dotphrases aimed to improve patient safety, reduce redundancy and missed diagnoses, and facilitate effective documentation.