Legacy Health Partners - News & Updates
Delivering value and improving health
Warm welcome to an old friend
Summer brought good news to Legacy Health Partners (LHP). We were thrilled to hire one of our own, Albert Chaffin, MD, FAAP, as LHP medical director.
Dr. Chaffin has a long history of leadership with LHP, and with Legacy. He currently serves as vice chair of the LHP board of managers, chair of the governance committee, and chair of the clinical collaboration and performance improvement committee. In 2015, he joined as an inaugural LHP committee member and served on the data and systems committee. Since 2009, he has served as a staff pediatrician at Good Samaritan Medical Center and Randall Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Chaffin’s first day will be Oct. 17. Please welcome him!
In addition to serving as LHP's medical director, Dr. Chaffin will see patients at Randall Children's Gender Care Center. He is a long-time advocate for LGBTQ+ patients, and a champion for quality care and the power of strategic planning and engagement to improve health outcomes for patients. Dr. Chaffin will help lead LHP in a time of great challenge – and great opportunity. Expect a message from him here in this newsletter before the end of the year, and once again, please join me in welcoming him to his new role.
Later in this issue, you’ll read about open LHP board and committee seats. I hope you’ll consider applying if you’re interested in serving as an LHP leader.
All my best as we head into the fall season and final months of this year. – Jenny
Quality Corner: Overcoming Patient Hesitancy About Statins
Are you following evidence-based guidelines for statin therapy but still struggling to meet the measures for statin therapy in cardiovascular disease and diabetes? Perhaps your efforts are being thwarted by patient adherence. A 2018 study by National Institutes of Health cited approximately 50 percent of patients with CVD and/or its major risk factors don’t consistently take their prescribed medicines - which significantly increases their risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and blood clots.
While the study classifies non-adherence broadly into three categories – patient-related barriers, physician-related barriers, and health care system-related barriers – patient-related factors are by far the biggest reasons why they don’t stick to their statin regimen. These factors can include a lack of understanding of their disease, difficulty accepting the severity of their disease, unwanted side effects of the drugs, skepticism towards treatment efficacy, lack of trust in their healthcare provider, or cultural and ethnic beliefs.
One way to overcome patient hesitancy is shared decision-making. Walking through the patient’s risks and addressing their concerns can help patients embrace their treatment plan. Mayo Clinic offers an excellent tool that visually demonstrates the patient’s current risk of heart attack and how it could be reduced using statins. It also addresses common patient concerns with these drugs. We’d also like to share this easy-to-understand patient handout created by the CDC.
We’d love to hear from you about the tricks and tools you find useful in helping patients with statin adherence. Submit feedback to the LHP Suggestion Box that we can share in future newsletters.
LHP Quality Award applications due Friday, Oct. 21
Legacy Health Partners is pleased to continue the LHP Quality Awards program this year and are accepting improvement project ideas for both primary and specialty care. Download the application from the LHP Team Site and submit your application to LegacyHealthPartners@lhs.org by Friday Oct. 21.
We thank staff members in every clinic for their dedication to quality patient experience and affordable care, and we are excited to celebrate your exceptional results. We look forward to highlighting the achievements of each winner and continuing to share quality principles and lessons across our network. LHP will provide a cash prize to the top three winners of the 2022 awards to encourage a bit of friendly competition and reward practices for their continued commitment to quality improvement. Good luck!
- 1st place: $1,000 and a plaque to display
- 2nd place: $750 and a framed award to display
- 3rd place: $500 and a framed award to display
Bring Your Leadership Skills to LHP
LHP is accepting applications due Oct. 31 for seats on the board of managers and all three 2023 board committees: Clinical Collaboration and Performance Improvement; Finance and Contracting; and Quality and Membership.
Help lead LHP in our next phase of growth and fulfill our vision to be the preferred choice for our providers and our community. LHP believes we can improve the health of our communities and more effectively serve our region if we more accurately reflect those we serve. The LHP board of managers and board committees strive for diversity in representation of primary care providers and specialists, and employed and independent providers, small and large practice providers, as well as leaders who represent different races, ages, and genders. With this goal in mind, we encourage applications from people of color, women, and those in LGBTQI+ community.
We realize you’re juggling a lot of responsibilities right now, and we are grateful for your time and consideration. Note that board and committee members receive an annual stipend for their service.
The responsibilities for each role are outlined within the application packet. If you would like to speak with someone about exploring what it’s like to serve, email LegacyHealthPartners@lhs.org, and we will connect you with the LHP staff and/or current board and committee members. The board and committees are currently meeting virtually and will likely continue to meet that way into early 2023.
Reminders and Announcements
- Providers and practice administrators should complete 2022 LHP Clinical Integration Education in E+ by Sept. 30 to be eligible to earn an incentive in this year’s CI program. Providers can also complete a Provider Learning Module in E+ by Dec. 31 to earn points toward their score.
- Practice administrators should complete this year’s attestation form before Sept. 30. If you have questions, please contact your outreach advisor.
- The LHP board approved a CI score threshold of 55 percent for 2022. This minimum threshold supports network goals for provider engagement and high performance. Any LHP provider who does not meet the minimum threshold will not earn a CI incentive for 2022 and will be placed on a monitoring plan for 2023.
For Primary Care:
- Review the Member Attribution report in Power BI for a list of the LHP patients attributed to you. If you believe a member is attributed to you in error, download the Reattribution Request Form from the LHP Team Site and include the patient’s correct PCP and email the form to LegacyHealthPartners@lhs.org before Sept. 30.
- LHP recommends connecting to Reliance eHealth Collaborative – a Health Information Exchange – to support data sharing, overall care coordination and communication, and performance in our clinical integration program by easing the process for closing care gaps with supplemental clinical data. Refer to this fact sheet for more information and contact your outreach advisor if you have questions.
