Learning and implementing best practices in operations can prevent mistakes, maintain a consistent flow of business to better meet patient demands and keep our clinical practice profitable and productive. Below are a few updates of interest to our employees. 

Your practice operations team is here to support all of you in your effort to provide exceptional care to UT Health patients. If you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to your practice operations leaders: Casey Peterson , senior director of practice operations, Jeanette Hernandez, director of practice operations, Johnna Nerios, director of practice operations and Dina Wright, director of practice operations. 

Eight years ago, the clinical practice of the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine, now called UT Health Physicians, recognized the changing landscape of health care delivery and identified future trends for reimbursement for clinical services. Medical care would need to be coordinated and integrated with an emphasis on keeping patients healthy and out of the emergency rooms to avoid needless hospitalizations. Evidence-based treatments would be encouraged, if not required, by Medicare and other third-party payers. Hospitals and clinicians would be paid based on efficient utilization of resources, achievement of quality metrics and clinical outcomes. These concepts, contained in the phrases “value-based reimbursement” and “population health management,” would come to define the future of health care.  

In partnership with national experts in health care delivery, UT Health Physicians developed four overarching strategic goals for the practice to successfully navigate the waters of value-based care and population health, while continuing to serve our community and support our missions of education and research. These four goals are as critical to the success of our practice as we look forward to 2019 as they were in 2012, when we first identified them.

Goal 1: Build a primary care network consisting of employed and associated health care providers.

Primary care physicians and their teams organized in patient-centered medical homes are the key to keeping patients healthy and helping them access specialists when necessary. Primary care at UT Health Physicians has been an NCQA-recognized Patient-Centered Medical Home since 2016. Two new primary care practices were added to our existing five locations in 2018. Additionally, we have established an accountable care organization (ACO), UT Health Regional Physician Network™, by which we will partner with community primary care practices to meet high standards of quality and utilization for Medicare patients. We will continue to increase access to primary care for patients by bringing community providers into our network.

Goal 2: Improve access to specialty care.

One year ago, we established an Access Task Force (ATF), led by the Dan Johnson, M.D., chair of the ophthalmology department. The ATF established processes that enabled individual UT Health Physicians practices to increase new patient visits by 23 percent and total visits by 10 percent over the same period last year. This was accomplished without adding more physicians, more clinic sessions or more appointment slots. It was achieved by simply ensuring that all current appointment slots were filled. Access remains an essential matter for UT Health Physicians. We cannot help patients unless we can see them in our practices.

Goal 3: Expand our geographic footprint. 

Not all patients can easily travel to our main locations within the medical center. Therefore, we must be willing to expand our presence beyond this central location. We have established practices at Westover Hills, the Hill Country, near Loop 1604 and Bandera (UT Health Verde Hills) and in Shavano Park to facilitate access to our primary care physicians and certain specialists. We use Sg2, a business intelligence system, to help us identify locations where there is a need for physicians, and we are currently exploring other potential sites for future expansion of our services.

Goal 4: Create more nationally recognized clinical programs.

These often take the form of clinical centers, where specialists from different disciplines work together under a common leadership to provide a “one-stop shop” care experience for the patient. Clinical conditions such as cancers, cardiovascular diseases and organ transplant are the typical illnesses in which patients benefit from coordinated, integrated clinical services.

We are expanding our health network in complex diseases and services such as transplant, cancer, primary care, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's. These centers are the result of numerous initiatives at the department and institutional levels that will positively impact our practice and our patients. 

Chief among these is the affiliation with MD Anderson Cancer Center, which will help enhance the level of coordinated cancer care for our patients. Sharing protocols with our sister institution from Houston, cancer patients will not need to travel to Houston to receive the same standard of advanced treatment.

Looking to the future, providing excellent, patient-centered care is our first priority as we rapidly expand to meet the needs of a fast-growing community. Our strategic goals give us the roadmap to transform our clinical practice to best serve our patients, our community and our institution. By pursuing them, UT Health Physicians will become a leader in health care transformation in San Antonio and Texas.

Leaders of UT Health Physicians at the Medical Arts & Research Center presented the 2018 WOW! of the Year award and the 2018 Patient Experience Practice Champion of the Year award on Oct. 22. These awards recognize practices, providers and employees who go above and beyond to ensure that every patient has the best experience possible at UT Health Physicians.

Margie Clements, who works in health information management, received the WOW! of the Year Award. Every quarter, a committee formally recognizes WOW! award winners based on the comments and kudos they've received from their patients and colleagues. Ms. Clements won the annual award for the many kudos she received and her commitment to ensuring every patient has a positive experience at every encounter.

Robert Leverence, M.D., chief medical officer of UT Health Physicians, presents the WOW! of the Year award to Margie Clements.

The Patient Experience Practice Champion of the Year award went to the gynecologic oncology practice. This recognition is awarded to the practice that receives the highest scores on the National Research Corporation (NRC) survey question, “Would you recommend this office to a family or friend?” The goal is for every UT Health Physicians practice to have their patients answer yes to this question 95.2 percent of the time.

Rochelle David, M.D., medical director for the obstetrics and gynecology practice at UT Health Physicians, accepts the Patient Experience Practice Champion of the Year award on behalf of the gynecologic oncology practice.

Also recognized during the ceremony, was the founding class of UT Health San Antonio’s Patient Experience Champions. These champions embody UT Health’s mission, values and principles by striving to understand the concerns of patients through listening to, observing and “walking with” those we have the privilege to treat and heal. They are called to embody UT Health San Antonio’s promise to provide exceptional care to every patient at every encounter.

Members of the 2018-2019 Patient Experience Champions founding class

We are recruiting people who are passionate about making lives better through exceptional health care. Meet the newest providers and staff joining UT Health San Antonio: 

Belinda Alvarado, UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center; Tracey Ballard, primary care; Tiana Bell, orthopaedics; Alexandra Cabello, float pool; Priscilla Cardona, quality and safety; Jasmine Contreras, orthopaedics; Armando Cortez, information systems; Lorna Diaz-Maisonet, obstetrics and gynecology; Vanessa Espinoza, urology; Maria Gallegos, primary care; Taylor Gill, float pool; Amelia Gutierrez, neurosurgery; Tomasita Herricks, payment posting; Megan Hunter, primary care; Anna Keene, obstetrics and gynecology; Inna Levario, UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center; Elizabeth Lino, psychiatry; Robert Martin, administration; Shemica Parrish, primary care; Amanda Ramos, UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center; Jana Reid, server operations; Rachel Rocha, primary care; Christine Rodriguez, access center; Joshua Rodriguez, quality and safety; Jeannette Sanchez, quality and safety; Sherry Sorensen, UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center; Diane Vasquez, UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center; Monica Villanueva, registration

Know someone who is passionate about making lives better? Let them know we are hiring at UTHealthSA.org/hr. 

UT Health Physicians makes a difference in our community every day. Your colleagues were recently in the media for making San Antonio dementia-friendly, reducing the impact of opioid use in our city, taking new approaches to curing brain cancer and much more.

Allison Grimes, M.D., Childhood Cancer Survivors At Greater Risk Of Developing HPV-Related Cancer - Texas Public Radio

Robyn Scherber, M.D., M.P.H. - Dr. Scherber on the Treatment of Myelofibrosis – OncLive

Carlos Jaén, M.D., Ph.D. - How An Erectile Dysfunction Startup Wants To Help You Quit Smoking – Forbes

Jason Bowling, M.D. - Doctors are urging everyone to get vaccinated this flu season - Kens 5

Lisa Cleveland, Ph.D., RN - A year later, officials promote progress of opioid task force  - San Antonio Express-News

William Henrich, M.D., MACP - San Antonio’s Health Care, Bioscience Leaders Examine Medical Center’s Past and Future  - Rivard Report

Ruben Mesa, M.D. - Local Cancer Docs Gather for Biden Community Summit - WOAI Radio

William Henrich, M.D., MACP - The Choice in San Antonio: City Builders or a City Hall Wrecker - Rivard Report

Andrew Brenner, M.D., Ph.D. - San Antonio Cancer Researcher Taking New Approach With Old Drug In Treating Glioblastoma - Texas Public Radio

Robert Svatek, M.D. - New drug shows promise in battling bladder cancer - WNDU-TV, South Bend, IN

Rajiv Rajani, M.D. - AAOS endorses appropriate use criteria for monitoring recurrence of bone, soft tissue sarcomas -  Healio

Francisco Cigarroa, M.D. - EDITOR'S NOTES: Exclusive Q&A — Ramiro Cavazos on San Antonio, leadership and Hispanic chambers - S.A. Business Journal

Ruben Mesa, M.D. - Preventing Myelofibrosis from Progressing to Acute Myeloid Leukemia - Cure Today.com

Ruben Mesa, M.D. - Myeloproliferative Neoplasms Take a Toll on Patient Job Status - Cure Today.com

Anne-Marie Langevin, M.D. - Conversation with The Cancer Letter:  Anne-Marie Langevin receives Harry Hynes Award - The Cancer Letter

Tamara Simpson, M.D. - San Antonio’s ‘Tobacco 21’ ordinance goes into effect amid e-cigarette crackdown - San Antonio Express-News

Manzoor Bhat, Ph.D., and Rebecca Romero, M.D. - San Antonio Researchers Identify Treatment Window To Minimize Damage From MS - Texas Public Radio

William Henrich, M.D., MACP and Carole White, Ph.D., RN - Leaders push to make San Antonio a better place for people with dementia - San Antonio Express-News

For more news about UT Health San Antonio, visit the Newsroom.