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Sept. 23, 2021
In this issue

  • COVID-19 Updates
  • Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment
  • Medicare Wellness Visits
How to apply to administer the COVID-19 vaccine in your office: The application process can take six to eight weeks from the registration to start of vaccination.

Ivermectin prescribing: We continue to support our physicians in denying patient requests for ivermectin for COVID-19 infection based on evidence-based prescribing practices and in alignment with FDA, CDC and other health agency recommendations. Review SBAR.  
Get vaccinated with the expanded vaccine clinic schedule: We’ve expanded all Employee Health walk in clinics to ensure easy access. We strongly encourage you to schedule an appointment at a clinic via the LiveWell app (Apple App Store/Google Play). View locations here: Illinois and Wisconsin or go to any outside COVID-19 vaccination provider (you will need to submit verification if you go to an outside provider).
Important COVID-19 booster update: This week the FDA amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to allow for use of a single booster dose to be administered at least six months after completion of the two-dose series for individuals 65 and over at high risk for serious disease and exposure. We are awaiting final guidance on booster eligibility from the CDC which could come by end of day. We are working quickly on our plans to provide these booster shots to eligible patients and will share more in the coming days. We continue to provide COVID-19 boosters of both mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) to patients who meet the CDC's criteria for moderately and severely immunocompromised. 
Reminder: New verification option! We’ll allow CDC COVID-19 vaccination record cards as acceptable temporary verification measure until March 31, 2022, at which time, another approved form of verification will be required. Do not alter or redact any information on your card, rendering it invalid. We will also accept a copy of the state database record as a form of verification. Reminder: Full vaccination and proof of vaccination status are required by Oct. 15 to maintain medical staff membership/privileges at Advocate Aurora Health. Complete the vaccine verification form by Oct. 15. Fax to 630-929-9815 or scan and email to ASC-IL-AAHcredentialing@aah.org. Questions? Contact your local Medical Staff Services team.
Flu Shot Clinics open Sept. 22: All APP aligned physicians on staff at Advocate hospitals are required to get a flu shot by Oct. 29. Flu shot clinics are now open at Advocate hospitals: View locations and schedule. If you receive your flu shot at any location outside of the team member flu shot clinics (including Advocate Medical Group offices, Advocate Clinics at Walgreens or Advocate immediate care centers) you MUST submit a verification form. If you receive the flu shot from a flu champion at an Advocate hospital site where you practice, the form is NOT required.
Culture of Safety Survey Results
Carrie Nelson, MD, System Vice President/CMO, Population Health and Health Outcomes, Advocate Aurora Health; Chief Clinical Officer, APP  

Safety continues to be our top priority. Thank you for sharing your input during our recent Culture of Safety Survey. Read more for an update on our results, including strengths and opportunities as we progress on our safety journey.
Medicare Wellness Visits

Many patients have not received a Medicare Wellness Visit this year. These yearly visits help:

  • Close quality care gaps so patients receive the best evidence-based care possible.
  • Ensure chronic conditions are addressed and accurately documented, which should be done at least annually. This is what we refer to as "chronic condition refresh."

Here are important things to know:

  • Patients may be deferring this visit due to safety concerns with COVID-19. As a reminder, these visits can be done by video.
  • CMS does not recognize telephonic visits for chronic condition refresh so face-to-face visits are encouraged, either in-person or via video.
  • View our Medicare Wellness Visits Playbook for best practices and resources on patient outreach, appointment scheduling and conducting/documenting the visit. Additional resources are available in the Medicare Wellness Visits Toolkit on APP Pro.
  • We also continue to outreach to patients on your behalf through our EMMI phone campaigns.
Severe Platelet Shortage in Illinois

We are currently experiencing an acute shortage of platelets at our Illinois hospital sites. The American Red Cross has notified us available inventory is very tight. This will likely continue for the next coming days and weeks. In order to address this evolving situation, the transfusion service will be reviewing orders for platelets as they come in. View SBAR for more details.
Epic Updates
  • Keeping patients safe: Sepsis redesign launches Oct. 25: To achieve our goal of zero patient harm, the prevention, early identification and treatment of hospital-acquired sepsis is a mission-critical priority for Advocate Aurora Health. On Oct. 25, we will implement a redesigned sepsis workflow for adult inpatients at all of our hospitals, which includes Epic Sepsis Best Practice Advisories (BPAs) to support our clinical teams. Physicians involved in Sepsis protocols can learn more here. Training and education will continue as we approach the Oct. 25 Go-Live.
Supporting Your Practice
  • Your time is valuable: We know this is a very busy and challenging time for our physicians. To support you and your practice, we will not be asking you to complete the annual physician engagement survey this fall as we’ve done in years past. Rather, your active engagement in the Clinical Integration program and your local PHO – especially as we approach the end of the year – is the best measure of our partnership. However, your ongoing feedback remains vital to our shared success. Please continue to raise your thoughts, ideas and concerns to your APP Field Operations team.

  • Medicare annual enrollment: As we approach the Medicare Annual Election Period (AEP) beginning on Oct. 15, we want to share information to help you address patient questions. Read more on where to direct patients, an overview of Medicare Advantage (MA) and our partnership with Devoted Health to offer an MA HMO plan. Learn more.


  • Population health patient outreach: We conduct patient outreach on your behalf to support quality outcomes and close quality care gaps. Learn about current outreach.


Connecting with Jim

Watch Jim’s Skogsbergh's video for a look at our Q3 report card and Transformation 2025 strategic plan refresh, along with a COVID-19 situational update and vaccine mandate need to knows.
Elevating Our Expertise

Darren Gitelman, MD, walks to support the research, outreach and clinical missions of the Alzheimer’s Association. He walks in honor of his grandparents, several of whom had forms of dementia. But mostly, he walks for each patient, family member and caregiver whose life has been affected by the progressive disease. 
Continuing Medical Education

Connecting and reconnecting to your "why": Reigniting and keeping the flame alive
Friday, Oct. 1 | noon – 1 p.m. 
  
The Physician and Provider Wellness webinar series offers an hour away from your responsibilities to reconnect to your purpose and “why” for entering the medical profession. Learn the difference from our speakers between “flourishing” and “surviving” in your practice. Through our panel discussion expand your awareness of Advocate Aurora Health and national services available to support your connection to your strengths and purpose.    
Upcoming CME
APP Pro
COVID-19 Info Center
CME Website: Webinars & Recordings
Contracting