CMO Update September 19, 2022 |
I hope everyone had a great Labor Day holiday and is looking forward to some beautiful fall weather and vibrant autumn tree color. Plus football is back, which is great news for most everyone except Notre Dame fans ☹! |
QualDerm’s transition to EMA Modernizing Medicine EMR concludes this month with the North Carolina market of which I am a part. Overall, I think it is going well and am encouraged by the progress, day over day, in our understanding of the functionality and limitations. As one of EMA’s largest dermatology clients I am optimistic that we can help identify efficiencies and improvements that will be incorporated into updates so please continue working with our
Operations and IT leaders to share ideas. In the meantime, take advantage of your colleagues in your own or other markets to compare best practices, tips and pearls. Also, each market has follow-up training sessions with Mod Med staff after 1-2 months to further enhance efficiencies and answer more in-depth questions arising during live integration.
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Our Virtual Grand Rounds has been a huge success and we plan the next session in a few weeks on Tuesday October 4th at 6 pm ET/5 pm CT. We are working with a company to assist with accrediting the VGR for official CME credit, but we need your cases to continue the initiative, and we need them as far in advance as possible to complete the approval processing. PLEASE share interesting, informative or challenging cases, particularly in the medical dermatology arena. It only takes 10-15 minutes to complete the template and our Dermatopathologists are happy to share pathology images and assist in the presentations.
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Our Helping Hands program continues to assist so many of our teammates in times of need and I thank everyone who contributes to the fund. With inflation pressures, health challenges and just tough personal situations, we have made numerous grants that have helped our work family members avoid eviction, pay utility and food bills, leave unsafe living situations, pay for funeral expenses among others. Please consider contributing through Paylocity biweekly draws or an annual gift. Every tiny bit helps!!
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While we have several terrific and experienced physicians currently performing clinical research in their legacy practices, I am very pleased to announce that our new company-wide Clinical Research program has begun, with our first study sites led by Dr. Judy Hu in Hermitage, TN and Dr. Kevin Stein in Winston Salem, NC. We have partnered with Objective Health out of Nashville which provides a turn-key solution to start offering our patients the benefits of new, advanced medications through clinical trials. We will share more details on how to refer your patients and for which studies we are enrolling, but plan to begin with conditions including psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, acne and hidradenitis. We will develop more study sites and research leaders as we grow, so please let me know if you have interest in this area. Both physicians and APPs can participate as sub-investigators. This link HERE provides an overview.
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Our Patient Experience and Service Excellence initiative is also gaining great traction as it has been introduced in pilot sites across QualDerm. Dr. Dan Pearce and Megan Erickson have been instrumental in leading this effort to enhance how our patients experience every phase of their journey through QualDerm, as well as how we can be better teammates and support each other and our QDP culture of respect, quality, service and teamwork. All of us play a pivotal role and we will share more and seek input from the broader company audience as the pilot sites and teams refine the ‘playbook’.
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I am so glad that COVID news is far down the list of this CMO Update. While it appears to be in a downturn for now, we are all well aware that new variants continue to arise, and it is likely to cause more problems during fall and winter. 400 Americans are still dying every day from COVID, the vast majority unvaccinated, with lung disease or other medical conditions and of older age. 20% of US population is still without a single vaccine shot.
- Natural immunity is now well recognized as a very effective human adaptation to prevent severe infection and complications; immunity, however, does diminish over time
- BA5 variant remains dominant in US (90%), escapes immunity quite well and is highly transmissible
- With either vaccines or prior infection, healthy people are pretty safe from hospitalization and death, although can experience miserable symptoms and Long COVID
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FDA has approved and CDC recommends a fall booster dose of vaccine, with the new bivalent shot that more specifically targets new Omicron variants (bivalent = half original strain, and half Omicron BA.4, BA.5)
- These boosters are available now and are free
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Benefits currently outweigh the risks for adults and children with high-risk medical conditions, immunosuppression, lung disease, diabetes, overweight, or the elderly; evidence from human trials is limited but growing and supportive of strategy
- Booster recommended for healthcare workers and those with frequent contact with these high-risk groups,
- Vax does not reduce transmission so it’s a personal risk: benefit decision
- Healthy young adults, particularly if recent infection, may choose to wait since the risk of myocarditis, especially in young men, may outweigh the benefits of mRNA booster
- Multiple studies show that risk of myocarditis higher with COVID than vaccine
- Anyone with recent infection should wait 3 months for any booster and at least 2 months after a previous booster dose
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Influenza was very severe in Australia this summer, which predicts a severe season for us in the United States this winter. Flu cases are already being seen here and I strongly recommend once again that everyone receive a flu shot this year.
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QualDerm has purchased influenza vaccine for all employees, and it will become available October 1, consistent with the policy of most major academic health systems nationally.
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Have a great week and start to your fall. Happy tailgating and fire-pitting and school activities and cooler mornings for us all. I was reminded of the hazards of travel as both my parents and one of our nurses were in serious car accidents recently. Fortunately, all are OK but just a reminder to be safe and cautious out there as lives can change in a split second.
Be well,
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