Practice Updates

 It is hard to believe November is upon us. This year has brought stability to the practice's team, with two young medical assistants, Kaiya and Amanda, working together with skill and compassion to care for every patient they bring back. Ashley has been our rock for over a decade, committed to excellence and bringing her heart to her work. Eric is the newest staff member, taking over Kyle's seat after Kyle started medical school at his top choice. While we miss Kyle very much, Eric has been a quick study of the many complex tasks of the front office and has committed to patient care. He, too, will be a great doctor one day. Behind the scenes is Dr. Idongesit Usoroh, who came to us nearly 4 years ago in the capacity of care manager and operations lead. He has been the glue that has kept us together, whether by laboring to hire and manage the staff, managing IT projects, reporting quality measures to Medicare, or meeting with a community health worker after a home visit. His care has moved the dial for many of our patients as they have encountered the complexities of the healthcare system. Don will be going on to training in family medicine this summer, but it is my sincere hope that he may one day return to practice medicine with us at Green Spring Internal Medicine. 

Vaccination season is in full swing at the practice even as the respiratory viruses have started to emerge. This year, we expanded the vaccines which are available at the practice to include the following new additions: PCV21 (the new pneumonia vaccine), Abrysvo (one of the RSV vaccines), preservative-free flu vaccines (both standard dose and high dose), and Heplisav-B. For the past 5 years, we have been offering Moderna's version of an mRNA COVID vaccine called Spikevax. Moderna developed a new COVID vaccine called mNEXSPIKE, but because it is newer, we have not ventured to supply this vaccine until more data are available. The Moderna COVID vaccine is safe and is probably more effective than the Pfizer vaccine for older adults. 

We have been able to expand services at the practice even as Telehealth access became restricted. Services we added have included viral testing (depending upon insurance coverage), Zio patch placement, and assistance setting up continuous glucose monitors. Sadly, at the end of September, Congress allowed Telehealth access to expire for Medicare. Expanded access to Telehealth was absolutely life-saving during pandemic times, and we still believe it is a life-saving way to bring care to our patients in their home settings. Older people, people with disabilities, and those with transportation issues particularly benefit from Telehealth. We hope that Congress will not only restore this access but also make it permanent. Meanwhile, because we are participating in the new MDPCP-AHEAD model, we will again be able to offer Telehealth to our Medicare population. We will be communicating more information about this model early in the new year. It is very similar to what we have already been doing with MDPCP and ACO work. Advanced practice models like these have allowed us to offer more services and to have the resources we need to expand the practice.

From the doctoring standpoint, we have been aiming to hire another internal medicine physician. While we have advertised on and off since the Spring, we are still in the process of interviewing strong candidates. Finding the right fit is of vital importance to us, and we are taking our time. Dr. Nayak returned from medical leave last week, working on a part-time schedule for now. We are all so glad to have him back! I am back to taking Fridays off, which has offered much-needed rest and recovery time as I complete three more rounds of antibody-directed chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer. The last treatment should be on January 8th, and a cure is most likely.  It has been a long year! 

Finally, as this year rounds out, we will be bringing many of our patients back for Medicare Wellness Visits and annual physicals. Our team has mastered outreach for these important visits and also to provide important reminders about health screenings like colonoscopies and mammograms. Because of this teamwork, our practice has been a flagship among other Maryland primary practices all at work to improve healthcare delivery and outcomes for our patients. We are grateful to the many family members and caregivers, specialists and partners, who work with us to make lives better. Though the healthcare system leaves much room for improvement, we can all be part of the change we desire to see.