Letter from Shelly Voet, MD - Executive Community Physician Leader
October 26, 2022
Dear Community PCPs,
Hello! I hope all of you are well and enjoying a little time outside during this sunny and pleasant October! It has been a busy month both clinically, and with professional meetings, so thanks for taking the time to read Synapse. Here is a summary of current trends and our collaborations for this month:
Trends - As everyone knows, this October has been one of the busiest ever for pediatricians, not only locally but across the country. Pediatric hospitals have been under strain with an early respiratory season. In Cincinnati, both CCHMC ED and Urgent Cares are seeing record volumes. I know we have said this in our weekly email, but I also wanted to say again – thank you to you and your teams for all you do to care for your patients in their medical homes. Thank you also for efforts to provide flu vaccination as we are already beginning our flu season in Cincinnati.
Admission and Transfer Center – This new center launched on October 17. Early feedback has been good for this new integrated system for admissions and transfers to CCHMC. Please share the guide in this issue with your team. If you have any feedback or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to your Physician Outreach liaison. Please continue to remind your providers that any direct admission calls should now go through the ATC number (513-636-9337 or 513-636-XFER). You can now use this number to reach PPL, STATLINE for ED referrals and PIRC through the phone tree as well.
Condition-Specific Referral Guide – Our Physician Outreach team has been working with divisions, CPAC, and the Access Service team for several months on the Referral Guide attached to this issue. We hope you find it helpful, especially for those patients whose conditions may overlap certain divisions.
ED Blood Culture Improvement project – As we shared in June, the ED has an improvement project to utilize the lab ePlex system to identify likely contaminants more quickly in positive blood cultures and reduce unnecessary returns. Your team may receive direct phone calls from the ED about these results. Thank you to Dr. Anna Ipsaro who is leading this project for sharing their algorithm in an adapted manner for outpatient use HERE.
AAP Hyperbilirubinemia Update – Please save the evening of December 7 for a virtual event with Hospital Medicine and Home Care to discuss the new Hyperbilirubinemia guidelines and learn about options for treatment in our region. To RSVP to the event, email kimberly.hunt@cchmc.org. Additional information will be emailed next week.
EDS/Hypermobility Clinic – As many of you know, the Hypermobility Clinic (which assesses Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders, including Hypermobile EDS) is in a state of transition as the main provider is preparing for retirement next year. At this time, referrals to this specific clinic in Genetics can only be accepted for teens who have entered puberty as the diagnosis is best made after puberty onset. For younger children with symptomatic hypermobility, the most beneficial referral is to a physical therapist knowledgeable about Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders. Please share in the referral that it is for joint stabilization, core strengthening, and possible orthotics for a patient with a Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder. The ICD-10 code for HSD is M35.7. A related Community Practice Support Tool (CPST) will be available soon.
Departure - It is with deep gratitude and some sadness that we say goodbye to our colleague Dr. Josh Schaffzin from Infectious Disease. As many of you remember, Josh was our unwavering voice of reason during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even when our knowledge of the virus was limited, Josh was able to distill what was known into actionable information for us. I am very grateful for his assistance with our Testing, Isolation and Quarantine algorithm, his willingness to join us on most of our 7 am Live Updates, and his willingness to answer any questions a PCP had. We appreciate you Josh and wish you all the best!
Community Provider Survey – Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to complete this survey sent by Therese Martin. If you haven’t yet completed it, please take a moment to do so. Our CPAC team and Physician Outreach will use your feedback to guide our work in the upcoming year.
Thanks again for all you do for our kids!
Shelly
Shelly F. Voet MD
Pediatric Associates PSC
CCHMC Executive Community Physician Leader