APPs named as UCSF Health Lean Champions

Jane Lee, NP on Cardiothoracic surgery team is a featured photographer in the Art Gallery of the Department of Surgery San Francisco & Sunset. This new art gallery was unveiled on March 29th, 2023 where you can view her framed photo entitled "Limitless and Beyond" on the 3rd floor hallway 513 Parnassus Ave.

Mechanical Circulatory System (MCS) team presents in Denver and San Francisco

The Mechanical Circulatory System team consists of APP only that provide 24/7 coverage for patients with advanced heart failure. Team members (former and current) that contributed to the acceptance for abstract and poster presentations at Annual conferences of the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplant (April 18-22 in Denver, Colorado) and American Society for Artificial Internal Organs (June 14-18 in San Francisco, California) include: Janet Yu, Anja Strehlow, Irina Yurkova, Angel Rich, Ashely Jannesen, and Alvin Joseph Abad. Presentation titles are "Optimizing Ventricular Assist Device Outcomes: A multidisciplinary protocol", "Impact of a rehabilitation program on LVAD implantation surgical outcomes", "Atypical presentation of Pump Thrombosis in HVAD: Usefulness of HVAD Waveforms in diagnosing pump thrombosis", "Arterio-Venous Bridge for peripheral Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Weaning in Adults", "Impella Smart Assist technology and hemodynamics management of Cardiogenic Shock".

Save the date March 19-21, 2024 for the 46th Annual Educational Conference held at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. Click here for more into.

The UCSF Onboarding program is a unique program that started in 2018. NPs and PAs volunteer either monthly or quarterly to lead and facilitate onboarding sessions for all new NP and PA hires. Session topics are Professional Responsibilities, Management and Ethics, Self Coding and Clinical Documentation Integrity, Thriving as a Provider and Professional Development and committee Opportunities. A quality improvement manuscript authored by Mitch Erickson, DNP, Alisa Yee, NP, Roseanne Krauter, FNP and Thomas Hoffmann entitled "The impact of a structured onboarding program for newly hired nurse practitioner and physician assistants" was published in the April 2023 edition of the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. Contact [email protected] if you're interested in being on the onboarding committee.

Pediatric Grand Rounds--East Bay

Every Tuesday 8-9am

Tuesday April 11, 2023 TODAY

"Minority Stress and the Medical Professional: How Minority Stress Affects Mental Health"”

Presented by: Chase Anderson, MD Associate Professor in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry UCSF School of Medicine

Tuesday April 18, 2023

"Healthcare Sustainability: A Call to Action"

Presented by Hilary Ong, MD, FAAP Pediatric Emergency Care Physician UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital San Francisco

For Zoom login information, contact: Cristina Fernandez [email protected], 510-428-3885 ext 4343

APP Grand Rounds

Wednesday, May 16, 2023 12-1PM (No April Grand Rounds)

"Anal Cancer Prevention in the Primary and Specialty Setting"

Speaker: Naomi Jay, DNP

2 Steps to Register in Advance:  

1.Point your camera to QR code above or click here

2. To claim 1-hour CEU for RN/NP/CRNA/CNM , Preregister at Nursing Connect: Click here

Search by title: Anal Cancer Prevention

Category 2 CME for PA, no additional registration required 

Time Study

UCSF and BCH Oakland advanced practice providers are required to complete monthly Time Studies for hospital reimbursement. A mandatory 

UC Learning Module has been created to train you on accurate Time Study submission and must be completed within 30 days of receipt of email notification sent on 4/10/23. The module will take approximately 20-30 minutes. Completion will be audited by the Office of Advanced Practice Providers.  

Oakland APPs began Time Studies in January of 2023. UCSF APPs will begin Time Studies in May of 2023. Time Studies are a federal requirement (brief description below) for hospital reimbursement and will take place on a rotating week each month. Please reference the Office of Advanced Practice Providers Website for additional information. If questions, email [email protected].  

State Plan Amendment (SPA) 

The SPA 05-023 was approved by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on December 21, 2007. It is part of the State Waiver to supplement payment for underfunded and unfunded care. The SPA allows for interim supplemental payments to reimburse for the uncompensated cost of providing professional services for inpatient and outpatient care to Medicaid (Medi-Cal) beneficiaries. From the outset of SPA, CMS dictated that a Time Study Audit must be performed by each UC Medical Center to confirm professional time spent on patient care, underfunded care, and on non-reimbursable activity. 

Guidelines for APPs Providing Remote Care to Patients Outside of California

Are you doing video visits or my chart messages or using out-of-state mail order pharmacies for Out-of-State Patients? Click here to read about what is acceptable, acceptable under limited circumstances and not acceptable for care of out-of-state patients. Questions for concerns? Email [email protected]

New DEA Requirements to Renew License

The DEA recently announced a new one-time requirement for all providers to complete 8 hours of continuing education on the topics of treatment and medication management of patients with opioid and other substance use disorders (SUD). See the DEA announcement for details. 

This requirement affects all APPs with a DEA registration – including full-time, part-time, and per diem employees. This requirement must be completed prior to your next DEA registration renewal, beginning with renewal dates of June 27, 2023. It is your responsibility to ensure you are compliant with the new requirements and eligible to renew your registration prior to expiration. DEA registration is required for all UCSF midwives, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. Click here for recommended actions

Josh Adler, MD, Chief Clinical Officer UCSF Health

Screening: Daily health screening with Digital screener is no longer required. Screener is still available for return-to-work/campus for COVID symptoms, exposures and infections

Masking: wearing masks is optional but recommended in all non-clinical buildings. Faculty, staff and learners are required to wear masks in areas where patients are present. Patients and visitors are no longer required but are strongly reommended to wear masks.

Testing: Color testing will no longer be available. Testing will continue to be offered in UCSF Health clinics. BCH Oakland employees should check with Employee health at ext 3620 or email: [email protected]

Click here for full details of COVID-19 policy changes.

One of the top priorities for UCSF Health is ‘Our People’ where we strive to create an optimal work experience. We need your feedback in order to meet this goal. With this in mind there are two upcoming surveys that need your participation.

The Annual Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Net Promoter Score (NPS) Work Experience Survey is coming up in May! This is an opportunity to share feedback with your departmental and executive leadership. The NPS Work Experience Survey asks questions specific to Advanced Practice Providers and drives leadership decision-making. Please prioritize completing this survey. The Office of Advanced Practice Providers uses the data from the NPS Work Experience Survey to advocate on your behalf.

Please also be aware that the UCSF Staff Engagement Survey will open April 11 to May 5th. This brief survey is administered by Gallup Inc. and provides an opportunity for all staff to identify UCSF’s strengths and improvement opportunities as a workplace.

Both surveys are confidential and your responses are anonymous. At no point will data be shared that directly connects you to your responses.

New APPs Who Joined UCSF Health

Please extend a warm welcome to our newly hired APPs

Lindsey Ding, NP Cancer Center

Anna Ignatova, NP Geriatrics ED

Gabrielle Manton, NP ICU

Yuko Murakami, CRNA Anesthesia

Gary Sanchez, PA Neurosurgery

Tiffany Song, CRNA Anesthesia

Brian Tang, CRNA Anesthesia

Robert Wenz, CRNA Anesthesia

APP Recruitment

Are you attending a conference and are interested in attracting APP talent for UCSF employment? Reach out to the UCSF Talent Acquisition team member [email protected] for more information. You may be eligible for a recruiting bonus up to $2000.

Confused about your health benefits?



Contact a health care facilitator to help you clarify your UC health plan coverage and patient rights, provide detailed comparison of your benefit options, help with billing problems for services which are covered by the health plan. Click here for more information regarding the program.

Patient & Family Advisors have a vested interested in your improvement efforts



Have you started some improvement work in your area and want to make sure it meets the needs of your patients? Anything about them should include them, and ideally include them early in the work. Councils include: Hospital Medicine, Palliative Care, Black Women, Patients with Disabilities, Movement Disorders, Cancer Center, Chronic Illness Center (pediatric), BCH SF ICN, BCH Oakland, ICN, (cross Bay) Youth Advisory Board, and more. 

Most Councils meet monthly monthly, so please consider the following:

1. Adding an Advisor to your Standing Committees.

2. Include an Advisor on your project planning team.

3. Invite an Advisor when you map the patient journey in your area, host a Kaizen, plan changes in patient facing forms or informational documents. No matter what, a Parent Advisor can bring a wealth of experience.

4. Attending a PFAC meeting and discuss your work and get feedback, edits, and words of encouragement.

Please consider how they can support your goals and initiatives. Contact Amy Hyams, [email protected], for more information.

Free App--Humane Space

Research shows that experience curiosity and wonder can benefit our mental, physical and professional health, including improving memory and cognitive function, increasing well-being in life, and boosting performance and creativity. The Humane Space app helps connect adults with curiosity, wonder, and awe – often overlooked keys to well-being. Through multimedia stories, you’ll dig into fascinating big-picture questions that fuel our common search for meaning.

The app offers guided deep thinking and lifelong learning through daily practice. A bit like an interactive podcast, the app is full of awe-inspiring content, from videos of deep space to recordings of humpback whale songs to mind-boggling optical illusions.

Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/uy/app/the-humane-space/id6443709613

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thehumanespace.app

The app is completely free to use through April! If you are interested in keeping it past April, please reach out to [email protected].

We Want to Hear From You

Your feedback about newsletter content and delivery is important to us.

Office Hours: Office of Advanced Practice Providers

Meeting ID: 916 4155 9875

Password: 503138

Tuesday, April 11, 2023 12-1PM TODAY

Host Alisa Yee, MSN, ACNP-BC Director of Operations A

Wednesday, April 26, 2023, 8-9AM

Host Rosie Krauter, FNP-BC, CORLN Director of Informatics and Clinical Systems FNP-BC, CORLN DNP, MPH

The Office of Advanced Practice Providers is here to support you.

Email us at [email protected]

Visit the UCSF APP website

Ivette Becerra-Ortiz, DNP, MPH, NP, RN, NEA-BC, C-PNP Chief of Advanced Practice Providers

Kurstan Del Rosario Senior Operations Analyst

Tara Valcarcel, MSN, RN, CPNP-PC Director, Pediatric Operations Advanced Practice Providers 

Roseanne "Rosie" Krauter, FNP-BC, CORLN Director of Clinical Systems

Brandon Sessler MMS,PA-C

Director of Professional Practice Fellowship Coordinator

Alisa Yee, MSN, ACNP-BC

Director, Adult Operations Advanced Practice Providers