UMass FMCH Tuesday Talk - May 23, 2023/RESEARCH

Welcome to the FMCH Tuesday Talk. Please continue to send us your announcements, celebrations, and accomplishments to [email protected]

Table of Contents

Message From The Chair

Upcoming Events

Focus of the Week – Research

Announcements

Department Member Recognition

Frankly Speaking Podcast

Clinical Services Spotlight

Message From The Chair


In honor of Warren Ferguson’s retirement, not only are we celebrating him on June 20th, I am pleased to announce the Warren J. Ferguson Community Health Visiting Professorship

Please consider a donation to honor Warren and his years of service to our department and community.  To attend, RSVP to [email protected] and provide a tribute here

Recipients who click provide a tribute here in Tuesday’s Talk should:

  1. Click view Kudoboard.
  2. Above the word Retirement, there is a circle with a pencil and square in it, hover over it and click View as editor.
  3. Click pop up to + Add to board to post tribute. 

Upcoming Events


FMCH Grand Rounds

Tuesday, May 23rd, 12:00 - 1:00pm"Better Performance for All: Evaluation of Metabolic Health", presented by Adam Ridley, MD.

Meeting ID: 191 986 273 Passcode: FMCH

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/191986273?pwd=NEtlZmNkdWlSUGwyeTJQU3dCeUs1QT09


FMCH Grand Rounds

Tuesday, May 30th, 12:00 - 1:00pm"The Essential Role of Palliative Care in Advanced Lung Disease", presented by Shaun Toomey, MD.

Meeting ID: 191 986 273 Passcode: FMCH

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/191986273?pwd=NEtlZmNkdWlSUGwyeTJQU3dCeUs1QT09

Focus of the Week - Research


STFM Conference on Medical Student Education: February 8-11, 2024; Atlanta, GA

STFM is looking for submissions from all involved in medical student education: chairs, faculty, coordinators, residents, and students.

Deadline for submissions: June 12, 2024.

For more information click link below.

Call for Presentations > Conference on Medical Student Education (stfm.org).

The Commonwealth Fund publishes The Connection – a round-up of recent Fund publications, charts, multimedia, and other timely content. It’s a terrific read with posts such as: Understanding the Behavioral Health Workforce Shortage, Improving Behavioral Health Care Through Medicaid, The Impact of Racism on Children, and Effect of Asthma Inhalers on Climate Change to name just a few. Subscribe to these posts at [email protected].


Another good read to subscribe to is The Center for Healthcare Strategies (CHCS) - a policy design and implementation partner devoted to improving outcomes for people enrolled in Medicaid. CHCS works to improve health outcomes for the millions of people in the U.S. who face serious barriers to well-being, like poverty, complex health and social needs, and systemic racism. CHCS collaborates with Medicaid and related agencies to shape how health care services are designed, financed, and delivered. To get on their mailing list, go to: Sign Up For CHCS Email Updates - Center for Health Care Strategies.


Trying to keep up with the literature? In an effort to keep up with recent publications, the department puts together a collection of journal tables of contents from 15-20 journals of most interest to Family Medicine: whether as a clinician, an educator, or a researcher. These tables of contents contain links to the articles that you might be most interested in reading further. If there are additional journals that should be added to this collection, please contact Judy Savageau ([email protected]). Past collections can be found on the dept’s research web pages at: Medical Journal Tables of Contents (umassmed.edu).

Announcements


Past editions of the Tuesday Talk Newsletter are available

at https://www.umassmed.edu/fmch/ under Resources.

(On behalf of Jennifer Bradford, MD, MPH)

Hello Leadership Team,

Please help us select our 2023 Putterman Visiting Professor speaker. We have a list of dynamic speakers that support our mission of diversity, equity and inclusion. The Professorship honors the memory of faculty member Steven Putterman, MD, who died in 1999. Steve was a gifted physician who worked on many fronts to improve health care and education, especially health care for vulnerable populations. Please vote by May 26th by clicking the link below. I appreciate your support. https://umassmed.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0lnkbQJK1S1uwxE

 

UMass Chan Remillard Family Community Service Fund Opportunity

The UMass Chan Office of the Provost is pleased to solicit proposals for projects intended to amplify the impact of our institution on the community.  The evaluation criteria include:

1. The potential to improve the lives and/or health of residents of Worcester or Central Massachusetts.

2. The potential impact of the program or project on individuals, groups and communities that are economically or educationally disadvantaged or underrepresented.

3. A specific connection to the missions of UMass Chan in the fields of education, patient care or research.

Proposals are due May 29th to [email protected], the award date is August 1st. 

PROPOSAL OUTLINE: 1 to 2 pages TOTAL in length (no letters of support, please); describe the (a) project goals, (b) potential impact, (c) outline of work and (d) proposed budget; only UMass Chan full-time faculty, staff, residents and students are eligible to apply. Student applications must have an identified faculty sponsor. The budget should not to exceed $20,000, one- year duration. For more information and assistance, contact [email protected]. For a proposal guide and information sheet please email [email protected].


Funding Opportunity: The Blue Cross Shields of MA Foundation Special Initiatives grant program provides organizations with a one-time grant of up to $50,000 to pilot or launch a new project over a one-year period which empowers communities to advance health equity. Visit their website for more details: https://www.bluecrossmafoundation.org/grant/special-initiatives.

Applications are due September 11th, 2023.


Update regarding Buprenorphine Prescribing:

The federal government has changed the regulations governing the prescribing of buprenorphine (Suboxone). Any clinician with a DEA number may now prescribe buprenorphine for the treatment of OUD, in any setting, without any additional training. Many clinicians who have not previously prescribed buprenorphine for management of Opioid Use Disorder are now interested in doing so. The Center for Integrated Primary Care is excited to offer free, online training in the assessment of OUD and treatment with buprenorphine and naltrexone. This content takes approximately 2 hours to complete and those who complete it will receive free CME. 

Thank you to the UMass Chan Medical School’s CME office for supporting this offering.


The Department of Psychiatry is enrolling participants with Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD) in a clinical research study to look at the effectiveness, safety, and usefulness of an investigational nasal spray medication when it is used alone to improve depressive symptoms. Participants must: be 18 years of age or older, have been diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression, have not adequately responded to at least 2 different antidepressant treatments, must be comfortable with using a nasal spray and not be pregnant or have plans to become pregnant. Contact Chelsea Kosma @ 508-856-5312.

Department Member Recognition


The Society of Teachers in Family Medicine Foundation shared Ashley Mitton, PsyD’s perspective in a 5/19/23 email:  North Star- The Important Role of Clinical Psychology in Family Medicine. Ashley is also the recipient of the 2023 Faculty of Tomorrow Resident Scholarship. Dr. Mitton is a second year fellow in the Primary Care Psychology and Medical Education fellowship. In the fall she will begin her faculty work as the Director of Behavioral Science at the Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center Family Medicine Residency program in Bangor, Maine.

Frankly Speaking Podcast


A weekly Podcast series covering newsworthy topics in primary care medicine.

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frankly-speaking-about-family-medicine/id1194659367.


Please join us for an overview: Do you have older patients asking for guidance on what supplements can be used to prevent cognitive decline? Listen in to hear the findings of a recent Alzheimer's & Dementia publication of a randomized controlled trial looking at the benefits and harms related to using cocoa and multivitamins for preventing cognitive decline. Guest: Robert A. Baldor, MD, FAAFP, presents: "Can Cocoa or a Multivitamin Prevent Dementia?" - Frankly Speaking Ep 329.

Clinical Services Spotlight:

CLINICAL UPDATES


COVID-19 MA

​State COVID data is updated weekly on Thursday.

  • There were 774 new cases of COVID reported in MA in the last 7 days.
  • The 7-day average percent positivity is 2.95%.
  • There were 43 patients primarily admitted for COVID, but 169 total patients hospitalized that are COVID positive.
  • There were 6 new confirmed deaths in the last 7 days.
  • According to the CDC, five counties in MA are still at high-risk for COVID. Suffolk, Middlesex, Worcester, Norfolk, Franklin, and Berkshire.


COVID-19 UMMMC

  • The current 7-day positivity rate is 3.7%.
  • In house cases were 13 with 12 of the 13 being fully vaccinated.


AEYE - Screening for Diabetic Retinopathy

Family Medicine is applying AI technology to retinal screenings with a goal to deliver diagnostic screening solutions that could potentially close gaps in primary care. The AEYE-DS is indicated for use by health care providers to automatically detect-more-than-mild diabetic retinopathy in adults (22 years of age or older) diagnosed with diabetes who have not been previously diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy.

Great job to the following sites:

  • HA Fitchburg Family Practice
  • Benedict Family Medicine
  • Barre Family Medicine

Kudos to the following leaders:

  • Dr. Jim Ledwith – Operational lead.
  • Emma Wood – Research coordinator, tester.
  • Pam Connor – Practice Manager at HA Fitchburg Family Practice in support of the pilot.
  • Physicians, residents, and medical assistants at HA Fitchburg Family Practice who perform the screenings.
  • Rick Bylund, Sara Jolly, Sandy Taubert, Monica Locker, Erik Dieter, Carl Osorio, Jim Hilton, Mark Crump, Aarthi Umapathy – IS team members who developed the workflow (from various application teams and Shared Services).
  • Tina Petras, Gina Behan, Stacy Stephenson – IS Revenue Cycle team who worked with Revenue Integrity on billing.

And from the AEYE Health team:

  • Zack Dvey-Aharon, Founder and CEO
  • Danny Margalit, COO
  • Development team of Amit Wohl, Gil Fefer, Ran Halperin, Rada Reshef

 

Wellness

Don't forget the UMMC Wellness Survey. Let your voice be heard. The Wellness Survey is open until June 14th.

 

Check out the “Physical Wellness” area of our Caring For our Caregivers Wellness page as well as our myHealth Matters Physical Health page on the Hub for resources on staying healthy while your colleagues get active.

 

Join the UMass wellness team and participate in the Heart Walk

The Heart Walk is Saturday, June 3rd. Additional information is found here: https://www2.heart.org/site/TR/HeartWalk/FDA-FoundersAffiliate?pg=entry&fr_id=8443

 

Joint Commission Ongoing Readiness

As you may have heard, we learned last week the Joint Commission has scheduled our survey within the next four weeks. The Joint Commission is likely to be in the buildings before July 1st. Please review the Hub to make sure you are aware of what the Joint Commission will be evaluating. Joint Commission Education Tools | The Hub (umassmemorialhub.org)

Wellness Resources


The Caring for the Caregiver Program provides resources such as the Caregiver Support Line (508-334-HELP) and The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) which offers a variety of services and supports (including virtual peer support and wellness tips. EAP can be accessed at 866-263-3525, or www.LiveandWorkWell.com, [company code: UmassMemorial]. 

More information is available on the Caring for the Caregiver page.

Yoga Classes with Dr. Liz Erban

New members always welcome. 

Please join for early morning gentle yoga, Wednesday mornings 6:30am via Zoom.

Much appreciation to Dr. Liz Erban for hosting these outstanding classes. 

Join Zoom Meeting ID: 923 9393 3653 Passcode: 764113

https://umassmemorial-org.zoom.us/j/92393933653?pwd=RW9TL3FhZGtLUVZBa09oMWhIQzZDUT09