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The Rounds

​Medical Staff News 
Mandatory Vaccinations
Flu:
The deadline for the mandatory flu vaccination for all medical staff and trainees is Tuesday, Nov. 30. This is essential to protect you, your fellow caregivers and our patients. Please submit documentation of vaccination or applicable exemption to: medicalstaffservices@harrishealth.org. 

Medical Staff Services will send regular reports on noncompliant individuals to clinical leaders, and Epic access will be discontinued for these individuals on Wednesday, Dec. 1. After this date, no patient care or supervision of residents can be rendered until this requirement is met.

COVID-19:
Vaccination against COVID-19 is required by Harris Health System for all medical staff. This is to comply with a federal regulation recently introduced by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

To meet this requirement, all staff must either receive the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine or the first dose of a two-dose regimen of Moderna or Pfizer vaccine by Monday, Dec. 6, 2021. 

Also, staff must have received all shots for full vaccination of the two-dose regimen of Moderna or Pfizer vaccines by Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022.

Please submit your documentation of vaccination or applicable exemption to: medicalstaffservices@harrishealth.org.

Thank you for your continued partnership and care for our patients.​

 
Pain Management Survey
The Harris Health System Opioid Task Force is asking for your help in identifying the gaps in pain management services for our patient population. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey and provide your input on the integrated pain management resources needed for your patients. 

Your responses will help inform the task force where we can improve pain management at Harris Health. ​
 
 
Thank you,
​Alicia Kowalchuk, DO and Soraira Pacheco, DO 
Harris Health Opioid Task Force Co-Chairs
 
Meroe Morse, MD
Integrative Non-pharmacological Interventions Faculty Champion

 
Physician Kudos 
Congratulations to Harris Health’s Physician Champions of the Quarter.
 
Physician Champions - Second Quarter 2021 
ACS:  Diana Blicharski, MD 
ACS:  Swati Pradeep, DO 
Ben Taub:  Youshi Yin, MD 
LBJ:  Rex Paulino, MD 
 
Physician Champions - Third Quarter 2021 
ACS:  Wael Aboughali, MD 
ACS:  Fareed Khan, MD
Ben Taub:  Mimi Chang Tan, MD 
LBJ:  George Williams, MD

 
Outsourced Medical Services
A couple of recent highlights include:

 
  • Lyft Patient Transportation Initiative is now live at Harris Health! The Case Management teams in the Emergency centers (24/7) have access as well as all the Case Management leadership across the system (inpatient, ambulatory, OMS).
  • OMS team now has extended hours to facilitate weekend discharges, with an RN available on Saturdays to approve requests for Home Health, Durable Medical Equipment and post-acute care facilities stays for patients in Harris Health’s Financial Assistance Program.
  • A new contract has been added for a Skilled Nursing Facility that has dialysis and non-invasive vent capabilities. 
  • Four (4) new long-term care contracts have been added for patients who need long-term care as opposed to skilled nursing care.
  • Regular meetings have been established with vendors in collaboration with our contracting team to review our quality metrics, and vendor relationships are being terminated with vendors who do not meet Harris Health’s quality of care standards. 

For more information, please see the attached presentation.

Thank you for your service!