Community Medicine Unit Programs
Community Medicine Unit
Joint Hire Program
This past year JHP provided continuing support for 15 physicians who together provided 44 clinical sessions. Through the JHP, Dr. Theresa Kim is providing 0.3 FTE sessions with McInnis Medical Group. The JHP continues to seek new methods for attracting highly qualified clinicians with creative teaching arrangements. The JHP has continued to expand opportunities for attending supervision for one month on the inpatient service at the Mennino Pavilion. Overall, three physicians are providing a total of 16 weeks of service as Inpatient Ward Attending. The CMU continues to work actively with several Community Health Centers to coordinate recruitment efforts and facilitate JHP arrangements for highly qualified community-based clinician educators.
CMU Administration Reengineering
During the past academic year, the CMU staff completed an extensive reengineering and implementation process for managing and tracking both Hospital and Department of Medicine credentialing as well as quality improvement measures. The project’s goal was to create an efficient management system supporting both the Hospital’s credentialing activities and the Medical School’s Academic Appointment process. One outcome of this effort was that CMU successfully prepared for last summer’s JCAHO accreditation visit. A key component of that preparation was successfully identification and engagement of key personal at all the community-based practice sites to facilitate a clear line of accountability for professional and clinical standards. The comprehensive multi-user Faculty database designed, constructed, and maintained by Dr. Shanahan continues to undergo refinement and enhancement. The database serves as an essential tool to assist GIM administrative staff with the substantial task of documenting and tracking myriad elements of professional information and critical credentialing activities.
Community-Based Liaison – Network Development
The Unit Director continues to foster a strong working relationship with the leadership of the Boston HealthNet and represents the department at both its bi-monthly board of directors meeting as well as at its monthly medical directors. He has served as both a facilitator and advisor to both the Leadership of both the Boston HealthNet as well as the Section of General Internal Medicine on matters pertaining to community based internists including professionalism, CME, staffing, academic affiliation, hospital credentialing, resident education in the community settings, and common population-based research interests. Similarly, in collaboration with key individuals from the departments of Pediatrics, Family Medicine, and Obstetrics and Gynecology he has established a strong relationship with the Hospital Development Department and applied for several initiatives focused on obtaining foundation funding for both Information Technology as well as Quality Improvement activities supporting ongoing and new collaborative community-based initiatives. Through Dr. Shanahan’s involvement the department of Medicine and the section of General Internal Medicine both represented a prominent role in these collaborative activities. The CMU director maintains an ongoing dialogue with Medical Directors, Key Staff physicians and other Clinical Providers, and Important administrators at over 15 community-based sites. These relationships continue to provide a robust understanding of the current academic and practice environment across the Network regarding issues affecting community medicine, the Metro-Boston Community Health Center Movement, and Primary Care Internal Medicine in these settings.
Primary Care Residency Training Program
The Unit continues to work to strengthen its relationship with the Residency Training Program. The CMU’s Community-Based Faculty continue to be well represented at the Primary Care Program’s semi-annual Primary Care Dinners. The Community-Based Faculty attending these dinners provided valuable perspectives and advice on Professional Life of Community-Based Primary Care Physicians to the Resident. The unit serves as a resource for Primary Care residents who are considering general career decisions as well as those with a specific interest in the rich work opportunities available in the Boston HealthNet Community Health Center System. General Job counseling along with specific assistance with facilitating job placement within the Network has been provided in hour-long counseling sessions to approximately 6 residents in at various stages in their post-residency planning efforts.
Community-Based Research
The Unit of Community Medicine is participating in its third and final year a multi-center survey of physician knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of Genetic Counseling in Primary Care settings in collaboration with the University of Vermont and the Partners HealthCare network. Dr. Shanahan serves as the Site Principal Investigator for this NCI funded study. This year Dr. Shanahan began serving on the Boston HealthNet Research Subcommittee which is responsible for review and recommendation of Research Proposals directed at Research involving Network Community Health Centers.
