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Monthly Meeting MinutesMeetings are generally held from 2-3 pm on the first Tuesday of the month from October to June in the conference room on the 8th floor of the 1830 Building (where the bookstore is). If you have issues you would like us to bring to the meeting please let us know by emailing us at shprep@jhsph.edu. Meeting attendees are generally:
January 1, 2005 November 1, 2005 January 3, 2006 Attended by: Megan Albert, Glory Christy, K. Carol Han, Mary Foy, Dr. Deborah Hillard, Wilma Lucas, Maroya Spalding, Dr. Spyridon Marinopoulos, and Charlene Phipps (minutes). Overview: Dr. Marinopoulos shared the details of the new UHS. He said that we are now in our new location, 401 N. Caroline Street. The move went very well and we started seeing patients on November 6, 2006. In addition, we have two additional full-time General Internal Medicine clinicians, Drs. Codori and Miller, and also Kathy Thaney, a Nurse Practitioner, all of whom are dedicated to the care of UHS patients. Consequently, all patients can now have their personal physician whom they can be followed by for the duration of their studies. New on-call procedure: Effective January 1, 2007, we will be joining the GIM Faculty Practice call group. This means that patients who need assistance after hours during the week will be able to reach their own physician and that, during the weekend, patients will be able to reach the on-call faculty member from the group. Also, if a student is admitted to the hospital, he/she will be followed by his/her physician with coverage by the call group during the weekend. What are people saying about the new UHS? Overall there has been positive feedback regarding the new clinic, including the new space service. The one concern was location. In general some students think that it is a bit far from the main campus and also they had trouble finding us. We discussed that UHS is accessible by the #2 campus shuttle, and that the shuttle is also available to pick up students when needed. Finding UHS: We discussed posting a signs directing people from JHOC to UHS and also alerting the security guards so that they know where we are. Carol Han, the new UHS administrative manager, will work on identifying and implementing solutions. There were also questions as to whether patients were aware of the move. Dr. Marinopoulos stated that there had been announcements in various places through the Johns Hopkins Medicine Office of Communications, including flat panel screens in the hospital, print publications including the Dome and the Gazette, and via e-mail. Megan mentioned that she had put together an email for the students herself as she did not recall seeing an email about the move. Maroya Spalding mentioned that the SOPH students had received an e-mail announcement. Dr. Deborah Hillard thought it might be a good idea to send another announcement as it seems some people were still going to the old location. We will be working on follow-up announcements regarding this. Clinic utilization of evening hours: Dr. Marinopoulos shared that we have now instituted evening hours on Tuesdays from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., but that students have not taken advantage of the extended hours. The appointment slots have been open and we should encourage students to use this benefit evening hours benefit. Megan asked if we were planning to offer weekend hours. Dr. Marinopoulos said that we could consider additional sessions on Saturday, but this would depend on usage. We would have to determine what the needs are first and, if there is demand, we would do so. Billing We have now changed the billing process so that students and fellows will no longer receive a bill for services rendered unless it represents “true liability.” This means that when a student or fellow receives a bill, they should pay it. This change does not affect house staff. When house staff receive a bill, they should continue to submit it to the billing office for payment. UHS - Website: We are working on a dedicated UHS website, where patients will find information regarding UHS. Dr. Marinopoulos is currently working on adding to the site, which currently exists in basic form. We hope to have a fully functional website by January 1, 2007. Next Meeting: The next meeting will be on Tuesday, January 9, 2007. We will adhere to the schedule of meetings that had already been set forth through June of 2007. I will send an email with the dates for anyone who may need them. CP/ October 3, 2006 Attended by: Megan Albert, Rupali Chadha, Glory Christy, Ken Cosby, Mary Foy, Wilma Lucas, Dr. Spyridon Marinopoulos; Maroya Spaulding; Mary White, Darnell Williams Current Issues of Concern: Student Mental Health benefit – Changes and reorganization of the student health program is currently being worked on. Among the issues being discussed is increasing the mental health benefit which will raise the premium. More information will be available as these issues are worked out. Cervical cancer vaccine – Will this vaccine be offered to our UHS patients and, if so, will it be covered? This vaccine is not available even to the general population yet, so for now, we are in a “waiting mode.” This issue will have to be discussed in the future. The cost will be approximately $140 for each of 3 shots. There are other vaccines that are not yet available also. It takes a while for all the testing and approvals to be completed. UHS Changes: Clinic Relocation – UHS will be relocating from the Carnegie Building the first weekend of November 2006 to 401 N. Caroline Street which is at the corner of Caroline and Orleans Streets. The new space is 3½ times larger than the Carnegie space and will allow our clinic to better serve our patient population. Many of the details including the increased number of providers and staff, shuttle service, etc. are still being worked out. We will have more information in the coming weeks. Kathleen Thaney, CNP – UHS now has a nurse practitioner on staff who has 25+ years of experience. This addition will allow UHS to address many of our gyn issues and other acute care. Dr. Nancy Codori, MPH – We have also just hired a full-time physician who is GIM faculty already. She will work 7 clinic sessions a week and will begin seeing patients as soon as her credentialing is complete. Dr. Edgar R. Miller – Dr. Miller has been with UHS for many years on a part-time basis, but he will be doing more clinic sessions after our relocation. More Providers – UHS will be hiring more full-time providers which will allow for continuity of care. This has been difficult in the past with part-time providers. Part-time doctors will be the exception rather than the majority of our providers. More Staff – UHS will also be adding more staff in the near future to handle the added support a larger clinic will require. Billing System – We are currently working on simplifying the billing process for our patients. Website – This is currently being put together and should be available in the next 3-4 months. Annual Exam/PAP Appointments: UHS has been scheduling pap appointments and physicals out to June recently due the limited number of available appointments. With the addition of our nurse practitioner and Dr. Codori and increased schedule for Dr. Miller, we will be able to move many of those appointments back to January-February, etc. Next Meeting: Due to UHS’s relocation the first week of November, we will not have our November meeting. If there are any concerns in the meantime, please let us know. The next meeting will be Tuesday, December 5, 2006, 2 to 3 p.m., 1830 Building 8th floor conference room. 1. Dan Ford reported that there were 20-25% more visits to the UHS clinic this year than last (not sure if this was academic year or since january). This was relative to an 8-10% jump in enrollment. He also reported that the number of slots for appointments were going to go up as well so hopefully wait times would not increase. Attended by: Ronda Allen, Glory Christy, Mary Foy, Wilma Lucas, Christine Verdon, Mary White, Darnell Williams Committee Meeting Change: All members were notified in December of the change in the meeting dates for our committee. We will now meet on the 1st Tuesday of each month through June, 2005, 1830 Bldg., 8th floor conference room, 2-3 p.m.. (Dates: 1/4/05, 2/1/05, 3/1/05, 4/5/05, 5/3/05, 6/7/05) Student Issues: Christine was the only student rep in attendance and presented the issues communicated to her by the student body in the School of Public Health. Students are to create a draft for the student health plan brochure which they feel will be in easier-to-understand language. The Registrar’s office staff and the students will meet in February to decide on the final contents of the brochure. Christine will send a list of all participants from SOPH to Wilma Lucas so that the February meeting can be scheduled. Christine gave a presentation last month for SOPH students re EHP health plan. The same issues were brought up re “wait-time” to get an appointment in University Health Service, understanding the coverage, seeing doctors at UHS that are classmates/instructors at SOPH, and the feeling that premiums are too high. Students still want an “official” student health plan website where they can look to answer their health care questions. Many students lack understanding of coverage differences when seeing doctors “inside” vs. “outside” the JH system. Mary Foy stated that this issue is discussed in the Summary Plan Description (SPD), but the students feel this booklet is too complicated to be helpful in understanding. The issue of doctors accepting payment of “what is reasonable and customary” or not is also a problem. Understanding their Explanation of Benefits statements (EOB) is also a problem for students. They feel these statements should be easier to read. Parity issues in student mental health coverage: Dr. Deborah Hillard said at the last meeting that she would contact Dr. Everett Siegel for information, but she was not at this meeting. Christine will email her for an update on this issue. Mary Foy explained that the benefits are not the same as the premiums paid by the students. The students feel they are not getting any value for their monthly premium. Payment of health care for students comes from not only the EHP Plan but also from the Benefits Office. The benefit package may vary for certain policy holder groups within JH which adds to the confusion and makes any general brochure explaining benefits more difficult to produce. A student health benefits website was discussed. Mary Foy feels that should be the responsibility of the UHS director, Dr. Dan Ford. University Health Service is a clinic area and is not staffed with personnel capable of creating and maintaining a website because they are taking care of patients all day, every day. Some of the student groups, SOPH students, fellows, etc. have their own websites with health coverage information for their own students. SOPH’s website address is jhsph.edu/assembly/shr. Darnell Williams will send a copy of a brief write-up explaining “what to do with the medical bills” to Christine to forward to her peers. He will also send a copy to Wilma Lucas. Glory Christy addressed the “wait-time” issue and “classmate doctors”. Students are of the belief that they must wait several months to get an appointment at UHS. Appointments for routine physicals can possibly be booked 1-3 months in advance, but any acute illness is triaged by the clinic nurses and seen in a timely manner. Attended by: Meghan Albert, Mary Foy, Alison Frazer, Dr. Deborah Hillard, Wilma Lucas, Mary White, Darnell Williams Committee Meeting Change: All members were notified in December of the change in the meeting dates for our committee. We will now meet on the 1st Tuesday of each month through June, 2005, 1830 Bldg., 8th floor conference room, 2-3 p.m.. (Dates: 1/4/05, 2/1/05, 3/1/05, 4/5/05, 5/3/05, 6/7/05) Student Issues: Meeting agenda: Brett Ange emailed an agenda to Mary White just before our meeting today. A copy was taken to the meeting and given to Mary Foy. She addressed each issue briefly at our meeting as follows: Revised ambulatory care brochure: Students are still working on the draft for the student health plan brochure. A list of questions which need to be answered in order to finish the draft was brought to the meeting and passed on the appropriate people to provide the correct information. The answers to the specific questions should be emailed or faxed to Wilma Lucas (wlucas@jhmi.edu) by Thursday, February 3. A meeting is scheduled to go over this draft on Tuesday, February 15, 2005. Hopefully, the brochure draft can be emailed to Wilma Lucas so that she can distribute it to the appropriate people before the Feb. 15 meeting. Website: Since Dr. Ford was not at this meeting, discussion of that status of this issue will be delayed till the March meeting. Provider Directory: The list of EHP participating providers has never been sent out to students. This list is available on line and the registrar’s office has been informed that the list is up-to-date as of January 2005. Premium allocation FAQ: There needs to be a decision on whether the FAQ should be part of the ambulatory care brochure or part of the website. Megan Albert said the students want it to be a separate document. Mary Foy explained that EHP Student Health Plan is self-insurance and the premiums are determined by utilization numbers which continue to increase. There will be an increase as of July 1, 2005. Mary Foy also explained that there is somewhere between ½ and ¾ million dollars of health care benefit provided each year which is not paid for by the policy holders. A decision needs to be made on whether this information should be part of the brochure introduction or part of the FAQ. Mental/medical health benefit parity: This issue is being looked into now and should be decided before July 1, 2005. Mary Foy explained that if one looked into other health care plans, one would find that the mental health benefit is smaller than the medical care benefit. This may not be the way it should be, but it is a fact of life. The subject is being actively addressed and the group involved is largely made up of psych professionals. Attended by: Meghan Albert, Glory Christy, Mary Foy, Alison Frazer, Dr. Deborah Hillard, Kim Hudgins, Wilma Lucas, Christine Verdon, Mary White Student Issues: Revised ambulatory care brochure: The next meeting to work on this revised brochure will be March 2, 2005 at 1 p.m. in Rm. 181, Broadway Research Bldg., 1st floor. Website: Dr. Ford was not at this meeting, but the issue of setting up and maintaining a website is being worked on. More information will be given when it is available. Mental/Medical Health Benefit Parity: A committee is currently working on getting information on benefits other schools offer their students, our current utilization numbers, and the budgetary issues involved in any changes in JH benefits. The effect on the insurance premium and on the school budgets that supplement the cost is being looked at. If the service gets expanded, there will likely be a premium increase. Outreach/Education: Some of the students feel the brochure will not be enough and are requesting some sort of orientation to explain health benefits. Previous attempts to do this have not been well attended - last year, the session was scheduled during a STATA review. Students would like a “benefits week” type orientation. Currently, benefit information is sent out to all students with their entrance packages, then there is an orientation after the students get here. Updates of the brochures also sent out to the existing students and/or they are notified that an update is available on various websites. Housestaff and fellows in the School of Medicine get new brochures when they re-register each year. SPH Student Position: A write-up of this was given to the committee members. Orientation/SPH: Student Mental Health staff attends some of these orientations but has not been advised about the date and time of the one for the School of Public Health. Out-Of-State Coverage: An expanded explanation of this issue will be added to the new brochure. Referral to Specialties: This is described in the brochure, but the wording will be revised to explain that referrals will customarily remain inside the JH system unless it is not available at all at JH. Attended by: Rhonda Allen, Glory Christy, Caroline Fichtenberg, Alison Frazer, Dr. Deborah Hillard, Mary White, Darnell Williams Revised Ambulatory Care Brochure: The next meeting to work on this revised brochure will be April 6, 2005. A copy of the section dealing with mental health coverage was given to Dr. Deborah Hillard to follow up with Dr. Everett Siegel before the meeting tomorrow. It will be the last meeting before the brochure goes to graphics on April 8. Website: Dr. Ford was not at this meeting, but the status of the website will be discussed at the next meeting.. SPH Survey: Caroline Fichtenberg brought copies of their survey, but the details will be discussed at our May 3 meeting when Mary Foy and Dr. Dan Ford will be in attendance. Only about 1/3 of the 788 total enrollees at the School of Public Health responded to the survey request. Instructions re Referral Bills: Caroline Fichtenberg requested an added statement to the paper policy given with UHS referrals reminding patients to take EOBs and/or bills to the UHS Benefits Office in Blalock 144. Attended by: Megan Albert (Grad Student Rep/SOM; Steve Bazzetti (Student Affairs/SPH); Maggie Beal (Admin. Asst, Registrars Office/SOM); Glory Christy (Mgr., UHS clinic); Alison Frazer (Post-Doc Rep/SOM); Dr. Deborah Hillard (SAP); Michelle Manahan (Housestaff Rep); Abebe Tesfaye (Post-Doc Rep); Mary White (UHS secretary), Darnell Williams (Supervisor, UHS Billing & Benefits Office) Staff Change in Student Mental Health: Jill Johnson has left Hopkins and the new Admin. Asst. there is Amy Thierer. The phone number is 410-955-8291. Bloomberg School of Public Health - Tulane Students: There are about 35 students from Tulane University now attending the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Some of them have taken out EHP Student Health Plan for 3 months. Those who did not enroll in EHP have access to University Health Service clinic without charge. For any specialty referrals or extended treatment, they will be responsible for the bills either out of pocket or through their Tulane insurance. Darnell Williams, Supervisor or the UHS Benefits Office, will be given the names of those who enrolled in EHP Student Health Plan. The Tulane students also have access to SAP (Student Assistance Program). There has been discussion with Dr. Everett Siegel regarding these students’ possible need for Student Mental Health Service. Darnell Williams will follow up with Dr. Siegel as to how this will work. Tulane will be reopening in January, so these students should be leaving JH in late December. A few of the students have asked to be enrolled in JH instead of returning to New Orleans. New Director for University Health Service: Dr. Dan Ford has been promoted and will no longer be the Director of University Health Service. Internal Medicine Division is in the process of interviewing potential candidates for this position. Dr. Ford will phase out of UHS but is serving as interim director. Issues from the Grad Students: 1. Understanding the billing process is still a problem: Darnell Williams asked that all students bring their bills and/or explanation of benefits to his office in Blalock 144. 2. Will UHS ever have any PCOs that are gynecologists? At present, the University policy is that routine examinations can be handled by internists. The University pays for these routine physicals including routine pelvic exam/pap smears only if they are performed at University Health Service clinic. There is ongoing discussion regarding a policy change to allow routine exams to be done outside the JH system, but no change will be made this fiscal year, if at all. 3. UHS website: There is still no progress on this project since there is no director of UHS and no staff or space to set this up and maintain it. It is on hold for now. 4. Urgent care needs: Do patients need permission to go to Greenspring/Patient First? Advised reps that a call to UHS and nurse triage are necessary to authorize going to “urgent care” facilities, and notice of that authorization is then sent to the Benefits Office. Issues from the Post-Docs: 1. UHS relocation issue: Information is currently being supplied to Dr. Fred Brancati, Director of Internal Medicine, so student survey results reflecting the need for space and additional staff should be given to Glory Christy. Finding a new and larger clinic space is a priority for UHS. The post-docs have met with Dr. David Nichols on this issue. He promised to look into the situation. There has been no response so far. Abebe Tesfaye will follow up with Dr. Nichols. 2. Orientation: This has been poorly attended by the fellows so it is still difficult to familiarize them on their health plan as a group. They are thinking of having many orientations throughout the year to reach more of the fellows. Possibly, someone from the clinic and the benefits office could make a brief presentation. It was also suggested that a “walk-through” of groups could be done in the beginning of these programs to familiarize them with the clinic and benefits office locations. Post-docs also need to be given access to the Post-doc Association. January 3, 2006 STUDENT HEALTH COMMITTEE MEETINGTuesday, January 3, 2006 Attended by: Megan Albert (Grad Student Rep/SOM; Glory Christy (Mgr., UHS clinic); Alison Frazer (Post-Doc Rep/SOM); Abebe Tesfaye (Post-Doc Rep); Mary White (UHS secretary) On-Line Student Health Plan Information The Summary Plan Description (SPD) and the Summary Plan brochure are now available on the university website. Changes in UHS University Health Service will soon be announcing the appointment of a new director. The search for a larger clinic space is currently being pursued. The deans have been meeting to work on the relocation, but finding a suitable and large enough space for clinical operations is difficult. UHS will need extra space to hire additional staff and provide more private check-in/check-out areas. A first priority is to hire a nurse-practitioner as soon as possible. This new position is also linked to the need for more clinic space but the process for this hire is already in the works. This NP will be trained in women’s health care/pap smears but will not be restricted to that due to the heavy volume of sick patients needing appointments. Website A clinic website has been requested for the last couple of years not only for the purpose of disseminating health care information but also to have a place to communicate problems/complaints. The manager, Glory Christy, is always available for phone or personal discussions whenever needed. She can also be reached through email at lcchrist@jhmi.edu. The website is planned for the future, but until some of the other issues are resolved; i.e., new director, additional staff, clinic space, etc., we are unable to work on this project. Fellowship Appointments The Registrar’s Office will now provide all new appointments of post-doc fellows on a monthly basis. UHS Feedback Patients may ask at anytime to fill out a satisfaction survey rating their appointment interaction with physician and staff. |
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