December Safe Toys and Celebrations Month

The holiday season is here. Although it is a time to celebrate with family and friends, it can be a dangerous time with increased injury from unsafe toys and celebrations.

It is important to choose toys and gifts that are age appropriate. Avoid toys with sharp objects or edges, darts, pellet guns and other firearms as gifts. Also avoid toys that can be a choking hazard for children under the age of three. A good rule to follow is, if an item can fit through an empty toilet paper roll, avoid it for young children. If you are gifting sports equipment, be sure to include appropriate protective gear, for example a helmet, facemask, or goggles.

When decorating a Christmas tree, remember that tree branches can be harmful to eyes; be careful handling branches. It is important to also keep decorations safe; hang ornaments higher up where children cannot reach them.

Ringing in the New Year can include celebrating with fireworks, but leave firework displays to the professionals. Never let children play with fireworks or sparklers. Let’s not forget about the champagne! When opening a bottle, make sure you cover the cork with a towel and point it in a direction away from where anyone is standing.

PTI would like to wish you a wonderful holiday season and remind you to celebrate safely!

Attach CME to your learning event!

Practice Transformation Institute is continually adding to our list of services as part of our ongoing commitment to help organizations improve patient health outcomes and the individual care delivery experience.

Have you ever thought of attaching CME to your learning event? Let PTI help with our CME Co-Providership Program. PTI is accredited by the Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. We will make sure that your CME event is planned, implemented and evaluated in accordance with the MSMS accreditation requirements.

What is the process for this? It’s not as hard as you might think. We would need to know the purpose and intended audience for the proposed CME program. Our CME Committee would evaluate if the proposed program qualifies as a CME activity. If it does, we would send out a Co-Provider Agreement. Once the agreement is signed and returned, the CME application and other CME documents would be emailed for completion and return to PTI. The CME Committee would go over all documents and any needed changes would be communicated to the co-provider. After appropriate changes are made, the documents are re-sent to the CME Committee for final approval.

Let us help you build a bridge for learning and support the needs of your customers at the same time. PTI is here for your organization today and tomorrow. What is your vision?

If you’re interested in a CME Co-Providership Program, please contact Harmony Kinkle at hkinkle@transformcoach.org  for more information.

It’s October and that must mean Pink!

The famous pink ribbon or just the color pink that signifies breast cancer awareness appears on everything from a simple pin to football jerseys to curbside trash receptacles. October is the month dedicated to increasing awareness of breast cancer and how important it is for women to get a screening mammogram. Here at Practice Transformation Institute, we support and encourage all women to know their breast cancer risks, obtain a mammogram, and seek information from their health care provider. The American Cancer Society website has excellent resources on breast cancer and all other types of cancers. In lieu of our monthly blog, PTI suggests 3 things to do: 1) if you are a woman and haven’t had your annual screening mammogram, stop and make the appointment right now; 2) tell a friend and/or sister to do the same; and 3) click on this link to the American Cancer Society’s webpage for Dr. Len’s blog on the importance of mammograms and other issues related to breast cancer. http://goo.gl/QuB0Xq . Leonard Lichtenfeld, MD, MACP, “Dr. Len,” is Deputy Chief Medical Officer for the national office of the American Cancer Society. We are sure you will find it worth the 5 minutes it takes to read.

September 7th - 13th is National Suicide Prevention Week

Every minute two people make a suicide attempt in the U.S.  Every 13 minutes one of those people will die.  Suicide is the second leading cause of death in persons 25-34 years of age, the third leading cause of death in the 15-24 year old age group, and the tenth leading cause of death across all age groups in the U.S.   Up to 76% of people who die by suicide had contact with their primary care provider in the month prior to the suicide.

So why do we rarely talk about suicide except briefly in the aftermath of the death of a beloved celebrity like Robin Williams?  National Suicide Prevention Week and the World Suicide Prevention Day take place every September in an effort to increase awareness of this tragic yet preventable problem.  However, we need to increase our awareness year-round.

But talking about suicide makes people uncomfortable.  Even well-trained and well-meaning health care professionals often feel ill-equipped to adequately assess suicidal risk and to intervene accordingly and thus do not give it adequate attention.   Some are afraid of liability, although neglecting to assess and treat a potentially lethal condition is not a very good defense.  Some think that asking about suicide will offend their patients or, even worse, give their patients ideas and prompt them to act.  The opposite is true – open and caring discussions around suicidal ideation is one of the most helpful things you can do. 

Other providers feel helpless and believe that if a person is determined to commit suicide, nothing can stop them.  The reality is that most suicidal people do not really want to die; they just want the pain to stop and do not see any other way out.  Even individuals who make attempts will waiver between wanting to live and die up until the last minute. 

So what can you do?  Start by educating yourself about suicide prevention.

Familiarize with the warning signs for suicide. The strongest warning signs are threatening to hurt or kill self or talking about death or wanting to die.  Seeking access to lethal means is another strong warning sign along with other potentially preparatory behaviors such as updating life insurance, giving away personal items, and writing goodbye notes.  Other warning signs that someone may be suicidal include severe anxiety and agitation, depression,  insomnia, sleep disturbance, increased drug/alcohol use, hopelessness, purposelessness, dramatic mood changes, marked withdrawal, feeling trapped, rage, uncontrolled anger, seeking revenge, and reckless/risky behavior.  When any of these are present, a suicide risk assessment is warranted.

Learn how to do a suicide risk assessment and safety plan.  This includes direct inquiry in a nonjudgmental way about suicidal ideation, including details about any plans, intent and access to means.  While most patients typically do not spontaneously report suicidal ideation, most will talk about it honestly when asked.  A good risk assessment also includes a thorough assessment of risk factors and protective factors.  The strongest predictor of suicide is a previous attempt.  Other key risk factors include a family history of suicide, major depression, substance abuse, chronic pain, insomnia, a history of trauma, a traumatic brain injury, recent events leading to humiliation, shame or despair and other psychiatric conditions.  Certain populations such as aging white males, adolescents, veterans and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals are at heightened risk. Protective factors include sense of responsibility, religious faith, social support, good problem solving and coping skills, and hope for the future.

Research shows that “no suicide contracts” are usually not helpful in preventing suicide. They focus too much on what the patient should not do and not enough on what they should do. Instead a good safety plan should include limiting access to lethal means, helping patients identify early warning signs of a pending crisis, identifying calming and coping strategies, identifying social supports, and providing access to professional support including crisis lines, calling 911 or going to the emergency room.  The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-TALK (8255).  Ensure mental health conditions are adequately treated and always arrange for follow-up monitoring.

A very useful suicide prevention toolkit developed for primary care providers (but applicable to all health care providers) by the Suicide Prevention Resource Center can be found at www.sprc.org/for-providers/primary-care-tool-kit.  Other useful resources can be found at www.stopasuicide.org/ and at www.afsp.org (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention).

You can make a difference.

Interested in Continuing Medical Education Changes? Read On...

The majority of people travelling to Traverse City this time of year are seeking pleasure in one of the “Pure Michigan” premier destinations on Grand Traverse Bay. Practice Transformation Institute staff were in Traverse City recently but not for sun and sand. Instead we were at the newly renovated Park Place Hotel for the annual Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS) conference on Continuing Medical Education (CME) for accredited organizations held August 8.

Why should this interest you as a reader? You’d probably like to hear more about the hotel and its amenities or the great restaurants and wineries in the Traverse City area than the latest updates regarding accreditation changes that accredited providers must undergo. It would be more enjoyable to write about travel than CME, too.

As an accredited provider of CME for Michigan physicians, Practice Transformation Institute (PTI) is responsible for validating that CME activities meet MSMS accreditation requirements.  We take that role seriously. So we opted for business over fun, at least for one day. After the event we knew we would have time to enjoy Traverse City.

The planning committee at MSMS crafted an informative event with a stellar line-up of speakers and topics. Steve Singer, PhD, the Director of Education and Outreach at the Accreditation Council of Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), was the keynote speaker. ACCME is the national organization that oversees the states’ accredited providers. In Michigan this takes place through its affiliation with MSMS.

Dr. Singer presented an overview on CME at the national and state level, upcoming simplification of requirements and processes, and conflict of interest and disclosure management. Were you aware that there are 677 organizations nationally accredited by the ACCME and 1273 organizations, such as PTI, accredited at the state level? Neither did we. In Michigan alone, there are 12 ACCME organizations and 46 accredited organizations through MSMS, making Michigan one of the largest in the United States. These organizations provided more than 7900 hours of CME instruction in 2012! That’s pretty impressive news for Michigan physicians.

There are new parameters to measure when designing CME which will affect both the accredited providers when they evaluate requests, and the producers when designing a CME program. With the changes in health care and a move toward patient-centeredness, medical education must keep pace with it. Learning must be designed to change competence, performance and patient outcomes, and physicians must be able to analyze those objectives as a result of the program. The goal is to raise the bar in critical thinking after a CME event so that what is learned can result in a change in practice patterns to improve the delivery of care, increase patient satisfaction and/or improve patient outcomes.

The class performed group exercises on completing a CME application and navigating the gray zone of Conflict of Interest. Other updates included:
• Applying faculty credits to learning from teaching medical students and residents;
• 2015 PARS changes;
• Maintenance of Certification; and
• Trends in online learning.

Online learning is considered the fastest growing area in achieving CME’s. In 2012 50% of CME was done online compared to 30% in ‘live’ events. A few of the conveniences to online learning are accessibility, enhanced technology and no expenses with travelling. Stay tuned for these type of programs from PTI.

In response to participant feedback, the ACCME began serious deliberation to streamline the accreditation process which will affect state organizations, such as MSMS. The new changes will align state and national requirements for consistency across accreditors, rules, processes and interpretation.

A lot of information was packed into a few hours. However, the entire day was not all business. Lunch was a great surprise, served on the 10th floor of Park Place with a magnificent view of Grand Traverse Bay. It is equally stunning at night with panoramic views of the region. Along with the other attendees, PTI looks forward to next year’s conference, wherever that may be.

Interested in Online Learning?

Technology has become an integral part of learning in today’s society. In addition to our live training programs, Practice Transformation Institute has embraced technology and now offers online courses. When taking one of these courses from PTI, you have the ability to ask questions to the instructors and interact with other students. Our courses are lecture format with interactive quizzes designed to enhance knowledge. The biggest benefit of online learning is accessibility! A busy health care professional can take our courses at a time that fits their schedule. Our courses are also available for the iPhone, iPad and Android mobile devices.

Currently we offer an online “On Demand” course for our Adult Oncology Care Management Program and a blended live and online course for our Moderate Care Manager Program. Below is a clip from the lecture “Health Literacy, Cultural Competency in Care Planning: Incorporating End of Life Care, POLST and ECOG” taught by Frances Jackson, PhD , RN, from those programs.

Interested in online, live or a blend of these training opportunities? Please visit www.transformcoach.org. Let us help!

Take the PATH to better health. Right now.

Question: If a patient has a chronic or long-term health condition that is getting them down due to pain, fatigue and difficult emotions, what can you do to help?

Answer: Refer them to a PATH workshop so they can learn strategies and techniques to deal with those problems. Information gleaned at a workshop includes problem solving, goal setting, decision making, relaxation techniques and the importance of taking care of themselves. They’ll learn about other topics such as managing symptoms and medications, healthy eating, physical activity and communicating with family, friends and health care providers. Does this sound good? Then read on.

PATH stands for Personal Action Toward Health and is Michigan's version of the award winning Stanford Chronic Disease Self-Management Program out of Stanford University’s School of Medicine, Division of Family and Community Medicine. There is also a Diabetes Self-Management Program. Although other states have different names for their programs, one thing stays the same: the fidelity of Stanford’s program and the license required to run it. Practice Transformation Institute has one of those licenses.

The PATH workshop is:

• two and a half hours
• once a week
• for six weeks
• in a convenient, easily accessible community setting
• free or at a very low cost
• conducted by two trained leaders
• highly participative, supportive, encouraging, educational
• a way to help patients become better self-managers
• confidence building
• fun

People with a chronic or long-term health condition attend together and, as a result, are better able to face the daily challenges of living with an ongoing health condition. One of the main concepts of the workshop is action planning and setting realistic, achievable goals that the patient is accountable for. The action plan has to be something the attendee wants to do, be achievable, action-specific, and answer the questions of what, when, how much and how often, and they must have a confidence level of seven or higher. Each week attendees and the leaders develop their own action plan and report back the following week. Suggestions and help are given depending on the outcome of the action plan.

We need YOUR help. This program has been proven to be effective, but only if participants are there. Health care professionals must spread the word to patients, friends and family. Recommend it, write it as a referral, have brochures in the office, talk it up.

Did you know that in NCQA’s Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition Program, there are four factors where a PATH class referral can be used to help garner points? Two of PTI’s PATH leaders are also NCQA PCMH Certified Content Experts who can perform NCQA PCMH readiness assessments, document reviews, application/survey tool assistance, practice team coaching and phone consultation as needed. See PTI’s website for more details.

If you are in Michigan, see our PTI calendar for PATH programs already scheduled and dates for future workshops. Please keep PTI in mind if you’d like a class held in a community near you. We can provide the leaders and the promotional materials. Remember that a PATH class can be held almost anywhere. Places such as physician offices, senior centers, churches, libraries, hospitals and other community settings are great choices. We believe in this. We’re fired up and we want you to be fired up, too! PATH works!

Next workshop currently scheduled at:

The Physician Training Center (Practice Transformation Institute)

26550 John R
Madison Heights, MI 48071

Type: PATH Chronic Disease Self-Management Program

Begins: Thursday, June 12, 2014

Ends: Thursday, July 24, 2014

*Workshop will not be held Thursday, July 3 due to the July 4th holiday. Class will resume the following week.

To register:

Contact: Mike Mellor at 248.475.4867 

Email: mmellor@transformcoach.org 

To find a PATH workshop near you:

Visit:  www.MiHealthyPrograms.org

Email: MichiganPATH@gmail.com

Phone: 517.335.1236

To learn more about the Stanford Chronic Disease Self-Management Program:

Visit: http://patienteducation.stanford.edu/programs/cdsmp.html 

National Nurses Week Recognizes Nurses’ Leadership, May 6-12

Reprinted with permission from the American Nurses Association

Patients often recognize that a nurse is the health care professional with whom they and their families have the most direct contact. But they might not realize that nurses also are leaders in improving the quality of care and expanding access to care. That’s why May 6-12 is celebrated as National Nurses Week, an annual opportunity for communities to recognize the full range of nurses’ contributions.

This year’s theme, “Nurses: Leading the Way,” recognizes nurses as leaders at the bedside, in the boardroom, throughout communities and in the halls of government. The public holds nurses in high regard and trusts them to advocate for patients.    For the past 12 years, the public has ranked nursing as the top profession for honesty and ethics in an annual Gallup survey.  

Beginning with National Nurses Day on May 6, nurses are being honored as leaders who improve the quality of health care. Nurses practice in diverse roles, such as clinicians, administrators, researchers, educators and policymakers.

“All nurses are leaders, whether they are in direct patient care, administrative roles, or meeting consumers’ needs in new roles such as care coordinators or wellness coaches,” said ANA President Karen A. Daley, PhD, RN, FAAN. “This week, we acknowledge nurses’ vast contributions and how they are leading the way in improving health care and ultimately, the health of the nation.”

Nurses are leading initiatives to increase access to care and improve outcomes by focusing on primary care, prevention, wellness, chronic disease management and the coordination of care among health care providers and settings.  These are areas in which nurses excel given their education and experience.

As the Affordable Care Act is fully implemented, nurses will be more crucial than ever, leading efforts to expand primary care at community-based clinics and deliver more efficient and cost-effective care as members of collaborative health care teams. Consider that:

• Nursing is the nation’s largest health care profession, with nearly three million employed professionals.
• Nursing is projected to grow faster than all other occupations: The federal government projects more than one million new RNs will be needed by 2022 to fill new jobs and replace RNs who leave the profession.   
• Demand for nursing care will grow rapidly as Baby Boomers swell Medicare enrollment by 50 percent by 2025 and millions of individuals obtain new or better access to care under the health care reform law.
• Nurses are rapidly creating and expanding new job roles – such as nurse navigators, care coordinator specialists, and nurse wellness coaches -- to help patients secure resources, obtain seamless comprehensive care, and develop healthy lifestyle practices.

Wherever health care is provided, a nurse is likely to be there -- hospitals, ambulatory care centers, private practices, retail and urgent care clinics, nurse-managed health centers, homes, schools, nursing homes, and public and nonprofit agencies.

Increasingly, nurses with advanced degrees, such as nurse practitioners, are providing primary care services and managing chronic illnesses. Studies show patients are highly satisfied with their services and are experiencing outcomes comparable to those of physician services.

The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the interests of the nation's 3.1 million registered nurses through its constituent and state nurses associations and its organizational affiliates. ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the rights of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public

April is Alcohol Awareness Month

Drinking too much alcohol increases the risk of injuries, violence, drowning, liver disease, and some types of cancer. This April during Alcohol Awareness Month, Practice Transformation Institute encourages you to educate yourself and your loved ones about the dangers of drinking too much.

You can improve your health by cutting back on alcohol or quitting. Federal Dietary Guidelines on alcohol consumption say that if alcohol is consumed, it should be consumed in moderation. This means:

• No more than 1 drink a day for women
• No more than 2 drinks a day for men

One drink is considered:

• Bottle of beer (12 ounces)
• Glass of wine (5 ounces)
• Shot of liquor (1.5 ounces)

Here are some strategies to help if you think you’re drinking too much:

• Keep track of how much you drink.
• Don’t drink when you’re upset.
• Avoid places where people drink a lot.
• Make a list of reasons not to drink.
• If you are concerned about someone else’s drinking, offer to help.

More than 18 million individuals or 8.5 percent of Americans suffer from alcohol-use disorders. Here in Michigan, the Michigan State Police 2012 Drunk Driving Audit showed that alcohol and/or drug related fatal crashes remained a significant traffic safety issue with approximately 36.1 percent of the total fatal crashes involving alcohol and/or drugs.

For April 2014, the focus of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD) is underage drinking which can have devastating individual, family and community consequences. Alcohol has always been the number one drug for teenagers and it is still true today.  Reducing underage drinking is important to assure a healthy future for America’s youth. It requires a cooperative effort from parents, schools, community organizations, business leaders, government agencies, the entertainment industry, alcohol manufacturers/retailers and young people.

With this year's theme called, "Help for Today, Hope for Tomorrow," the month of April will have local, state, and national events aimed at educating people about the treatment and prevention of alcoholism. NCADD Affiliates as well as schools, colleges, churches, and other community organizations will sponsor a host of activities that create awareness and encourage individuals and families to get help for alcohol-related problems. Click on the link above to find the affiliate in your state. People can also call the NCADD’s HOPE LINE for Affiliate Referral at 800-NCA-CALL (800-622-2255) for 24-hour help.

 An important part of Alcohol Awareness Month is the Alcohol-Free Weekend (April 4-6, 2014), which hopes to raise public awareness about the use of alcohol and how it affects individuals, families and the community. During this seventy-two-hour period, NCADD extends an open invitation to all Americans to participate in three alcohol-free days and to use this time to contact local NCADD Affiliates and other alcoholism agencies to learn more about alcoholism and its early symptoms. Anyone who finds it difficult to get through the seventy-two hour period is urged to contact their local NCADD Affiliates, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Al-Anon Family Groups.

For more information about NCADD, underage drinking, NCADD Alcohol Awareness Month and the NCADD Alcohol-Free Weekend, visit the NCADD website at: www.ncadd.org.

Get the Most Nutrition for your Calories

Guest Blogger: Rachel Brown, RD, MBA, Care Manager at MedNetOne

March is National Nutrition Month, and this year’s theme is, "Enjoy the Taste of Eating Right." This idea encourages personalized healthy eating styles and recognizes that food preferences, lifestyle, cultural and ethnic traditions, and health concerns all impact individual food choices.

We know that taste tops nutrition as the main reason why consumers choose one food over another. Social, emotional, and health factors play a role as well, but the fact remains that the foods that taste the best are the ones we eat the most. This year’s goal is to combine taste and nutrition to create healthy meals that follow the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines and still taste great.

The best way to enjoy the taste of eating right is to eat nutrient rich foods that provide the most nutrition for your calories. But a calorie is not only a calorie. Consider white bread and wheat bread; both have the same calories. However, wheat bread is rich in fiber, which will keep you feeling full for longer. Now think about 1 ounce of potato chips and one ounce of almonds. Both are around 160 calories but almonds have more than double the Vitamin E, and protein while having only ½ of the saturated fat of potato chips! Nutrient rich foods and beverages provide vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates, and other essentials that offer health benefits with relatively few calories.

You can add nutrient rich foods into your diet by making some small adjustments. Try adding fruit or nuts to your morning oatmeal or cereal. Make your sandwiches on whole grain wheat bread and add avocado slices, sliced cucumber, sprouts, or tomato. Drink low sugar beverages, or learn to create your own flavored water. Cut and bag fruits and veggies so they are ready for you to grab when you are really hungry and need something quick. Enjoy fruit based desserts like blended frozen fruits, or low fat yogurt parfaits.

The healthiest approach to planning a balanced diet is to start with the foods we should be adding to our plates not the ones we need to take away! So, follow the healthy eating plate, (http://www.choosemyplate.gov/) and include fruits, vegetables, lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, whole grains, low fat dairy, beans, seed, and nuts. When we eat this way we get all the nutrients our bodies need, thus improving our energy, mood, and overall health. Believe it or not you will even feel more satisfied! And trust me, your body will thank you.  

You should enjoy the foods you eat. Healthy eating should be balanced, simple, and stress free. A registered dietitian can help you with this. RD’s play a critical role in helping people eat right, their way, everyday. You don’t have to give up everything you love. But you will find by making an effort to eat nutrient dense foods you will be limiting added sugars and reducing the major sources of solid fat in your diet.

Remember to read nutrition labels, check serving sizes, and read ingredient lists. You could easily use up your whole day’s worth of calories on a few high calorie low nutrient items, but you won’t get the full range of vitamins and nutrients your body needs. And chances are you will actually feel hungrier. Food should fuel your body not slow it down! Learn how to love the foods you need for good health, and savor your flavors, and enjoy the taste (and feeling) of eating right!

Goal Attainment Sure Feels Good!

In September’s blog, PTI wrote about Carla Irvin and Lisa Allen’s travels to Austin, Texas for NCQA PCMH Recognition program training. Our January blog was about setting and attaining goals. How do these two blogs tie together? One is on education and the other on attaining goals. Carla and Lisa set a goal, accomplished it, and are starting 2014 as NCQA PCMH Certified Content Experts. Attainment of this credential was no easy task. It required completing two NCQA educational seminars and then studying for and passing a rigorous exam. A commitment to continuous learning and recertification to maintain the credential is also required.

NCQA offers the most widely known patient-centered medical home (PCMH) program in the country, the NCQA PCMH Recognition program. In an effort to help practices and other interested parties identify experts with a demonstrated understanding of the NCQA PCMH Recognition program and to provide professionals with a way to validate their knowledge base, NCQA developed the PCMH Content Expert Certification (CEC) program. 

“Certified NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home Content Experts receive thorough training and demonstrate in-depth knowledge to assist organizations applying for NCQA PCMH Recognition,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane.  

With the comprehensive knowledge Irvin and Allen gained about the requirements, application process and documentation of the NCQA PCMH Recognition Program, they can now help practices reach their goal of attaining this important national achievement. PTI can assist individual offices or organizations pursue transformation to a patient-centered medical home through group classes, one-on-one practice coaching or readiness evaluations.  


NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality.

New Year, New Goals

It’s January, the first month of the New Year, 2014! There are many sayings that relate to starting afresh, or anew, at this time of year. If New Year cards were sent out like holiday cards, some would most likely read with the following quotes:

“You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.” C.S. Lewis

“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.”  Eleanor Roosevelt

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”  Oliver Wendell Holmes

Practice Transformation Institute is starting 2014 with new goals and is looking forward to assisting physician practices and organizations attain their new goals as well. Today more than ever, it is important to set goals to keep up with all the changes occurring in health care. The landscape shifts beneath our feet with every step. The ACA, electronic medical records, Stage 2 Meaningful Use, CMS reimbursement strategies, Medicaid expansion, ICD-10, and the PCMH model spreading from primary care to the medical neighborhood – all these strategies and many more are effecting the business of health care.

All change is hard. But how we approach the changes in today’s medical environment holds the key to its success or failure.

PTI is excited about the changes and eager to embrace them. In 2014 our goal is to help providers navigate the shifting landscape in health care to achieve meaningful, sustainable change and positive, measurable movement towards established goals and objectives. Whether undertaking small goals such as developing a patient registry or a larger goal such as transforming to a PCMH model of care, PTI can provide learning opportunities and coaching to help organizations attain and sustain goals.

When looking down the road of 2014, consider the words of Walt Disney, “We keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” 

What new paths will you head down in 2014? PTI would like to know.