Connections between colleagues matter. Tightly knit connections help speed trust, help teams weather challenges and contribute to meaningful partnerships that support organizational success.
Seeing an opportunity to strengthen relationships with clinically affiliated physicians (CAP) within its network, Southwestern Health Resources (SWHR) recently hosted six in-person networking events, a chance for Dallas-Fort Worth healthcare providers and their team members to enjoy face-to-face conversations with each other and with the SWHR employees who support their independent practices.
“Our primary goal was to bring people together,” explains Kristen Woods, MD, SWHR Chief Network and Physician Experience Officer. “We wanted to provide a safe space to share best practices, build relationships and, most importantly, we wanted people to have fun. Medicine is fun and we wanted to bring that joy back and we think establishing those peer relationships is critical.”
While relationship-building was a key feature of the events, cross-functional learning opportunities quickly rose to the top of participant raves following each event. “The breakout sessions have been valuable for picking up tips and tricks but also sharing those back so we learn as much from the providers as they learn from us,” says Woods.
Cozetta Grant manages the SWHR Quality Auditing team. “The meetings were important from a quality audit and education perspective because it allowed us the opportunity to engage at a higher level with the network providers we support,” she notes. “For example, I was surprised by how many practices were not using the Advanced Illness and Frailty exclusions for quality measures. Some providers were unaware they had auditors assisting with data mining electronic medical records to help them improve performance. The in-person events gave us an opportunity to share resources and promote the concierge services we offer to network practices. After attending the first two events, we had already received multiple physician requests for additional training with SWHR quality educators.”
Following an hour of networking, event participants heard opening remarks from SWHR leaders before breaking into small-group workshops to review the latest upgrades from eClinicalWorks, plus best practices related to Risk Adjustment and Coding.
Donna Casey, MD, an internal medicine physician in private practice, expressed enthusiasm for her collaboration with Southwestern Health Resources. “I met physicians tonight who are in the same boat as me,” she says. She was appreciative of SWHR team members who shared their contact information so she could follow up directly with questions or concerns. “I now have instant access to the person for whom I had questions and I know they’ll respond back fast. This is making my life so much easier because all I want to do is practice medicine and take care of my patients,” she says. “Thank you (SWHR) for providing me that opportunity.”
In post-event surveys, participants agreed the event provided a meaningful respite from the virtual pod meetings introduced in the spring of 2020. While virtual meetings will continue to serve an important role in advancing network best practices, the attendees enjoyed temporarily ditching their screens!
This brief video provides a glimpse of the networking events.
