01/10/17  Portland, Ore.

Last month, OHSU Family Medicine physicians, Drs. Brian Frank, Rita Lahlou, Ann Tseng, and Eric Wiser, received grants from Portland InterHospital Physicians Association (PIPA) aimed at promoting quality care and innovation in their clinics.

Brian Frank, M.D.'s project is the first step in a longitudinal effort to create a guide of "best practices" around identification and intervention of food insecurity in the primary care setting. The aim of this phase ("Phase 1") will be to evaluate the implementation of a "screen and intervene" workflow in our clinic utilizing a validated, two-question screener to identify food insecure patients.

Rita Lahlou, M.D. will launch a practice improvement project around care of adolescent patients at the South Waterfront and Gabriel Park clinics. The project will focus on supporting adolescents and their families as they transition from pediatric to adult models of care, becoming greater participants in their own health. The project will incorporate feedback from a focus group of adolescent patients and their parent/guardians.

Ann Tseng, M.D. will support operations around employee engagement and wellness at Gabriel Park. The grant will fund a group "languages of appreciation" activity at the clinic's next staff meeting, a "strengths finder" assessment for all staff and providers later this year, and a small amount of FTE support for a faculty champion (Amanda Miller, P.A.-C.) to help coordinate these efforts and others and study their impact on employee engagement.

Eric Wiser, M.D. will work on a project as part of the Emerging Leader Fellowship; he will develop a program to deliver out-of-office care, including house calls, skilled nursing, and assisted living visits. So far he has achieved two sessions per month of out-of-office visits, and plans to use his grant to recruit resources and another faculty member.