Becker's Hospital Review

86 CMO / CARE DELIVERY What hospitals may be getting wrong about physician performance reviews By Mackenzie Bean A nnual performance reviews for physicians often use coun- terproductive performance metrics that do not align with healthcare organizations' main values and strategic goals, according to Medscape. Many reviews assess physicians' performance on a set of quantita- tive metrics with coinciding financial incentives. This strategy is not always effective, as it encourages physicians to just go through the motions to get a bonus without being personally invested in the or- ganization's goals for improvement, according to Robert Pearl, MD, former CEO of the Permanente Medical Group in Oakland, Calif. "The best way to motivate improved performance is through purpose and mission," Dr. Pearl, who now teaches at the Stanford (Calif.) Graduate School of Business, told Medscape. Dr. Pearl helped revamp Permanente Medical Group's perfor- mance review process during his time at the organization. The medical group now provides every physician with teamwide patient satisfaction data, allowing them to compare their own performance to their peers'. The medical group also offers edu- cation programs to help physicians meet personalized goals and bases physician bonuses on a combination of about 30 different quality measures. "This approach helped improve quality of care, patient satisfac- tion and fulfillment of physicians," Dr. Pearl said. n HCA Healthcare facing physician staffing concerns at North Carolina facility By Morgan Haefner N ashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare heard concerns that an acquired clinic in North Carolina is lacking a full-time physi- cian, according to the Citizen Times. In February 2019, HCA completed its purchase of Mission Health, a six-hospital system based in Asheville, N.C. In a Jan. 28 meeting to discuss how HCA is adhering to its asset purchase agree- ment with Mission, residents near Mission's High- lands-Cashiers Hospital in Highlands, N.C., spoke about concerns they had with the hospital's ser- vices since the takeover, like lower staffing levels. Some community members said the area's clinic lacks a full-time physician. Highlands-Cashiers Hospital CEO Thomas Neal, RN, told the community members a full-time phy- sician is starting in the area in May, according to the Citizen Times. He told the newspaper that hos- pital administrators understand the community's concerns. "We listened and we heard and we are committed to the Highlands and Cashiers commu- nity and to delivering superior, patient-centered care," he said. n TikTok docs: 5 things to know about why physicians are using the platform By Morgan Haefner M ore physicians are taking to Tik- Tok, a social media platform where users share content via short vid- eos, to disperse medical lessons, according to e New York Times. Five things to know: 1. Physicians and other medical professionals have shared videos on health issues spanning vaping, coronavirus, nutrition and sex edu- cation on the app, which has a largely young- er base. About 90 percent of TikTok users are ages 16 to 24. 2. A recent TikTok video on sex education filmed by Danielle Jones, MD, a gynecologist at Baylor Scott and White Health's College Station, Texas, clinic, amassed 11 million views. "My TikTok presence is like if you had a friend who just happens to be an OB- GYN," Dr. Jones told the Times. "It's a good way to give information to people who need it and meet them where they are." 3. Many physicians are using the platform to counter medical misinformation online. Others see it as a way to help medical prac- titioners seem more approachable and hu- manized. Austin Chiang, MD, a gastroenter- ologist and chief medical social media officer at Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health, told the Times that TikTok users have asked him about specific symptoms online, and he has referred them to credible medical sources or directly to physicians. 4. Another physician, Rose Marie Leslie, MD, a family medicine resident at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapo- lis, told the Times that she sees TikTok as a significant platform for medical public ser- vice announcements. She has shared infor- mation on vaping-associated lung diseases that gained more than 3 million views. 5. But Nicole Baldwin, MD, a pediatrician in Cincinnati who shared a pro-vaccine video that ignited backlash from anti-vaccination supporters, said physicians walk a thin line on the platform. "ere's a fine line physicians are walking be- tween trying to get a message out that will ap- peal to this younger generation without being inappropriate or unprofessional," Dr. Baldwin told the Times. "Because of the short content and musical aspect of TikTok, what adoles- cents are latching onto is not the professional persona we typically put out there." n

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