In celebration of National Doctor’s Day on March 30, we had the pleasure of speaking with Kristi Newport, MD HMDC FAAHPM. She shared insights into her everyday experiences as the Program Leader of Palliative Care at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, where she works in an academic outpatient clinic. Let’s take a look!
Morning
- Coffee with my colleague in Adolescent Eating Disorders, whom I met after she referred to a patient that she ‘just did not know how to help’.
- Scurry to re-assign team members from our community hospital to cover at the academic site for a clinician whose child needs surgery
- Huddle with hospital-based team for our Chaplain-led patient memorial time, reflecting on the people we cared for in the prior week who have died. Sharing their stories, funny and painful and how they have influenced or challenged us
- Chart prep for clinic: Our EMR does not communicate with any others in the region and other health care team members rarely copy us on their clinical notes, so I spend 10-20 minutes preparing for each patient encounter, understanding what has happened to them since our last visit, reviewing calls or requests that may have gone unaddressed, tests that reveal their disease status, review PDMP for controlled substance prescriptions and review labs to be sure our medical management is still appropriate for their organ function. Review notes from interdisciplinary team members and discuss any questions or concerns with our nurse coordinators, social worker or chaplain. Arrange for members, as indicated, to join the visit or follow-up afterward.
- Greet the clinician from earlier in the day whose child is under surgery and who ‘just popped in’ to make sure she followed up with a learner the way she had promised to
- Fielded call from oncology RN coordinator reporting that a family member called in reporting our patient was selling their buprenorphine, developed a plan for management with oncology & palliative care teams
Afternoon
- Cindy* is not feeling well but she doesn’t want to miss her visit with you, can she change the visit to telehealth?
- Bob’s* chemotherapy started late; can you see him in the infusion bay?
- Colleague pulls me into a room, “Mary* just learned she has metastatic cancer and it’s difficult for her to consider starting treatment, do you have a minute to meet with her?”
- Bob’s* wife called, she couldn’t come with him today, but she shared some issues that she is worried about, should we go back to see Bob again?
- Reagen* is feeling better and brings a succulent that he hopes I will keep in my office to brighten the days of the team who have helped him get through severe treatment induced pneumonitis…
- Gina* is doing better with her metastatic lung cancer, which is heartening because today was going to be a difficult day to face if she had another setback- we are in similar stages and we value our time with family and friends in a very similar way.
The names listed above have been altered to protect their privacy.
End of the day
Back to my office for documentation and billing—78 new emails waiting. Some tease tomorrow’s food trucks, others cover serious security updates after a nearby hospital shooting. A few praise my team’s great work, and one shares heartfelt thanks from a patient’s family.