November 30, 2020

The benefits of the Epic Tapestry implementation just keep getting better as we consider our more than 2,500 provider groups.

Our providers – physicians, nurse practitioners, therapists and other specialists – who care for our members will be on the receiving end of an enhanced portal and an improved claims process for their payments.

“Our goal is to constantly improve the experience that our providers have when they care for our members,” said Cade Crumley, assistant director of Provider Relations. “The Tapestry implementation will allow network providers access to enhanced patient data, more timely communication and increased engagement with us.”

But what does this mean, specifically?

More timely and reliable information – Providers will now have no delay in system information updates.

Secure communication and a reduced call volume – Providers can reach out to our staff about members and resolve reimbursement questions by sending direct messages.

Review insurance information – Members’ coverage information, metered benefits, and submitted claims will be available on demand.

Manage referrals – It will soon be possible for providers to submit and review authorizations and notification letters electronically, which simplifies processing for utilization management staff and reduces the number of incomplete requests they receive.

Review and track claims – Providers will be able to review claims they’ve submitted for our members and see claim statuses, even before claims have been fully processed. After claims are processed, the remittance advice appears in the portal with details about payment and covered service.

Manage your population – The new portal will be integrated with Healthy Planet. Providers can also access care management tools, scorecards, and analytics that help to coordinate the care of your patient populations.

Benefits to our employees

“Like many departments at the health plan, Provider Relations is looking forward to this change in our work,” Crumley said. “Epic Tapestry will allow us to work within one system instead of multiple systems. A more efficient work day is definitely on the way.”

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Missed the other stories in our series? Check them out!

The first one was all about Care Coordination and the Healthy Planet module.

The second one dived into Member Services.

Third was the Money Matters of Epic Tapestry.

Texas Children’s Team Members,

As Mr. Wallace announced on November 18, Texas Children’s has established a COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force to plan and manage the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine to our team members beginning in mid to late December.

Since the pandemic began, the world has eagerly awaited a groundbreaking vaccine to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Given that our health care community has led the battle against this virus – and that supplies of the vaccine are likely to be limited initially – one of the first priorities will be distributing the vaccine to health care systems on the frontlines of providing compassionate care for patients and their families. This includes Texas Children’s, who has been selected as one of the first institutions to receive a COVID-19 vaccine authorized by the FDA for emergency use. Not only does this represent an opportunity for us to provide another layer of protection for our team members, it is also an opportunity for us to continue leading by example and demonstrating to our communities that the COVID-19 vaccine is a critical and necessary tool toward ending the pandemic.

Once appropriate regulatory approval has been granted, Texas Children’s expects to administer a vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech. Please note that there are other COVID-19 vaccines currently under development or being tested, and Texas Children’s will continue to monitor and follow regulatory guidance of those options as they are approved and become available.

How do I opt in to receive a COVID-19 vaccine?

All Texas Children’s employees, Baylor College of Medicine faculty and staff partners will be eligible to receive this vaccine. Due to the size of our workforce, and because we anticipate initially having limited doses of the vaccine, our COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force has designed a fair and equitable approach for administrating the vaccine, based on recommendations from the National Academy of Medicine and aligned with state and federal guidance. Texas Children’s will evaluate multiple objective risk elements including a person’s risk of acquiring infection, risk of transmitting infection, risk of severe illness and death, along with risk to Texas Children’s ability to provide care for our community. To learn more, download Texas Children’s Framework for Equitable COVID-19 Allocation.

As part of this equitable allocation process, workforce members who opt in to receive the vaccine will be placed into different distribution phases. In order to do this, Texas Children’s will need to understand both a workforce member’s interest in receiving the vaccine, as well as some general information about any relevant health conditions. More information is provided below.

Phase 1 administration of the vaccine is currently scheduled to begin as early as December 14 (though subject to change) and additional phases will be scheduled as we receive more doses. Here is how to get started.

Step 1: Learn more about the vaccine.

To help our people learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine, we have created a website with links to additional resources. We encourage you to review the site to carefully make the best decision for you and your family.

Step 2: Submit a confidential Opt-In Questionnaire.

In order to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, you must submit an Opt-In Questionnaire. In this form, workforce members will be asked for additional information on any personal health factors that are known to increase the risk for severe illness or death related to acquiring COVID-19. All information will be kept strictly confidential and only accessed by Employee Health.

Click here to access the Opt-In Questionnaire

To be eligible to participate in the Phase 1 launch, you must submit this questionnaire no later than 2 p.m. on Monday, December 7. If you submit a form after this deadline, you will be assigned to a later phase. Workforce members may opt out at any time.

Step 3: Check your work email for a confirmation and vaccine scheduling link.

If you have been selected to participate in Phase 1, you will receive a confirmation email at your Texas Children’s or Baylor email address after December 7 and before Phase 1 administration begins. If you are not selected for Phase 1 vaccine administration, you will also receive an email notification advising of such. To ensure efficient distribution, as well as proper social distancing, an appointment to receive both doses of the vaccine will be required. In your confirmation email, you will find a link to schedule both of your vaccination appointments. Please note that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine requires two doses to be administered 21 days apart, and that you must be available during both appointment windows. If needed, please work with your leader to arrange shift coverage.

Questions

For more information about the COVID-19 vaccine, we encourage you to visit texaschildrensbenefits.org/CovidVaccine. This site is available 24/7 on or off the network via any device to provide the most up-to-date information about the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as details on steps for receiving a vaccination.

If you still have questions after reviewing the website, please contact our HR Employee Support Center at 832-826-4600 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, or email employeevaccines@texaschildrens.org.

Please continue to check your email, Connect and our COVID-19 Vaccine website for the latest information.

Thank you for your tireless leadership and your compassionate care of our patients, their families and one another throughout our COVID response.

Dr. Julie Boom and Jermaine Monroe
Co-Chairs, COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force

The story you are about to read is part of an ongoing series about Texas Children’s efforts to care for women and children around the globe. The series highlights Texas Children’s efforts in Malawi, one of the 17 countries we currently serve. Today’s story focuses on the Texas Children’s Global Health Corps and how its members support the hospital’s mission.

The Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative at Texas Children’s Hospital (BIPAI) Centers of Excellence are supported by Texas Children’s Global Health Corps and the Dr. Kelly Descioli Global Child Health Residency.

The partnership brings doctors to countries where we work to learn, teach and help provide much-needed clinical services. Residents spend one year of their four-year residency program at one of our global health sites in Africa.

The Texas Children’s Global Health Corps is a successor to the landmark Pediatric AIDS Corps, founded by BIPAI in 2005, which has trained and sent about 150 pediatricians and family doctors to Africa to help scale up medical programs for children and families affected by HIV/AIDS. BIPAI, thanks in large part to its partnership with the Texas Children’s Global Health Corps, now provides HIV/AIDS treatment to about 320,000 children and families – more than any other program worldwide.

In Malawi, the partnership with the Global Health Corps has brought several pediatricians to the Center of Excellence there, including Amy Benson and Allison Silverstein, who talk in the following Q&A about their experience treating children with HIV/AIDS and other aliments in a low-resource setting.

Why did you choose to become involved in Texas Children’s Global Health?

Amy: After college, I was in the Peace Corps in Bolivia, and because of that experience, I knew I wanted to become a doctor and work in a low resource setting. Working in Global Health Corps has helped me reach that goal. It’s exactly what I want to be doing.

Allison: When I was in medical school, I took a year off between my third and fourth year and worked in Rwanda and Zambia doing policy work and helping to build research capacity. It was powerful but I wanted to be able to help clinically. I interviewed at a lot of residency programs but most connected with the model at Baylor and Texas Children’s. The way these organizations are truly building capacity and setting up this huge infrastructure to provide unparalleled care is how I ended up in the Global Health Corps.

Describe what you do in Malawi with the Global Health Corps.

Allison: Most of my time is spent in clinic at the Center of Excellence with pediatric HIV/AIDS patients. A typical day begins with a staff huddle that includes going over caseloads and doing a little singing and dancing to get us off on the right foot. Then, we see patients. Some of them are coming to the center to fill their medication or for a routine checkup. Others are sick and not feeling well, and we do our best to provide them with the best possible care. We see about 100 patients a day.

Amy: In addition to caring for patients at the Center of Excellence, I spend one week each month working at Kamuzu Central Hospital, the largest hospital in Lilongwe. At the hospital, I see children who have HIV/AIDS and have either been admitted to the hospital due to complications of the disease or who have been newly diagnosed. In addition to treating their immediate medical needs, I help get them hooked up with longer term services.

How has your work with the Global Health Corps made you a better doctor?

Amy: When I go outside of my comfort zone, it helps make me a better person and a better doctor. Being able to help take care of people and learn about people who have many different needs and struggles, helps me to understand people in a different way and to be more empathetic. And, that makes me a better doctor for sure, no matter where I’m working or who I’m working with.

Allison: I’m more thoughtful in my decision-making. When you don’t always have accessible imaging or the labs that you want, you have to rely on your clinical skills – your history and physical – and bring it all together to treat the patient.

Is there a patient or an experience that has made a significant impact on you?

Allison: I treated a 6-year-old patient who had recently lost her mother to tuberculosis. Not long after the mother’s death, the girl’s aunt brought the child to us with symptoms consistent with gastroenteritis. While treating her for that, we discovered the girl, like her mother, had tuberculosis. The girl’s aunt was devastated thinking she was going to lose her niece as well as her sister to the disease. But, she didn’t, and she was so unbelievably thankful for the treatment and attention we provided to that child.

Amy: What’s left an impression on me is the network of caregivers at the COE who work together to help these children and their families. For example, I was working in the hospital one day when a mom took her very sick baby home before she was ready to be discharged. One of our community health nurses knew where the woman lived, went to her village and convinced the mom to bring her child back to the hospital where the child could receive medicine for her newly diagnosed illness – HIV/AIDS. She made an effort to understand the mom and the reasons she had left and to offer the support that the mom needed to return. Without people like the community health nurses, that child might never have come back.

For more information about Texas Children’s Global Health Corps, click here. To make a donation to Texas Children’s global health efforts, click here.

November 23, 2020

The story you are about to read is part of an ongoing series about Texas Children’s efforts to care for women and children around the globe. The series highlights Texas Children’s efforts in Malawi and Colombia, two of the 17 countries we currently serve. Today’s story focuses on Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative at Texas Children’s Hospital and its network of Centers of Excellence that have saved a generation of children and young mothers from the ill effects of and possibly death from HIV/AIDS.

Phoebe Nyasulu has six siblings, only two of whom are still alive. Like many in sub-Saharan Africa, Nyasulu spent years watching HIV/AIDS erase the people she loves from her life. When she discovered she could have done something to help save them, she first became angry and then dedicated to advocating for the rights of people in Malawi who are living with the life-threatening disease.

“My goal is to make sure the people of my country know their HIV/AIDS status, and that if they are positive, link them to care,” Nyasulu said. “I don’t want others to die prematurely like my brothers and sisters did.”

In 2012, Nyasulu’s efforts to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS and help those who are infected led her to the Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI) at Texas Children’s Hospital network. Over the years, Nyasulu has worked in various capacities at BIPAI’s Center of Excellence (COE) in Malawi and is now executive director of the program she and many others credit for saving a generation of children and young mothers from the ill effects of HIV/AIDS.

“Before BIPAI came into Malawi, children with HIV/AIDS were not accessing treatment and were left to die,” Nyasulu said. “Now, they are getting the medical care they need and are growing into healthy adolescents and young adults.”

A recipe for success

The groundwork for Baylor-Malawi’s operations was laid 14 years ago with the establishment of the Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation-Malawi and the construction of the Baylor College of Medicine-Abbott Fund Children’s Clinical Centre of Excellence (COE) in Lilongwe. The center is part of what is the largest care and treatment network based at an academic institution supporting programs for HIV-infected and -affected children.

Providing care and treatment to nearly 300,000 children, BIPAI has established public-private partnerships in 10 countries across sub-Saharan Africa as well as Latin America and Romania. These partnerships now extend beyond the scope of HIV/AIDS and tackle other conditions in the developing world such as cancer, tuberculosis, malaria, sickle cell and malnutrition.

“The BIPAI network provides a solid framework for some of the best maternal and child health specialists in the world to share best practices and resources in care and treatment, medical education, and clinical and operational research focused on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, malnutrition, neglected tropical diseases and other conditions impacting the health and well-being of children and families worldwide,” said Michael Mizwa, the chief executive officer of BIPAI. “We are always looking for ways to expand the scope and reach of our services, never allowing anything to distract us from our commitment to children and families.”

Created in 1996, the BIPAI network was developed with the goal of improving the health and lives of HIV-infected children and families globally through expanded access to HIV/AIDS care and treatment, capacity building, health professional education and training and clinical research.

With initial support from Houston’s Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, Abbott Fund and AmeriCares, the first center of excellence (COE) in the BIPAI network was created in Romania in 2001. Deaths among children with HIV declined from 15 percent to 1 percent and provided the first proof of concept for providing large-scale HIV treatment to children in a limited resource setting.

The Botswana-Baylor Children’s Clinical COE opened in 2003 with funding through Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Secure the Future program, and treated 1,200 children that year. The model proved to be a success and garnered attention from other governments, leading to centers being established in Lesotho, Eswatini, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda.

When BIPAI entered Malawi, the country was experiencing an HIV/AIDS epidemic that was ravaging families such as Nyasulu’s. The country had little to no resources to fight the epidemic, misinformation was spreading about the disease and a negative stigma was quickly being attached to those who had HIV/AIDS.

“People were beginning to lose hope,” Nyasulu said. “They couldn’t see how to turn things around.”

A beacon of light

On any given day of the week, the Center of Excellence in Malawi’s capital is a hub of activity from the moment it opens in the early morning until it closes in the late afternoon. Often times, people are scattered across the facility’s lawn before its doors open anxious to get inside and receive the care they need to continue living with HIV/AIDS.

Some are waiting to see one of the center’s clinical workers, visit the center’s pharmacy to pick up medication or talk with a social worker, while others are there to participate in one of the center’s many programs aimed at helping adolescents adhere to their care program.

“Baylor-Malawi is the largest provider of pediatric HIV care and treatment services in the country,” Nyasulu said. “The COE in Lilongwe has an active case-load of more than 3,000 patients with 2,000-plus on medication. The average enrollment is 23 new patients per month. We are a very busy center.”

The center’s team also provides staff to support the pediatric ward at Kamuzu Central Hospital and Area 25 District Health Centre in Lilongwe, works in four busy government health centers in other areas of Lilongwe and performs outreach across the country. The team supplies technical expertise to various HIV technical working groups of the Ministry of Health as they consider various policy issues and management guidelines related to pediatric HIV.

Over the past decade, these efforts have helped make a huge dent in the number of people in Malawi infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. One of those people is Pacharo Mwachitete.

Mwachitete was born with HIV/AIDS and started coming to the Center of Excellence when he was 13. He is now 25 and is a mentor for the center’s Teen Club, one of the center’s various adolescent programs that focus on providing psycho-social and care and treatment support to young people with HIV/AIDS.

“I learned so much from the people I met at the center and through Teen Club,” Mwachitete said. “Without this place and its programs I’m not sure I would be here today.”

Doris Lidamlendo, a 19-year-old Teen Club graduate, agreed and said the skills she learned while in Teen Club taught her how to live with HIV/AIDS. She learned what to do when she was stressed, healthy eating habits, the importance of taking her medicine and more. Most of all, Lidamlendo said she met people like herself.

“Being able to hear how other people like myself have lived with a similar problem has always been a motivation for me,” said Lidamlendo, who recently finished high school and would like to go to college for either civil engineering or social work. “It has made me grow and I am convinced without it you wouldn’t be talking to the girl you are talking to now.”

Judy Lungu is the special projects and training coordinator for Baylor-Malawi and coordinates all of its adolescent programs, including Teen Club, Camp Hope, a Transition Training, Young Mother’s Program and a Teen Support Line. She said the goal of the programs is to teach young people with HIV/AIDS the importance of taking their medication and to convince them that they are not alone in their journey with the disease.

“We believe that for the health of the adolescents to improve and for them to live positively, they must understand that taking their medication is a matter of life and death,” Lungu said, adding that it’s often times easy for a young person who is feeling good and wanting to be more like their non-HIV/AIDS peers to decide to stop taking it. “We also feel it is important for them to know there are people like them who are going through the same thing, and that they are loved and are worthy of being loved.”

The programs Lungu runs are a tremendous success so much so the Malawi Ministry of Health and other partners have embraced the concept and organized similar programs across the country.

For more information about Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative at Texas Children’s Hospital in Malawi, click here. To make a donation to Texas Children’s global health efforts, click here.

Texas Children’s leaders share how they are celebrating the holiday safely this year. Read more

This week on Mark Wallace’s blog, he shares what he’s thankful for and how he finds gratitude in difficult times. Read more

November 19, 2020

I, Mark Wallace, want to share some exciting news with you. After months of diligent work by our COVID Vaccine Task Force and our hospital leadership, we have received confirmation that Texas Children’s is pre-positioned to receive a shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine next week, which has been produced and tested by Pfizer, and submitted for emergency use approval by the Food & Drug Administration.

This is a tremendous development in the fight against this pandemic. I can think of no greater challenge we have had to overcome together, and I can think of no better news to hear than that Texas Children’s will be given such a vital tool in combating this highly infectious disease.

There are many vaccines on the horizon – Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and our own Center for Vaccine Development – but nothing prevents us from following appropriate safety guidelines. Please ensure you and all those around you – both at home and at work – wear a mask properly and over the nose, maintain social distancing at a minimum of 6 feet and practice hand hygiene throughout the day. For on-site meetings, please be sure to adhere to the identified COVID capacity for each meeting space or hold meetings virtually.

With the upcoming holiday season, it is imperative that we continue these practices. We are not only battling coronavirus, we are also now well into the flu season.

Right here, right now is the time to remain vigilant.

More information about our plan for distributing the vaccine will be coming shortly. The COVID Vaccine Task Force will continue to manage the communication, distribution, and administration of the vaccine, which will be done in a manner that is safe, fair and equitable.

I want to thank our COVID Vaccine Task Force and Operations Command for their diligent and tireless work on this initiative. They have effectively worked together to reduce the negative impact on our people, patients and community since the onset of the pandemic several months ago. Please join me in thanking the members of the Task Force and Operations Command listed below for their efforts:

  • Dr. Jim Versalovic, Interim Physician-in-Chief and Pathologist-in-Chief
  • Dan DiPrisco, Executive Vice President
  • Mark Mullarkey, Executive Vice President
  • Mary Jo Andre, Chief Nursing Officer
  • Linda Aldred, Senior Vice President
  • Dr. Julie Boom, Director, Immunization Project
  • Jermaine Monroe, Vice President, Human Resources
  • Dr. David Mann, Chair, Clinical Ethics Committee
  • Dr. Maria Bottazzi, Co-Director, Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development
  • Dr. George Delclos, Medical Director, Texas Children’s Occupational Health
  • Afsheen Davis, Vice President, Office of General Counsel
  • Kay Tittle, President, Texas Children’s Pediatrics & Texas Children’s Urgent Care
  • Trudy Leidich, Vice President, Quality and Medical Staff Services
  • Jeff Wagner, Assistant Vice President, Pharmacy, Respiratory Therapy, & ECMO
  • Heather Cherry, Assistant Vice President, Nursing

Thank you for everything you have done throughout this pandemic. I have never been prouder to work alongside each and every one of you.