Trophies and teamwork: Winners shined at annual Primary Care Quality Awards

Once again, the beats were sweet and the bites were fire at the annual Ambulatory Primary Care Quality Awards. The awards celebrate the clinicians and staff who compete each year for the organization’s top honors in primary care.

As the lights dimmed and the room quieted, some attendees were on the edges of their seats.

“Last year, my face hurt from smiling so much,” said Rocklin clinic supervisor Audrey Lybrand.

Clinics across the region collected trophies for improving access, increasing preventive screenings and everything in between. A few clinics brought so many trophies back to their table (ahem, Auburn!) that it was hard to see past them. (Worth it.)

Speaking of Auburn, the clinic took home the most first place trophies of the year, for the following accomplishments:

• Blood pressure control (81.8%)
• Diabetic A1C Control (87.65%)
• Breast Cancer Screening (85%)
• Colorectal Cancer Screening (85.4%), for the fifth year in a row
• Retinopathy Screening

In some cases, winning clinics barely beat out second-place clinics. The numbers were often split by mere tenths of a percentage point.

The competition is fierce and friendly, but ultimately, the numbers are a win for patients.

“These achievements serve our community,” said Chief Physician of the Community Physicians Group Allen Hall, hosting his final Quality Awards even before retirement.

As physicians and clinic leaders passed out awards, they commented on how remarkable it is that primary care numbers continue to climb each year. The Elk Grove clinic received a particularly loud round of applause for achieving 99% for adult influenza vaccines.

“Your teamwork is moving the needle in really tremendous ways,” said Associate Chief Operating Officer for Ambulatory Care Christina Mintnter.

More highlights:

• The clinic with the highest score for physician communication (97.06%) was Glassrock Pediatrics.
• A total of 17 clinicians won the Top Performing Physician award, with Folsom’s Victor Baquero taking the top spot, at 99.5% patient satisfaction.
• The Top New Physician award went to a clinician with under two years of practice at UC Davis Health but an astounding 99.01% patient satisfaction: Erin Baroni at the Elk Grove clinic.
• Director Ally Elder celebrated the Office of Population Health’s contributions to Ambulatory Care: the team penned 6,000 orders, scheduled 7,500 patients and made 21,000 patient calls this year.

Population Health not only captures the data for the Quality Awards but is a critical partner in disease prevention and screening efforts across primary care.

As the ceremony came to a close, DJ Redikulus (a.k.a. physician Chris Shin) rounded out the event with a few more songs for the road — until next year.