Fall - National Commission on Correctional Health Care

CCHPpageLeading by Example Comes Naturally for TrusteeThe CCHP program isgrowing in leaps andbounds! 179 applicantspassed exams fromJuly through October.Their certificationbegins Jan. 1. A list ofthese CCHPs is postedat www.ncchc.org.After a relatively brief but highimpactcareer in the world ofcorrectional health care, ThomasG. Lundquist, MD, MMM, hasmoved on to academia. But weneed not lament his departure.Having been bitten by the correctionalhealth bug, he intends tocontinue to help this field makemeasurable improvements in therealms of telemedicine, electronic health records and operationalperformance overall. Even better, perhaps, he cannow take a larger role as an advocate for correctional healthcare in policy debates.Lundquist came to this field in August 2004, when hejoined Wexford Health Sources, Inc., a health services contractmanagement firm, as chief medical officer. He broughtwith him seven years of experience as a physician executivein a variety of health care sectors and delivery models, withexpertise in quality management and a proven track recordin population health and disease management programs.Progressive LeadershipDuring Lundquist’s five years at Wexford, his successes weremany. With a sharp focus on leadership and quality, heestablished a medical leadership branch of the company,delineating expectations, roles and responsibilities at thecorporate and regional levels. He greatly improved utilizationmanagement by using case management and diseasemanagement strategies that, not surprisingly, also improvedclinical outcomes. He also implemented corporatewideclinical protocols.Lundquist is an ardent believer that it is not only smart,from a business perspective, but essential for correctionalhealth systems to embrace technology. Accordingly, he ledefforts to implement telemedicine and telepsychiatry at thefacilities his company worked with.Those efforts paid off: “I have seen firsthand the improvementof care delivery due to these technologies, and I haveseen literally tens of thousands of additional visits beingbrought to patients in need through the use of telemedicine,”Lundquist says.Similarly, he argued for—and sometimes achieved—adoption of electronic health record systems at his clients’facilities. This technology, too, is a vital driver of quality, hesays. With the frequent need for interfacility inmate transfers,EHRs ensure that providers receive consistent access tocomplete patient information, and they reduce costly inefficienciessuch as duplicative testing.While describing his work at Wexford as one of themost enriching experiences in his career and praising thededicated professionals on the front line, Lundquist alsorecounts some frustrations. In particular, he points to thelack of support for technology, population health managementstrategies and other key needs in correctional healthcare. He emphasizes that the blame does not lie with thecorrectional agencies themselves: “Much decision makingabout programmatic effort and investment is in the realmof public policy and needs to be addressed in that forum.”Speaking OutAnd that’s where Lundquist hopes to make a difference.Currently he is an adjunct faculty member at the H.J. HeinzCollege of Public Policy and Management at CarnegieMellon University, Pittsburgh, where he teaches physicianexecutives about issues such as health care quality, patientsafety and leadership. But he is considering taking on a fulltimefaculty role at CMU.“It would allow me to engage more unencumbered inthe public policy debate about health care delivery and thebusiness case for quality,” he explains. “It also would allowme to pursue grant-funded research focusing on improvinghealth care delivery in corrections. I believe a much strongerconnection between our nation’s public health efforts andcorrectional health care delivery must prevail.”This philosophy meshes with Lundquist’s motivations forbecoming certified through the CCHP program. “I believethat accreditation and certification are good ways to createcommon ground and to continually raise the bar on thequality of providers and organizations,” he says. “Becominga CCHP has allowed me to lead by example and encourageothers to never stop learning, no matter where you are inyour career.”This profile was written by Matissa Sammons, NCCHC’s certificationcoordinator. To reach her, e-mail cchp@ncchc.org.CCHP Exam DatesFebruary 20March 11April 25July 11August 21October 10Multiple regional sitesPortland, ORNashville, TNBoston, MAMultiple regional sitesLas Vegas, NVFor more information about the application process orthe exams, please visit www.ncchc.org/cchp.We are seeking additional sites for the regional exams,as well as CCHPs to proctor the exams. If you wouldlike to participate, contact the CCHP coordinator at773-880-1460 or cchp@ncchc.org.24<strong>Fall</strong> 2009 • CorrectCarewww.ncchc.org