This document is a newsletter from the Division of General Internal Medicine (DGIM) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) providing updates on division activities from Summer 2016. Key points include: - The healthcare landscape is changing with new policies focusing on value-based care over volume-based care through the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). - Upcoming events include the annual DGIM retreat in September and an orientation for new faculty. - New initiatives include REDCap tracking for continuing education credits, updated email distribution lists, and restructured scholarship and research meetings.

1. VCU DGIM NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2016
Photo Credit: Lena Rivera
A CHANGING HEALTHCARE
LANDSCAPE
DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS
UPCOMING EVENTS
SCHOLARSHIP & RESEARCH
PROGRAM
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
1
2
5
7
8
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San Blas Islands, Panama | Photo Credit: Lena Rivera
A CHANGING HEALTHCARE LANDSCAPEDGIM NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2016
M
ACRA, MIPS, and APMs --- with the changing healthcare landscape
towards value-based care, this alphabet soup reflects new policies for
the delivery of healthcare services. The Medicare Access and CHIP
Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 is steering healthcare delivery from
“volume” to “value” through two paths: Merit-based Incentive Payment Systems
(MIPS) and Alternative Payment Models (APMs).
Medical professionals, including those of us in academia, need to position
ourselves for a new healthcare landscape. To this end, our division established
the DGIM Revenue Committee with these objectives:
1. Facilitate a learning community to enhance our delivery of high value
healthcare at VCUHealth
2. Facilitate a learning community with colleagues across the country
regarding healthcare policy
Many thanks to Dr. Kushinka and Dr. Johnson for all their time and expertise
leading an interdisciplinary effort to optimize the human-technology system. Our
faculty and division are now well positioned with Code Assist, the new coding
and billing system!
DGIM also looks forward to actively engage with colleagues across the country
through the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) Improving Practice
Finance Workgroup so that we contribute and benefit from national learning
communities as well.
If you have an interest in either or both learning communities, send me an email!
Shin-Ping Tu, MD, MPH
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
"The secret of change is to focus all of your
energy not on fighting the old, but building on
the new."
--Socrates

2. VCU DGIM NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2016 2
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DGIM STAFF TAKE A STEP
TOWARDS WELLNESS
M
embers of the DGIM Admin Team are taking
steps towards achieving overall wellness --
literally. Wellness crusader, Catherine Good
has become a guide in health after her own success
while on Dr. Susan Wolver's weight loss program
used in her distinguished Weight Loss Clinic along
with climbing the entire staircase (12 flights) of Sanger
Hall every day -- multiple times a day. This feat has
begun motivating Admin Team members to walk the
staircase every day, multiple times a day.
Catherine's suggestion has been to walk multiple flights
of stairs when leaving the desk; start at five flights
and begin to add an additional flight every week. While
climbing the stairs, Catherine and other team members
alternate each flight with walking up single steps and
skipping up every-other step. According to research
this small change can have significant effects.
Harvard University: Even at a slow pace, you’ll
burn calories two to three times faster climbing
stairs than walking briskly on the level. The Harvard
Alumni Study found that men who average at least
eight flights a day enjoy a 33% lower mortality
rate than men who are sedentary — and that’s
even better than the 22% lower death rate men
earned by walking 1.3 miles a day.
DGIM is inspired by these changes and will be working
on plans to support the Admin Team to incorporate
exercise into the day. Together, DGIM can achieve
wellness.
DGIM FACULTY
MEMBER
APPOINTED ACP
QI CHAMPION
D
GIM is pleased to
announce that Dr.
Rachel Waller has
been appointed as a QI
Champion of the American
CollegeofPhysicians'(ACP)QualityConnect:Diabetes
program. Dr. Waller's election as QI Champion is
part of ACP's sponsorship of VCU faculty in Internal
Medicine and Family Medicine for its Quality Connect:
Diabetes program.
NEW HOME FOR HOSPITAL
MEDICINE TEAMS
I
n a huge step towards providing unit-based care for
all of our General Medicine inpatients, North 6 was
redesigned and reopened as the Medical Specialties
Unit onApril 26th. The 28-bed unit will be home to two of
our Hospital Medicine teams, including the hospitalist
arm of the newAcute CareAdvanced Practice Provider
fellowship. The geographic structure will allow for
implementation of interdisciplinary bedside rounding
and other health system-priority transition of care
interventions as well as further quality and process
improvement studies regarding “best practices” for our
Hospital Medicine teams.
Hospital Medicine looks forward to working closely with
their new nursing partners, including Nurse Manager,
Cathy Neal and Nurse Clinician, Dale Wright as well
as our dedicated Care Coordinator, Connie Vito and
Social Worker, Shalema Taylor.
DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS
Photo Credit: Lena Rivera
Rachel Waller, MD

3. VCU DGIM NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2016 3
NEW EMAIL
DISTRIBUTION
LISTS NOW
AVAILABLE
A
s some faculty have
experienced, there have
been issues with some
of our current email distribution
lists where people are either
being removed from the list or
people will not receive the emails
when an email goes out to the
appropriate list(s). DGIM has seen
the confusion and inconvenience
to both faculty and staff due to
these issues. With the help of
Lena Rivera and Catherine
Good, DGIM has created new email lists. The names
of these lists are more cohesive and representative to
prevent confusion of which list to use.
The email distribution lists are as follows:
• DGIM Admin Team
• DGIM Amb Med
• DGIM OEA
• DGIM Research
• Hospitalist Medicine Service (no changes)
In order to see how to reach any faculty and team
member, please refer to the email distribution list
document posted on the DGIM WikiRamPage (the
Wiki Site). The link will bring you to a log-in, then
use your VCU eID credentials in order to access this
document. Please remember to follow the directions
on the document to gain the most use of this resource.
NEW DGIM OUTLOOK
CALENDAR
T
he new DGIM Outlook Calendar has been
created to keep effective communication with
one another. The DGIM Calendar is available
for edit to all DGIM Admin Team Members, and is also
viewable to anyone else who may need to know our
availability (Busy vs Free information only). The
DGIM Calendar is located on the Global address list
and with just one click you have valuable information
readily available.
This calendar is one more step towards improving our
team's communication and efficiency.
NEW ARTS ALLOCATION
REDCap TRACKING SYSTEM
D
GIM is approaching the new ARTS Allocation
Program that will go into effect in July 2017.
With these updated requirements, DGIM is
working to ensure DGIM faculty accurately receive
credit towards their ARTS requirements.
DGIM is pleased to announce its new REDCap ARTS
Allocation Tracking system. This data-entry program
will make signing-in to meetings seamless with
just a tap on an iPad. This REDCap system will be
implemented in various meetings faculty attend that
count towards ARTS Allocation via an iPad sign-in. All
faculty need to do is select their name under “Present”
– and that’s it. From there the tracking information will
be exported into a database; ultimately making the
data of this tracking not only efficient, but reliable.
DGIM will now be including an iPad sign-in on
DGIM meetings, some of these meetings include:
• DGIM Grand Rounds
• Ambulatory Medicine Meetings
• Scholarship and Research Meetings
• Quarterly Division Meetings
• Billing and Coding Sessions
An Admin Team Member will sometimes sign
faculty in, but not always. So please be sure to
sign in with a single tap on the iPad that will be
included in meetings in order to receive ARTS
credit for your attendance.
Thank you for your cooperation!

4. VCU DGIM NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2016 4
DEFINING THE WIKIRAMPAGE
WIKI SITE RAMPAGE
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

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
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
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

PRIVATE
The Wiki Site is a private website
that only DGIM faculty and staff
have access to. (VCU eID login
required) Internal documents can be
made available to team members
without worrying about the rest of
the world having access.
ADMINISTRATIVE
DOCUMENTS & FORMS
COMMUNICATIONS
MATERIALS
GenMed PODCAST
FACULTY ADVANCEMENT
& DEVELOPMENT
RESOURCES
GRAND ROUNDS SLIDES
SCHOLARSHIP &
RESEARCH RESOURCES
DETAILS ON SPECIAL
EVENTS
UPCOMING MEETINGS &
CONFERENCES
STAFF ROLES AND
CONTACT INFORMATION
DIVISION MEETING SLIDES
AND RECORDINGS
PUBLIC
The Ram Page is a public website
that can help DGIM properly display
the most current updates of our
faculty and staff. This site can
also be used for faculty and team
member recruiting purposes and to
find quick resources on-the-go.
Do you need DGIM information, resources, forms, and contacts on-the-go without having to log in to a computer
with Share Drive access? The DGIM WikiRamPage is the source for you.
However, DGIM has received feedback from some faculty and staff and we would like to provide some
clarification about the differences between the Wiki Site side of the WikiRamPage and the Ram Page side of the
WikiramPage. We hope the infographic below will further explain the differences of these information repositories
so faculty and staff can make the most use of each information repository!

5. UPCOMING EVENTS
VCU DGIM NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2016 5
During his year’s 3rd Annual DGIM Retreat, faculty
will have the opportunity to learn about their own
personality and communication styles, how to
optimize mentorship relationships and so much
more.
If these new topics interest you, feel free to join us for
wine and cheese on the patio and so much more at the
DGIM Retreat on September 18, 2016 at Wyndham
Virginia Crossings.
We look forward to seeing you there!
SAVE THE DATE: DGIM
RETREAT
DGIM Grand Rounds are now recorded and are
included in the GenMed Podcast. In case you are not
able to attend Grand Rounds or if you want to listen
to previous Grand Rounds, please be sure to visit the
GenMed Podcast!
As this Grand Rounds season comes to a close, DGIM
wants to thank Dr. Stephanie Call and Melinda Gills-
Becks for their hard work Grand Rounds coordinating
Grand Rounds! We await to see the great work of
our faculty in the upcoming Grand Rounds season
beginning in September.
We look forward to your attendence!
Starting an academic medical career is exciting but
can be overwhelming. The "Starting Your Academic
Career" orientation on September 16 will introduce
faculty to the key pillars of an academic career in
order to aid faculty in plotting paths for their first years
in practice. Faculty will also have the opportunity to
meet other new faculty and work together as they plan
as well as meet key leaders at VCU and VCUHealth.
All new assistant professors in the Department
of Internal Medicine between July 1- September
16, 2016 are required to attend this orientation
on September 16. However, all new assistant
professors hired to Internal Medicine since July 1,
2015 are welcome to attend as well.
Location: Larrick Center Jackson Ward Conference
Room
Date: September 16, 2016
Time of Registration: 8:00-8:30am
Time of Meeting: 8:30am-4:00pm
Contact Information:
Betsy Ripley, MD, MS
Associate Chair for Internal Medicine Faculty
Development
Phone: 804-687-3062
Email: elizabeth.ripley@vcuhealth.org
UPCOMING DIVISION GRAND ROUNDS:
ORIENTATION FOR NEW
FACULTY:

6. 1
A
s conference season is in full
swing, please keep in mind
that DGIM will cover the price
of printing and delivery of posters
up to $48.00. If you would like to
take advantage of any of these
opportunities, if you have any
questions, or if you would like to
request research support, please
contact:
Lindsey Hall, MPH
Research Coordinator
628-0241
Lindsey.Hall@vcuhealth.org
See below a list of conferences;
CLICK the numbers on the map for
more details.
VCU DGIM NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2016 6
UPCOMING SCHOLARSHIP & RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
1. Academy Health Annual Research Meeting
June 26-28, Boston, MA
2. National Medical Association Convention and
Scientific Assembly July 30 - Aug 3, Los Angeles,
CA
3. Sickle Cell Disease Association of America
Annual Convention Sept 27-Oct 1, Baltimore, MD
4. Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine
AAIM Skills Development Conference Oct 20-22,
National Harbor, MD
5. The Generalists in Medical Education Annual
Conference Nov 10-11, Seattle, WA
6. Association of American Medical Colleges
Annual Meeting Nov 11-15, Seattle, WA
7. American Medical Informatics Association
Annual Symposium Nov 12-16, Chicago, IL
7
5 6
1
2
3
4

7. VCU DGIM NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2016 7
ACADEMY HEALTH
PRESENTATIONS
Title: Social Networks in the EHR System
Authors: Nengliang (Aaron) Yao, PhD, Xi Zhu, Vimal
Mishra, Alan Dow, and Allison Phillips
Shin-Ping Tu
Title: Identifying Care Teams Using Electronic Health
Records Access Data and Social Network Analysis
Authors: Xi Zhu, Nengliang Yao, Vimal Mishra,
Allison E. Phillips, Alan Dow, Shin-Ping Tu
MANUSCRIPTS:
Darci Bowles, Georgia McIntosh, Reena Hemrajani,
Miao-Shan Yen, Nathan Schwartz, Shin-Ping Tu,
and Alan Dow Nurse-physician Collaboration in
an Academic Medical Center: The Influence of
Organizational and Individual Factors -- In Press
GRANTS SUBMITTED:
Wally Smith and Dr. Steven Bishop
REPEAT SBIR project -- National Institute of Health
Xi Zhu, Shin-Ping Tu, and Vimal Mishra
Evaluation of EHR Communication Networks and
Information Processing in Cancer Care Teams --
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
GRANTS AWARDED:
Dr. Pablo Bedoya
Empowering Dementia Caregivers with the Tools
of Improvisional Theater -- Intramural Funding
REVAMPED SCHOLARSHIP &
RESEARCH MEETINGS
T
he Scholarship and Research meetings will now
take place on the first Tuesday of every month
at 11:00 AM in room 12-102 in the McGlothlin
Medical Education Center. Additionally, the research
team is excited to announce we will be implementing a
new structure for these meetings!
The goal of the new structure is to provide an
opportunity for faculty to present their current ‘works in
progress’ for discussion and feedback or to learn more
about the current work of other faculty in the division
and possible opportunities for collaboration. Beginning
in June, we would like to extend an open invitation to
any and all faculty who wish to attend!
Our goal is for the content and direction of these
meetings to be informed by faculty. As part of the
new structure, we would like to ask faculty to
provide the content for the agenda each month.
Therefore, we would like to ask those who intend to
attend the meetings for the purpose of discussing
their ‘works in progress’, to provide project-specific
discussion topics for the agenda one week prior to
the meeting. You may do this by emailing the DGIM
Research Coordinator, Lindsey Hall, directly. She
will then compile and circulate the agenda once all
information has been received.
We look forward to seeing you there!
SCHOLARSHIP & RESEARCH PROGRAM
DGIM WELCOMES LINDSEY HALL, MPH
D
GIM would like to welcome Lindsey Hall, MPH to the Research
Team as our new Research Coordinator! Lindsey comes to
DGIM from the Center of Society and Health within the VCU
Department of Family Medicine and Population Health where she
was a Research Assistant. In this role, Lindsey supported research
and coordination efforts for a project on life expectancy and another
observing how each state ranks in terms of different health outcomes.
Lindsey was born and raised in Gaithersburg, MD and received her
BS in Biology from James Madison University and her Master of Public
Health from VCU. The desire to aid people's health issues through
large-scale prevention and education efforts drove Lindsey to pursue research in public health. Along with
contributing to these efforts, Lindsey hopes to further stimulate DGIM scholarship efforts and encourage even
more faculty to be involved in Scholarship and Research. DGIM is happy to have Lindsey on the driven
Research Team!
Photo Credit: Lena Rivera

8. VCU DGIM NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2016 8
Who were your first mentor(s) and what are some
valuable lessons you learned from them?
Mentoring should begin before entering Medical
School. In high school, I had mentors who pushed me
to be the best person I can be. In medical school, I had
physicians who were models of who I wanted to be.
One mentor I had was a retired cardiologist named
Dr. Bob Payne who I worked with during my first and
second year of medical school. Even though he was
retired, he was making time to see patients in the free
clinic and to teach medical students about being a
humanistic physician. I learned a great deal just by
sitting next to him and having him show me how to
help people who face unimaginable barriers.
What are some advice you would give faculty
about becoming a mentor and/or mentee?
I believe one of the most important factors to
remember to be accountable in the mentor/mentee
relationshipandtoberespectfulofthecommitment
you have made to each other. As a mentor, you want
to think about your mentees and how you can provide
opportunities to progress them from where they are
to where they want to go. This may be a challenge
because the mentee’s path might be a different path
from yours, but it really comes down to understanding
people and where they want to advance while being
thoughtful on how to guide the mentee.
As a mentee, you want to define where you want to
advance and articulate this so the mentor can identify
how they can help you grow.
What are some pointers faculty need to remember
when trying to find a mentor?
I think the first pointer is to not put mentors on a
pedestal. I mean this in two ways.
1. If there is a senior faculty that is doing interesting
work who you may want to work with, just reach
out to them to grab coffee, beer, or your beverage
of choice. People love to talk about themselves so
have your potential mentor talk about themselves
and their work to see where the conversation goes.
2. Recognize that the best mentor may not be the
most senior person. Your best mentor may be
someone that is only slightly ahead in their career,
someone similar in rank, or even junior, but know
or have a passion for a certain area. There is a
lot to be said about co-mentoring – where you
are working together to solve a problem by
bringing different perspectives.
The other important pointer is searching for mentors
outside of healthcare or even outside of general
internal medicine can be really positive. There may be
someone in pharmacy, psychology, social work, or etc.
who can present new ways to solve problems.
What are some goals of the Faculty Advancement
Committee (FAC) to mentor junior faculty?
The FAC is developing our plan, but right now we
are deliberating the structure of how to interact with
a large faculty like ours; especially a large junior
faculty like ours. Now we can provide a structure to
be able to understand what the faculty need and how
that meshes with the organizational requirements for
promotion and tenure.
This structure can help us senior faculty begin to
build pathways and programs to help junior faculty
become successful. Also, the structure can help solve
the bottom-heavy issue of the levels of professorship
in DGIM by helping faculty move towards and
demonstrate their recognition that mentors can help
define. The goal of the mentor and mentee then
becomes to discover those methods to help junior
faculty in promotion and tenure.
Speaking: Alan Dow, MD, MSHA
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
MY MENTOR STORY
AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. ALAN DOW
M
ost people know the definition of mentor, but
what does it really mean to be a mentor? We
sat down with Dr. Alan Dow, Assistant Vice
President of Health Sciences for Interprofessional
Education and Collaborative Care, and Professor to
gain a better understanding of mentoring through his
Mentor Story.

9. VCU DGIM NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2016 9
C
arley Lovell, MS, MA, RN, WHNP- BC
has lived in Richmond, VA most of her life.
Carley completed her undergraduate degree at
Randolph-Macon College inAshland, VAwhere she not
double, but triple-majored in Psychology, Philosophy,
and Women's Studies. She then continued to pursue a
master's degree in psychology at New York University.
After receiving her master's degree, Carley returned
to Richmond to work as a sexual assault Prevention
Counselor, and was then served as Interim Director at
a domestic violence and sexual assault crisis center.
Even with her success, Carley found herself wanting
to learn more about the physiology behind her love
of women's health related issues. This desire drove
Carley to attend VCU's School of Nursing where she
earned a BS and MS in nursing.
Carley is a board-certified Women's Health Nurse
Practitioner with a focus in weight loss and is a Clinical
Assistant Professor at VCU's School of Nursing.
She is currently completing her PhD at the Medical
University of South Carolina in Nursing Science where
she is studying genetic and psychological indicators
associated with binge drinking and eating behavior.
Even backpacking across Europe, Carley believes that
Richmond is one of the best kept secrets. Carley's
passions include plants, animals, and people. Carley is
proud to be affiliated with such a renowned institution
as VCU and DGIM is ecstatic to have such a multi-
talented member added to the Weight Loss Clinic.
Photo Credit: Lena Rivera
NEW MEMBERS
THE STORK HAS COME TO TOWN
T
he stork made a couple visits
since the last quarter! We
as a division look forward to
witnessing the growth and journey of
these babies into their bright futures.
Thank you to all the DGIM faculty
and staff for supporting the parents
of these children as the parents took
their leave.
Take a look at these beautiful faces!
QUINTUS LORENZA
FERGUSON, IV
May 20, 2016 4:32am
6 pounds, 6 ounces and 19.5 inches
SON OF KRYSTLE BRUNSON
HELLOworld
SANAH KAUR MALIK
June 3, 2016 at 8:17 am
7 pounds, 15 ounces and 20 inches
DAUGHTER OF DR. MANPREET MALIK