Hello! Welcome back to The Friday Sign Out - a newsletter for primary care physicians and advanced practice providers. Here are a few things that have been top of mind for me as we soak up spring here in Ohio. Bring on May and more sunshine!

In the News

Oh man, sleep is such a tricky topic. It seems almost everyone has sleep struggles at some point. I spend a good chunk of my day helping patients problem solve for their sleep woes. Good rest is so important but also so easily disrupted!

As if we need one more thing that can worsen our sleep quality…here comes long COVID.

This article discusses a study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine demonstrating a link between long COVID and sleep disturbance.

This is a great reminder to think about long COVID when discussing sleep issues. It might not change our treatment approach, but it’s still helpful info we can share with our patients.

In Your Practice

MyChart. Phew. If you don’t use MyChart, sub in any patient portal here. The challenges are the same. Lots of messages, many of which are complex, time-consuming, and important to both the patient and the clinician. How I manage my inbox is always a work in progress, but I’ve collected a few tips along the way that help things feel more manageable:

• Time blocking: I try to only look at MyChart messages during certain blocks of time. For example, 7:45 am, 12:30 pm, and 4:00 pm.

• Automatic Appointment: Any MyChart message that requires medical decision making means an automatic appointment. I have a quick-action button that generates a message to my staff asking them to call the patient to schedule.

• The 2 Question Rule: I borrowed this from a fellow doc friend. If there are 2 questions in the MyChart message, it is complex enough to require an appointment.

• One Touch: I try to touch messages just once. If I click and view the message, I take the action necessary to clear it out of my inbox. If I don’t do this, I find myself just re-reading messages and wasting valuable time. Admittedly, this is tough for me! Again, it’s a work in progress.

I would love to hear if you have any tips or little “rules” you follow in managing your patient portal. You can just reply to this email. If I get a few, I’d love to compile and share them in a future post.

In Your Heart

In my practice, we have a daily huddle with all of the staff members and practitioners. We have found a modified virtual huddle via Secure Chat (an instant messaging system in Epic) works to connect everyone in the middle of a busy morning. The best part, though? These huddles usually include a joke, and the cornier, the better! I laugh out loud almost every morning. As a lover of puns and terrible jokes, it’s right up my alley and a fantastic way to start the day.

With that, I will leave you with my favorite thus far, courtesy of my witty associate:

What do you call a nosey pepper?

Jalapeño business!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ashley