Speaker: Erin Boyd, Associate Chief Medical Officer, Sound Avisory
How have Sound’s training opportunities for Physician Advisors helped prepare you for your role?
Erin Boyd: I feel really fortunate to have been able to go through Sound's training program when I first started and to benefit from the ongoing education modules that we have. I personally, when I speak with people who have worked other places and have done advisory work before, hear repeatedly that our education and training is robust, comprehensive, and continuous. We start onboarding folks with modules that everyone must complete and then go to one-on-one training shadow shifts, and then once somebody's done with onboarding, we continue to offer education modules that Advisors who have been at Sound for any length of time must complete to stay up on ongoing education. And we have real-time resources available like PA of the day that people can use, for instance, as someone to reach out to if you have a question about a case or some other regulatory issue where you need the answer in real-time. I'm really committed now as somebody who is helping develop some of the education and training and onboarding to make sure that people feel supported and like their education is an ongoing endeavor here at Sound Advisory.
In what way does connecting with team leads and fellow advisors at Sound add to your experience as a Physician Advisor?
Erin Boyd: Connecting with other Advisers at Sound is one of the goals, even if people are working remotely, which can sometimes feel a little bit isolating. Certainly, we've tried to encourage connection, particularly with PA of the day and having somebody available seven days a week if there are questions real time to be able to reach out to, Hey, can I run this case by you? Hey, have you ever run into this experience before? And that to me has really been invaluable. I find frequently that I'm surprised about some of the unique situations that come up or just, you know, gray areas that I'm familiar with, but I want to bounce off of somebody and being able to connect with somebody, whether it's the PA of the day or another Advisor that I've gotten to know has been really, really helpful for me doing my daily advisory work.
What is the benefit of being an advisor with a physician-led organization?
Erin Boyd: Being part of a physician-led organization I think really makes a difference. One could say actually that from an advisory business perspective, we're actually the primary company in the advisory space too that started with a clinical focus. And some of the areas where I see this making a difference are frequent recognition from our CEO who's an Emergency Medicine Physician of the day-to-day of what physicians are going through. And in particular, as we're trying to collaborate more with our hospital medicine colleagues and participate in more projects that really take advantage of Sound hospital medicine and Sound advisory working together a real understanding of, you know, what's the day to day workflow, what's feasible? How do we get this done? How do we be efficient and really achieve our goals while being completely understanding of the multiple directions that physicians and hospitals in particular are pulled in. I don't think that you necessarily get that sort of understanding and comprehensive approach in a company that is not physician-led.
In what way does being a Physician Advisor offer a unique opportunity to participate in patient care?
Erin Boyd: For me, being a Physician Advisor, I feel like has really allowed me to use my clinical training and knowledge in a whole new way. As an Advisor, I have an array of opportunities to be able to help hospitals get reimbursed for the work they're doing, be compliant with government regulations with regard to status and other regulatory measures and offer guidance to physicians and hospitals and how to help care for patients more efficiently. I'm not right at the bedside but I have the opportunity as an Advisor to really help with these big picture pieces that are so critical for patient care for hospitals being able to stay afloat, for hospitals being able to be compliant with the regulatory landscape that they're in, and it's really, really exciting when we think about the impact that we can have when we're with all of the work we do whether it's concurrent reviews, retrospective reviews, peer-to-peers, appeals, being involved in hospital committees regarding throughput and efficiency, the utilization committee and doing physician and revenue cycle education. Being an Advisor is really a great way to use that clinical training, married with other skills that focus on big-picture issues and help a bunch of patients and the hospital system all at once.
Based on your experience, which skills or qualities help a physician succeed in an Advisory role?
Erin Boyd: I think a successful Physician Advisor is somebody with a broad-based clinical background who wants to use that background and use other skills with it to tackle bigger picture issues. Issues that help the hospital stay afloat, help the hospital get reimbursed for the work that they're doing and help with good patient care and efficiency in addition to problem-solving. At Sound, we really take pride in continuous education as well and somebody who will do well at Sound is an advisor who wants to keep learning, wants to get engaged, and continue expanding their horizon and skill set.
