Mike Flynn will be in the HOA Lounge on Tuesdays, May 15th and 22nd, to answer any questions you may have regarding the HOA's Disability Coverage.  Exiting residents who haven't met with him regarding their portability option, should make it a priority to stop in the HOA Lounge between 11:30 am and 1 pm, either day.

Lunch provided by Flynn Benefits.

The current Executive Board of the HOA wishes to announce and congratulate the following Executive Board members and Representatives for 2012 -2013:

• Michael Lanham, OB/Gyn, President
• Avi Giladi, Plastic Surg., Vice President
• Justin Junn, Ob/Gyn, Secretary
• Erika Dickson, Ob/Gyn, Treasurer

Representatives

• Melissa Roberts, Med/Peds
• Jack Li, Internal Medicine
• Gail Larsen, Internal Medicine
• Ketti Augusztiny, Family Medicine
• Dorothy Gotlib, Psychiatry

By acclimation and circumstance, the above are automatically considered elected by the membership; an election by ballot is not required. 

The next HOA Board Meeting is schedule for May 21, 2012 at 6:30 pm in Dining Room B of University Hospital.  It is open to all members who wish to attend.  Contact Robin Tarter for details.

The Financial Series being sponsored by the HOA still has openings. Meet with Financial Advisors, free of charge, for either one, two, or three evenings, of valuable information targeted toward residents

On May 17^th we will tackle debt management and what makes the best financial sense based on your individual situation.  May 31^st will see the workshop come to a close with a discussion on investments and tax strategies. 

Email Robin Tarter and reserve a spot for yourself and/or your spouse (significant other) to attend, but drop-ins are also welcome. Dinner provided.  We meet next to the UH cafeteria in Dining Rooms C and D at 6:30 pm.

P3 access for house officers is granted to some individuals by their departments, and is contractually granted to all house officers from 4pm to 9am throughout the week, and from 4pm Friday to 9am Monday.  People are intermittently finding themselves held at the P3 gate, unable to exit.

These are the phone numbers you can call if you find yourself in this unexpected situation:

• Monday through Friday from 7:30 am to 5 pm call 764-8291.
• Monday through Friday from 5:00 pm to 7:30 am call 764-7474.

“Prescription Drug Abuse in Washtenaw County,” Tuesday, May 15, at the Ann Arbor City Club, 1830 Washtenaw Avenue – 6 pm social hour, 6:45 pm dinner, and 7:30 pm program featuring Sean S. McCabe, PhD, Research Associate Professor, University of Michigan Substance Abuse Research Center and the Institute for Research on Women and Gender, and Michael Wissel, R.Ph Administrator, Michigan Automated Prescription System and Drug Control Administrator, State of Michigan.

This is open to ALL physicians in Washtenaw County, even those who have not joined the WCMS.  Call 734.668.6241 to reserve your spot.

The new sign says “No Cash Transactions Credit Card and MCard Only 11:30 am – 1:30 pm Monday – Friday”

This newly designated line, which is the furthest cashier, situated between serving lines 3 and 4, or the tenth cash register station, should get you out of the cafeteria faster during the lunch hours.  The improved signage should aid in this endeavor. 

However, as we all know, our guests are often times overwhelmed, and may not read the signs.  Your patience is appreciated during this transition.  Be aware that our colleagues in Support Services, to ascertain whether or not a dedicated MCard line is even necessary, are collecting data for the next three months about number of transactions in this line, as well as patient/family satisfaction surrounding such a line.

The Accreditation and Regulatory Readiness Council (ARRC) is ramping up for the next triennial Joint Commission survey for the hospitals and health centers, which will most likely occur in the first quarter of 2013.  Although the philosophy is continual readiness, there are some activities that need to occur to assure that the hospitals and health centers can present themselves in the most positive way.

The committee wants to convey that patient safety and the delivery of quality care is UMHHC’s primary goal.  Kathi Standish is seeking House Officer participation on this committee.  Click on the link below for more information on this committee.

http://www.med.umich.edu/i/quality/about/arrc_2008.html

If you would like to nominate a fellow house officer, or yourself, to run for the HOA Board, please contact Robin Tarter by April 30th at 5pm.

There are three open general HOA Board positions available for the 2012-2013 academic year, beginning July 1st.  Elections will be held in the first weeks of May.   All HOA members are elligible to run for board positions.  HOA Board members are asked to attend as many HOA board meetings (monthly) and Joint Operations Committee meetings (also monthly) as possible to best represent the house officers in the decisions those groups make.  As per the HOA by-laws, board members get the benefit of a refund of their HOA dues each year.

Goals for the upcoming academic year include continuing work on communications with members, website design and functionaility, more social events for members, and preparing for the upcoming 2013-2014 contract negotiations.  More about the HOA and Board can be found here and by contacting Robin Tarter (rtarter@med.umich.edu).

The HOA attempts to maintain exit information each year.  The 2012 exit information sheet can be downloaded here.  If you have other questions or think more information would be useful, please contact Robin Tarter.

The HOA has paired with The Centennial Group to create a three-part financial education series, free to all HOA members.

Every other Thursday in May, there will be a presentation in the University Dining Rooms C and D, with free food, to which all HOA members are invited.  Topics will include the following:

1. Financial Foundations -- Developing your Safety Net for a Secure Future -- May 3 at 6.30pm

2. Debt Management -- The Fundamentals of Managing Student Loans, Credit Cards, and Other Debt -- May 17 at 6.30pm

3. Investments and Tax Strategy -- Maximizing Your Investments for Long-term Growth and Playing the Tax Game -- May 31 at 6.30pm

The Centennial Group will also come give free lectures to residency or fellowship programs, and they often have dinners in Ann Arbor to discuss similar financial issues.  Their contact information can be found on their website.

• One 64GB, 11-inch MacBook Air ($1060)
• One 64GB new iPad with 4G/Wi-Fi ($879)
• One 16GB new iPad with Wi-Fi ($529)
• One of five 16GB iPod Nanos - ($158)
• One of twenty $25 iTunes gift cards

On the tails of the recent launch of housing.hoaumich.org, realtor access is now active.

The site was launched on March 1, 2012, and over the past month, almost 100 listings have been posted, and the board has received good feedback on the ability to find people interested in the listings.

Now, your realtors can access the site to view AND post listings.  Let them know!

Feedback on the site and requests for feature modifications are welcome and can be directed to Robin Tarter.

The Joint Operations Committee and the HOA board have worked together to create a simpler process for reporting garbled or missed pages.

In the event that the person who was to receive the page needs to call the paging operator (by dialing zero from an internal phone or 734-936-4000 from an external phone), then the paging operator will report the page centrally.

If you want to report the page yourself, proceed to www.hoaumich.org/garbledpage and fill out the simple form to report the problem.

All reported paging problems are worked up, and since the pilot of the form in early February, self-reported paging issues have led to new installations of antennas within UMHS.

Try out the form without submitting data at www.hoaumich.org/garbledpage-test/

The House Officers Association is sponsoring a social event at Dominick's on Thursday, March 29th fom 6:30 pm to close.  Dominick's is located at 812 Monroe Street - east of State Street on the north side of Monroe.  

Food and drinks will be provided by the HOA.  As a reminder, Dominick's requires a valid photo ID of all patrons.  If you have any questions, contact Robin Tarter at 734-936-9205.

As planned, the housing portion of the HOA website became active on March 1, 2012.

The site is open to incoming, current, and past house officers, and it is intended to help those individuals buy, sell, rent, or find renters.

Registration information and current listings can be found at housing.hoaumich.org.

Feedback on the site and requests for feature modifications are welcome and can be directed to Robin Tarter.

House officers are walking further to their vehicles after their shifts end than ever before.  All house officers should be aware that security escorts should always be available to escort you to your vehicle if desired.  The two programs below are also available: one provides an escort to your vehicle; the other provides a ride to a particular location or parking lot in several urgent/emergent situations.

S.A.F.E.WALK

S.A.F.E.WALK is a campus accompaniment service that functions as an alternative to walking alone on campus at night. Coordinated by staff at the Department of Public Safety (DPS), S.A.F.E.WALK escorts are free of charge and available to all members of the University community.

During the fall and winter semesters, the service is provided daily from 10:00 p.m.-3:00 a.m. Just call (734) 763-WALK (or (734) 763-9255) to request an escort. An employee from U-M Transportation Services will come to your campus location and drive you to your requested location (within a one-mile driving radius of Central and North campuses). During non-service hours, alternative service providers will be identified by DPS (contact (734)763-1131).

Emergency Ride Home

Free taxi rides can be provided in emergency situations for faculty, staff and students to return to their vehicle parked in remote lots or to any location (home, school, daycare provider, etc.). Eligible types of emergencies covered by the program include: personal illness, family illness or injury, unscheduled overtime or other mandatory work-related holdover, stranded carpool or vanpool riders. Fatigued house officers unable to drive home safely should also be covered under this program. The service cannot be used to get to work, for weather-related inconveniences, pre-planned appointments, personal errands or travel between University buildings (including residence halls).

The service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Use of the program is limited to six times per permit year.

To request a ride, call the Department of Public Safety at (734) 763-1131.

Because of recent parking changes, house officers are routinely having to park at parking structures further from the medical center.  These include the parking structures on Catherine, Ann, and Glen Street.

For safety and comfort reasons, in order to avoid house officers having to walk further than absolutely necessary in the dark or the cold in the early morning or late evening, the HOA has asked that all house officers be given access to the M-card reader at the entrance to the medical school beneath the Taubman medical library.  This access will be updated at least quarterly.  Any house officers having difficulty with access should contact Robin Tarter.

The route from the medical school to the UMHS medical structures can be seen on this map, along with the routes from the Catherine, Ann, and Glen parking structures to the medical school entrance.

At the HOA board's request, parking services at UM have provided the following, approximate fill times for the parking structures closest to the medical campus.  These do not include any surface spaces.  Full signs may still be intermittently non-functional.

The VA Affiliation Partnership Council (a.k.a. "Dean's Committee") has intermittently had house officer participation, but it has been many years since a resident attended on a regular basis.  The Council is actively seeking house officer participation at this time.

The group meets every two months on Mondays at noon, alternating between UM and the VA.  The dates for the rest of the 2012 calendar year include March 12 (VA), May 14 (UMHS), July 9 (VA), September 10 (UMHS), and November 19 (VA).

More information about the group and its goals can be found within the committee policy.

Please contact Michael Lanham if you are interested in serving on this committee.

The House Officer Mental Health Program is an independent program designed specifically for House Officers. Total confidentiality is guaranteed.

Beverly Fauman and Tamara Gay are the psychiatrists who staff the program. They have experience treating the full range of personal and work-related problems of physicians at all levels of training. They will begin with an evaluation that may lead to recommendations for a full range of interventions including different psychotherapeutic treatments and medication when appropriate.

Offices are located in the main hospital complex or in the Rachel Upjohn Building. They can arrange to meet you at times that suit your schedule. Services are available to you and to your significant other. House Officers may be seen for an evaluation and additional meetings with Drs. Fauman or Gay up to a total of five sessions at no cost. Documentation of these initial five visits is kept outside of the UM electronic medical record. If treatment beyond their care is needed (e.g., a referral to a sub-specialist or more than five visits with them), they will help you access and maximize your insurance benefits to continue with this program or to be referred to a qualified clinician in the community. House officers who have worked with Drs. Fauman or Gay and who would prefer to maintain privacy can be referred to community providers, but those community provider visits would be self-paid or billed to the house officer's insurance. Significant others may be seen for an evaluation and referral only at no cost.

You can contact the program at 647-9776 or 936-6366, pager #13728.

Several ED residents are working on organizing the following educational opportunity, and they wanted to make the general HOA constituency that all house officers are welcome to attend.

Registration is now available for the Great Lakes Wilderness Medicine Conference, taking place from May 31, 2012 to June 3, 2012 in Gaylord, Michigan. This conference features a keynote address on Space Medicine: The Ultimate Austere Environment by Dr. Jim Bagian, former NASA astronaut, veteran of 2 space shuttle missions, and U.S. Air Force flight surgeon. 

Information is available at these links:

http://www.med.umich.edu/em/education/wilderness/index.htm

http://www.med.umich.edu/em/education/wilderness/greatlakes-coursedescription.htm

Email Heather (cerovski@umich.edu) with further questions.

The HOA has been asked to spread the word that, just like house officer call-rooms are only for use by house officers, call rooms set aside for medical students are also only to be used by medical students.  This is the case for working or sleeping in the rooms.

Specific reference has been made to call rooms on the 8th floor, 5A, and 4A.

Otherwise, please do not work or sleep in medical student call rooms.  It is not in anyone's best interest to have the administration looking to say that the call rooms should be joint med student/house officer call rooms.

If there are issues with not having access to call rooms set aside for house officers or other appropriate places to work, please let the HOA know.  If you have questions about where the call rooms are for particular services, please ask.

The HOA Board is excited to announce that as of January 9, Robin Tarter has been selected as the new Administrative Coordinator for the UM House Officers Association. Stop by and see her in the HOA Office within the HOA Lounge (UH 2F210) any time. We will be working on formally posting her office hours in the near future and look forward to you visiting her with your questions, concerns, and comments on improving the house officer experience at UM. She can be contacted through Outlook or by phone at 936-9205. The board is looking forward to adding her as a significant asset to our team to improve and further our approach to communication with the house officers, working with the University administration, and implementing other board initiatives, including maintaining our web presence and formalizing a knowledge base (FAQs) for house officers.

Robin is a native Michigander, but has also lived in Georgia and Tennessee. She has two sons who attend college; one at Michigan State University and the other at the University of Toledo. In her free time, she enjoys golfing with her family and friends.

All active House Officers are automatically given “free” access to the Taubman Parking Structure, south deck (P3), from 4 p.m. to 9 a.m., Monday through Friday, and 24 hours on Saturday & Sunday. No U-M parking permit or parking fee is required. Parking & Transportation Services is given a list of current House Officers every July. We program the access on each individual House Officers’ Blue AVI permit, or if the House Officer does not have an AVI permit, the access is programmed on their Mcard.

To access the structure, enter through Lanes 9 or 10, and exit through Lanes 13 or 14. If you have a Blue AVI permit, the gate will automatically raise as you approach it. If you have no permit, you will need to swipe your Mcard in the onsite reader to raise the gate (all lanes have a card reader). To swipe your Mcard, place the card at the top of the reader, and swipe the card entirely through the reader (top to bottom) in a downward motion. The card should be face up when swiping (photo facing the driver), with the magnetic stripe to the left and inside the reader.

If you encounter any problems using this access, please contact the Parking Customer Services office at umpark@umich.edu or (734) 764-8291.

Note: No parking access currently outlined in the HOA contract will change when the new parking rules go into effect in early December.

In case you were wondering, you can't text patient orders.

If you're interested in this beyond the common sense nature of it, see this alert regarding physicians texting patient orders.

If you are aware of situations where this is happening within UMHS, please contact Maureen Thompson in the Office of Clinical Affairs with the situation so that UMHS can help find compliant work-arounds for those situations rather than using a non-compliant method.

If you don't put your HOA Lump Sum that is disbursed in November into a tax-deferred retirement account, your withholding from that paycheck may be artificially high. What does that mean?

Our accountants have put together a handout explaining what that means and how to make adjustments.

Remember that there will be UM Benefits Office representatives in the HOA lounge on October 25, 2011 from 11am to 1pm to answer all your questions, explain your options, and help you fill out the forms, along with a free lunch available in the HOA lounge as well. The forms are due on October 28, 2011.