hx AGENDA
Conference Agenda
This year’s highly anticipated conference centers around understanding the full story of your audiences by fusing the cutting-edge capabilities, data, and technologies transforming healthcare.
Wednesday, February 5th
08:30 am–09:30 am - Breakout Sessions
Nursing Leadership
Clinician Patient Relationship Council – Engaging Physician Leadership in Program Development
Clinician Patient Relationship Council – Engaging Physician Leadership in Program Development
Breakout Sessions- Christopher Fonseca | Program Director, Clinician Patient Relationships | UCLA Health
- Evelyn Curls, MD, MBA | Vice Chair of Ambulatory Medicine, Clinical Chief of GIM/HSR | UCLA Health
Attend this session to learn how UCLA formed an effective clinician patient relationship council to engage physician leadership. The program was responsible for the construction, implementation, and management of three new physician-led, multi-disciplinary committees, with the intention to build a strong collaboration between the Office of Patient Experience and our physician colleagues. Strategies were aimed at areas of opportunity including process for addressing patient behaviors, infrastructure for physician transparency appeals and enhanced tools for communicating with the Office of Patient Experience. We empowered our physician colleagues and leveraged their leadership strategies to help develop and evolve our Patient Dismissal Committee, Safety Alert Committee, and Physician Comment Appeal Committee in addition to UCLA Health System policies and practices associated with each committee and our extensive continuum of care.
HX25 Main Conference
Christopher Fonseca
Program Director, Clinician Patient Relationships
UCLA Health
Evelyn Curls, MD, MBA
Vice Chair of Ambulatory Medicine, Clinical Chief of GIM/HSR
UCLA Health
Christopher Fonseca
Program Director, Clinician Patient Relationships
UCLA Health
Chris Fonseca is the Program Director of Clinician Patient Relationships within the Office of the Patient Experience Department. As Program Director, Chris constructed, implemented, and manages three new physician-led, multidisciplinary committees aimed at addressing patient conduct, infrastructure for physician transparency appeals, and enhance tools for communicating with the Office of Patient Experience. Chris earned his B.S. in Biology from UCLA before starting his career with UCLA Health as a volunteer Spanish interpreter. Soon after, Chris pursued his passion for helping patients by taking on a role as a patient advocate within the Office of the Patient Experience. Chris’s compassion and experience in mitigating and resolving challenges between patients and their providers proved to be paramount in his new role as Program Director of Clinician Patient Relationships.
Evelyn Curls, MD, MBA
Vice Chair of Ambulatory Medicine, Clinical Chief of GIM/HSR
UCLA Health
Dr. Evelyn Curls is the Vice Chair of Ambulatory Medicine for the Department of Medicine (DoM) and Clinical Chief of the UCLA Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research (GIM/HSR). She leads collaborative clinical practices across all DoM primary care and specialty ambulatory services. Her responsibilities encompass supervision and operational oversight of the DoM’s ambulatory healthcare delivery for over 100 multi-specialty and primary care clinics throughout Southern California and the Central Coast. She has a key role in building and optimizing clinical infrastructure, physician management and recruitment, professional development, and community engagement through local and regional representation of UCLA Health’s clinical and strategic interests. A Los Angeles native, Dr. Curls earned her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from USC and simultaneously completed her M.D. and MBA at UCLA. Before residency, she consulted for Johnson & Johnson and AMREF Health Africa, advising clinics on financial and operational strategies in the U.S. and Sub-Saharan Africa. Her work included strategic planning for Federally Qualified Health Centers and HIV/AIDS-focused hospitals. In her clinical practice, she specializes in providing culturally competent care to a patient panel largely composed of women of color. Dr. Curls has served on the Executive Board of the Department of Medicine Professional Group (DMPG), ultimately becoming President and focusing on physician wellness. She implemented sustainability blocks to provide clinical faculty with greater schedule flexibility. Additionally, she collaborates with the Office of Patient Experience to enhance patient dismissal policies and chairs the Patient Safety Alert Committee, ensuring safety against workplace violence.