Dr. Florian is lauded for her work in going above and beyond the call of duty with conceiving, planning, coordinating, and implementing a mobile lab for homebound patients in need.
Dr. Florian’s primary care continuity clinic, Duke Outpatient Clinic (DOC), is a safety-net site for patients of Durham and outlying counties with Medicaid, Medicare, and often, no insurance. The clinic has an intensive case management program for the highest need patients (HomeBASE), consisting of team- based care with nurse case managers, social workers, medicine-psychiatry attendings, and a medicine attending. While the team is accustomed to stretched resources and often tasked with finding creative solutions to provide care, the challenges of the COVID pandemic, in addition to the physical barriers, created a unique set of challenges. Dr. Florian saw a tremendous need to reach homebound patients to provide care, so she conceptualized and launched the Mobile Lab Service.
Dr. Florian advocated and reached out to nursing and laboratory leadership at Durham Tech Community College as well as Duke University Hospital. She was instrumental in designing an initiative, obtaining buy-in, and coordinating the monthly schedule of patient visits with Duke Service Access, ambulatory case management and the lab. While maintaining her own rigorous training schedule, Dr. Florian worked and communicated with other participating residents to make sure they had all the information they needed. After a year of planning, Durham Tech Community College and the DOC successfully launched the monthly mobile lab service in August 2021 to reach homebound DOC patients' homes. The multi-faceted team consisted of Durham Tech faculty, learners, and DOC residents to conduct joint visits for assessments, lab draws and other evaluations. Since its launch, the mobile lab service has reached and provided care for more than 30 patients.
Dr. Florian’s exceptional community outreach has also created a rich interprofessional learning experience for DOC residents and Durham Tech learners. The successful community partnership has been called a “game changing collaboration.” Dr. Florian is often described as one of the finest physicians, always comprehensive and rigorous in her patient management and delivering compassionate care, while also quietly putting in motion the steps needed to address gaps in care delivery to communities with the highest needs. She doesn’t just talk about making her patients’ lives better, she finds a way and makes it happen.
As expressed by the Durham Tech Mobile Health Team:
"Preventative medicine...mobile version! Partnering with a Duke Outpatient Clinic, our team went to patient homes and provided medical care. This is the type of medicine we need more of because this is what will keep our patients safe and healthy. When the patient can't get access to you, you find a way to get access to them! We are excited to start this journey with Duke!"
The mobile lab collaboration with Durham Tech will continue beyond Hannah's graduation from residency. Durham Tech is on board with expanding the program, and three junior residents have stepped up to follow Hannah's lead to continue the work.