Tennessee Medical Foundation

The mission of the Physician's Health Program (PHP) is to protect patients through identification, intervention, rehabilitation, and the provision of advocacy/support for physicians impaired by addictive disease, mental or emotional illness. As part of that mission, the TMF also works to educate the healthcare and health professional community about impairment and wellness, as well as provide a variety of resources on both topics for the health professions it serves.

Our strategies are to:
1) Work with healthcare entities, health professional organizations, healthcare leaders, and medical school/training programs to identify individuals in need of assistance via via a 24-hour confidential phone and electronic response system.
2) Raise awareness about TMF services and resources via in-person and electronic presentations to medical residents and students across Tennessee, to practicing physicians at State Volunteer Mutual Insurance Company seminars, to medical staffs of hospitals, medical groups, faculty of medical schools, and to healthcare associations and organizations throughout Tennessee.
3) Develop resources that aid health professionals served by the TMF in connecting with the help they need, either on their own or through the TMF Physician's Health Program.

Our medical director and clinical staff are uniquely qualified to assist healthcare professionals in crisis while protecting the safety of the patients in their care. Our medical director is an expert in public health, mental health and addiction, and works closely with Tennessee health leaders to ensure TMF services are a known resource, and that various health professional audiences receive regular education about impairment and healthy practice. The TMF works hard to maintain a close relationship with the state's healthcare licensing boards, with the state's largest malpractice insurer, with state health professional and specialty associations, medical schools and health professional training institutions. Our organization's 43-year history and stature in Tennessee help ensure our capability to raise awareness and encourage partnership on the topics of health professional impairment and wellness.

Our program continues to see steady growth in requests for our educational programming, a continued increase in referrals of at-risk, struggling, and impaired individuals annually, and a sizeable increase in access to our new online mental health resource, the Tennessee Professional Screening Questionnaire, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to work in partnership with Tennessee's healthcare licensing entities to ensure the health and wellbeing of the health professionals we are contracted to serve.