In its ongoing quest to continually improve the quality and accessibility of health care it provides to its patients, Riverside Medical Clinic has launched a new team-based primary care initiative, My Care Team, which will be in place for all patients by summer 2013.
My Care Team is a team-based health care delivery model led by a primary care physician that provides comprehensive and continuous medical care to patients to realize maximized health outcomes. Its defining principles have been established through scientific studies and developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), American College of Physicians (ACP), and American Osteopathic Association (AOA), among others.
“This new model of primary care is patient-centered and includes the innovation of including patients’ families in their care plans,” says Dr. Steven Larson, CEO and chairman of the board of Riverside Medical Clinic. “The model is of comprehensive, coordinated care that places a premium on accessibility, quality, and safety, putting the patients’ best interests first and foremost.”
The goal of My Care Team is to provide much quicker access to health care, continuously improve quality, make sure fragile patients get the care they need in a timely fashion, and coordinate care by having a single physician in charge of a team of health care providers.
The initiative’s patient-centered orientation is relationship-based, and focuses on partnering with patients and their families. Most patients will see no change in their primary physicians. They will be supported in learning to manage and organize their own care at the level they choose, and recognized along with their families as core members of the care team who are kept fully informed in establishing care plans. The goal is to reduce hospital visits, improving quality of care and quality of life for patients while also reducing medical costs.
Each RMC care team will group four to five physicians with a Nurse Practitioner, licensed vocational nurse and/or medical assistant, receptionist/scheduler, personal care coordinator, neighborhood specialists, and the patient’s family or caregiver.
“Riverside Medical Clinic already meets or exceeds national standards of care in almost every area, but we can always do better,” says Dr. Larson. “Healthcare is a competitive field, and we need to be innovators. My Care Team has been in development for several years, and all large medical practices across the country will adopt a version of it, if they haven’t already. In the Riverside area, we are one of the first to embrace this concept. The Department of Health and Human Services is driving a national effort to provide proactive preventive care, based on proven studies that early care leads to better outcomes. Transitioning to My Care Team will be an evolving process to make sure the services we provide are of value and our patients are healthier and happier–that’s the ultimate goal of healthcare.”
About RMC
Established in 1935, Riverside Medical Clinic includes four locations, a state-of-the-art outpatient surgery center, three urgent care centers, two laboratories, and a comprehensive center for diagnostic imaging and nuclear medicine. More than 130 physicians in 32 specialty areas provide adult and pediatric primary care, supported by a clinical and administrative staff of more than 750 personnel. The clinic was a Top Company award finalist in 2005 by the Business Press and was named 2010 Business of the Year by the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce.