Organizational News

Primary Care Expands to Meet Growing Need in East Bay

As more people in the San Francisco Bay Area have made Dublin their home, demand for medical care has steadily increased in the area. To accommodate this increased need, the Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s Dublin Center, located at 4050 Dublin Boulevard, is growing and expanding its services.

“Our patient base has grown from 6,000 in 2007 to 27,000 patients today,” said Katie Borgstrom, vice president of operations for Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s (PAMF) Alameda Region. “The current expansion of our Dublin Center will both fill existing need and help us grow to accommodate future demand.”

New medical services available at the Dublin Center:

• Allergy
• Audiology
• Cardiology and Cardiac Testing Services
• General Surgery
• Ophthalmology
• Otolaryngology (ENT)

Several of the current departments are expanding and moving to the third floor of the Dublin Center, including:

• Endocrinology
• Gastroenterology (GI)
• Internal Medicine
• Neurology
• Nutrition
• Obstetrics/Gynecology (OB/Gyn)
• Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
• Pulmonology

“We are excited to offer several new specialty services for children, including pediatric dermatology, endocrinology, ophthalmology and orthopedic care,” Borgstrom said.

Comprehensive health care services at the Dublin Center encompass primary care (pediatrics, family medicine, internal medicine) and a variety of specialties including dermatology, OB/Gyn, nutrition, physical medicine and laboratory and radiology services.

The PAMF Dublin Center features the latest advances in health care, including electronic health records, fully digital imaging services, same-day and next-day appointments with your primary care physician, and PAMF’s unique team-based model of patient care.

PAMF’s more than 1,000 affiliated physicians and 4,900 employees serve nearly 730,000 patients at its medical centers and clinics in Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties.

{ 0 comments }

Palo Alto Medical Foundation Honored by Integrated Healthcare Association

Five physician organizations within the Sutter Medical Network were honored this week by the Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA), a prominent industry leadership group that promotes and recognizes quality improvement and affordability in health care statewide.

The five Sutter affiliates receiving quality awards through IHA’s Pay for Performance (P4P) recognition program are:

San Francisco Bay Area

• Top Performer – Palo Alto Medical Foundation – Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group, serving Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Mateo and Alameda counties
• Most Improved and Top Performer – Palo Alto Medical Foundation – Mills-Peninsula Division/Mills-Peninsula Medical Group, serving San MateoCounty. Mills-Peninsula Division/Mills-Peninsula Medical Group is one of only three medical groups ranking as both Most Improved and a Top Performer statewide.

Sacramento/Solano Region

• Most Improved and Top Performer – Solano Regional Medical Group (now part of Sutter Medical Group), serving Solano County’s Fairfield, Rio Vista,Vacaville andVallejo communities, affiliated with the Sutter Medical Foundation. Now called Sutter Medical Group, Solano is one of only three medical groups ranking as both Most Improved and a Top Performer statewide.
• Top Performer – Sutter Medical Group, serving Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Nevada counties, affiliated with the Sutter Medical Foundation
• Top Performer – Sutter West Medical Group (now part of Sutter Medical Group), serving Yolo and Solano counties, affiliated with the Sutter Medical Foundation

“It is an honor to once again be recognized by IHA as one of the top performing medical groups in California,  said Laurel Trujillo, M.D., PAMF Medical Director of Quality.  “PAMF has been recognized every year since the P4P program’s inception in 2003.  In 2010, we expanded our patient reminder and outreach processes to make sure that every PAMF patient gets the optimal preventive and chronic disease care that is PAMF’s trademark.”

 “As the health care industry undergoes tremendous change, the organizations within the Sutter Medical Network dedicate themselves to meeting the health care needs of each patient – delivering care when, where and how patients want to receive it,” said Jeff Burnich, M.D., senior vice president and executive officer for the Sutter Medical Network. “IHA’s P4P awards reaffirm our commitment to consistently raising the bar on clinical quality, service and affordability.”

HOW IT WORKS

Each year, IHA determines the top physician groups that have demonstrated best overall performance for each pay for performance measure including preventive care and chronic care management, patient satisfaction, and use of information technology to support safer, more effective care. Top performing physician organizations in 2010 were identified by an overall composite score, based on their P4P domain scores, and compared against a comprehensive threshold calculated from the top 25 percent scores statewide for each P4P quality measure. 

Most Improved winners are determined by calculating the relative improvement for each physician group on the overall performance composite score for this year compared to the overall performance composite score for last year. In order to be eligible, a group must have improved performance in both clinical quality, IT-enabled systemness, coordinated diabetes care, and patient experience domains. The physician group in each of the eight P4P regions that has the highest improvement score for overall performance is recognized as the most improved group in that region.

According to IHA, approximately 35,000 physicians in over 200 physician organizations across the state participate inCalifornia’s P4P program.

MEASURING QUALITY

• Exceeding standards | Learn more about IHA and its P4P awards
• Accessing an integrated network of medical experts | Sutter Medical Network
• Partnering with patients to manage their health on-the-go | My Health Online
• Adopting an evidence-based model to deliver better, safer care | Patient Safety 
• Investing in lifesaving technology to enhance care at the bedside and beyond | eICU
• Finding efficiencies to make services more affordable |Health Care Costs
• Building healthy communities and giving back | Community Investments

 About the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and Sutter Health

 The Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) for Health Care, Research and Education is a not-for-profit health care organization that is a pioneer in the multispecialty group practice of medicine. Founded in 1930, PAMF is part of the Peninsula Coastal Region of Sutter Health, one of the nation’s leading not-for-profit networks of community-based health care providers. Sutter Health’s Peninsula Coastal Region also includes Mills-Peninsula Health Services. PAMF’s 1,000 affiliated physicians and 4,900 employees serve nearly 730,000 patients at its medical centers and clinics in Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. For more information, follow PAMF on Twitter, join us on Facebook or visit pamf.org

{ 0 comments }

The Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) is one of three medical group members of Sutter Health’s Sutter Medical Network recently rated as “elite” by the California Association of Physician Groups (CAPG) in its annual Standards of Excellence survey.

CAPG’s Standards of Excellence survey evaluates the features and capabilities of medical groups across California in four key areas to rate “the infrastructure of a healthcare organization…the tools, people, and processes” needed to deliver high-quality care, affordable care and a positive patient experience. The four domains include:

• Care management
• Health information technology
• Accountability and transparency
• Patient-centered care

“Our physicians and staff dedicate themselves daily to delivering superb medical care to our more than 700,000 patients, while striving toward improved affordability and continued innovation. This rating confirms that our commitment is yielding tangible results,” said PAMF Chief Executive Officer Richard Slavin, M.D.

“Over the past several years, doctors and other caregivers across Sutter Health have helped our network significantly transform how we provide care so that we’re bringing more value to our patients and communities,” said Jeff Burnich, Senior Vice President and Executive Officer of the Sutter Medical Network. “The Standards of Excellence survey shows us where we’re doing well…and where we may have opportunities to further improve health care quality and efficiency so we can continue to do our part to support fundamental change in health care delivery.”

The other two Sutter Medical Network members that received the Elite rating were Brown & Toland Physicians and Sutter Medical Foundation.

Physician organizations voluntarily participate in the Standards of Excellence survey. This year, 76 CAPG members collectively caring for 11 million Californians took part in the evaluation. For more about the survey and results, visit http://www.capg.org/home/index.asp.

About the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and Sutter Health

The Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) for Health Care, Research and Education is a not-for-profit health care organization that is a pioneer in the multispecialty group practice of medicine. PAMF’s 1,000 affiliated physicians and 4,900 employees serve nearly 730,000 patients at its medical centers and clinics in Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. PAMF is part of the Peninsula Coastal Region of Sutter Health, which serves patients and their families in more than 100 Northern California cities and towns. Sutter Health doctors, not-for-profit hospitals and other health care service providers share resources and expertise to advance health care quality and access. The Sutter Medical Network includes many of California’s top-performing, highest quality physician organizations as measured annually by the Integrated Healthcare Association. Sutter-affiliated hospitals are regional leaders in cardiac care, women’s and children’s services, cancer care, orthopedics and advanced patient safety technology.
For more information, visit pamf.org,  twitter.com/paloaltomedical, facebook.com/paloaltomedicalfoundation.

{ 0 comments }

James Hereford has been named the new Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF), effective June 20, 2011. PAMF Chief Executive Officer Richard Slavin, M.D., announced the important addition to the executive team.

 “Our goal is to provide real value for our patients – the highest quality medical care and service at a more affordable price.  The economics of health care are rapidly changing.  As a large, integrated medical organization PAMF is very well positioned to create innovative care delivery systems and adapt successfully in the continuously evolving healthcare environment.  James is the ideal candidate to direct this effort,” Dr. Slavin said.

[Read more…]

{ 1 comment }