Olympic Physicians Keeps Improving Services

By Rebecca Carpenter

 McCarty & Associates, Inc. "a marketing firm"

In the spirit of bolstering primary health care, Olympic Physicians will participate in a new collaborative partnership. The local clinic qualified among several across the state to participate in a two-year collaborative program, partnering with the Washington State Department of Health and Qualis Health, a private, nonprofit healthcare quality improvement organization. This, the clinic's fourth collaborative effort, will focus on developing a Medical Home model.

 "This innovative model for care delivery focuses on patient centered care. It is an honor for the clinic to be selected as one of the pilot test sites," said Bob Appel, Chief Executive Officer of Mason General Hospital, adding, "We extend our congratulations to OP for the honor of being selected for this learning collaborative to develop new patient-centered ways of providing care.  The Medical Home concept is receiving a great deal of attention as a model for future care delivery and there were many clinics interested in participating in this learning collaborative. It is a testament to OP's hard work and commitment that they were selected."

Olympic Physicians hopes to be one of the first to become a Medical Home clinic once it completes this collaborative, explained Pam Schlauderaff, manager of Olympic Physicians. Collaborative programs such as these often increase physician retention, she said. Olympic Physicians currently has eight medical providers offering a mixture of family practice and internal medicine at two locations in Shelton. As part of the collaborative, clinic staff will attend a number of intensive meetings dealing with topics such as better patient access and quality of service.

"This is a program that tries to restore the importance of primary care, which is a necessary part of health care reform," Schlauderaff explained. Health care reform also includes reining in costs, she added.

The Medical Home concept emphasizes establishing a primary clinic as a patient's "medical home," making health care more centralized, rather than fragmented, and improving the patient's medical experience, she added. It will involve linking multiple providers and specialties, as well as updating electronic communication between health-care providers and patients, Schlauderaff said. Olympic Physicians already uses cutting-edge technology in its clinic, she added. More information is available at: www.olympicphysicians.com and at www.doh.wa.gov/cfh/wsc/Med-Home/med-home.htm.

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