Team-based care is value-based care

According to a 2022 study from the University of Chicago, physicians would need nearly 27 hours each day to provide guideline-recommended primary care. This is obviously impossible, and we know the standard care model has resulted in a complex, fragmented healthcare system that doesn’t work as well as it must for patients or doctors. But that same study found that team-based care reduced the time a physician needed to deliver care by 18 hours a day.

Thanks to integrated care teams of pharmacists, behavioral health specialists, nurses, community health workers, social workers and medical assistants, physicians need a little more than nine hours a day (compared to 27). THAT is much more doable – and this is only the launching point for additional investments that CenterWell Senior Primary Care is making to enable our frontline clinicians to prioritize the patient-facing work that is so meaningful and important. Doctors who work alongside our entire care team are more effective – and more attentive to the factors that impact our patients’ health because the team works together to address all the factors affecting our patients’ well-being.

CenterWell provides comprehensive, personalized care to our seniors. Doctors and nurse practitioners have smaller patient loads, which results in more time spent with each patient – up to 50% more than a standard appointment. This additional time allows for building a deeper, more trusting relationship that both the provider and patient want. It means doctors and nurse practitioners can address all their patients’ questions and concerns, not just the one issue that brought them into the office that day.? It means extra time for difficult or confusing conversations, like planning for end of life, understanding complex conditions, and learning about the non-medical barriers to better health.

Here are just a few examples of how CenterWell’s team-based care approach delivers personalized, integrated care that improves patient experience, quality and outcomes.? This is just a small sampling of the stories that I have the privilege of hearing every day.

Achieve Lifelong Goals

Longer appointments mean patients have the time to share information with doctors that is meaningful to their overall health. Dr. Giavonne Rondo , a CenterWell physician in Clarksville, Ind., discovered that one of her patients never learned to read, despite it being a lifelong goal. She made it her mission to help him, connecting the patient with a care team member who provided him with resources to get him on the road to reading.

A wonderful example of team-based care putting patients whole health first – learning to read will be life-changing for this senior.?

Collaborative Spirit

Dr. Ovidiu Ghita, CenterWell physician in Lebanon, Tenn., recently teamed up with an orthopedic doctor he met at his center’s grand opening . When a patient needed urgent surgery, Dr. Ghita and the orthopedist got the patient directly admitted to the hospital rather than having to send them to the emergency department for evaluation and hospital admission. The collaboration continued, ensuring that the CenterWell care team was able to ensure that all required services were in place for the patient’s return to home.? The collaborative spirit of CenterWell’s care model prioritizes holistic patient care. Together, Dr. Ghita and the orthopedist went the extra mile, keeping each other updated on the patient’s progress.

This patient story shows the power of team-based care, while freeing up our doctors’ time to work with specialists to quickly get patients the care they need.

Culture of Care

Dr. Katrina Powers, CenterWell physician in Independence, Mo., shared the story of a long-time patient who was struggling to deal with her son who has behavioral issues and had been living with her off and on over the last few years. Dr. Powers referred the patient to one of our licensed clinical social workers, Cristina Ramirez, for counseling. The next time Dr. Powers saw her patient, the patient raved about Cristina. She said she’d helped her tremendously and taught her new things about her son’s condition that allowed her to better care for her son, who had been noncompliant with his medications. Her son happened to be a prior patient of Dr. Allison Medlin, another CenterWell physician, and Janelle Brown, a front office assistant, was able to get the son in quickly for an appointment with Dr. Medlin. Carla Schreiber, also a front office assistant at CenterWell, helped him with transportation the day of the appointment when his scheduled ride was canceled. The patient told Dr. Powers how the entire team took the time to listen to her and help her and her son, from Janelle to medical assistants Nikki Irwin and Monica Taylor, to Stephen Dyson, the center administrator.

This is the level of care our team-based model can provide. THIS should be the standard.

Championing value-based care has been a significant part of my career. Whole-person care that takes into account patients’ physical, emotional and social health is the future of care. I believe CenterWell’s team-based care model maintains that patient-first focus and is the gold standard for doctors who want to practice medicine like they always imagined in medical school. More clinicians are looking to us, because we provide them with the path and tools they need to do what they love: caring for patients.

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