Improving Patient Care at AST Medical Clinics

Following the grand opening of our extraordinary Little Axe Health Center, there are some equally important changes happening to the way we will be delivering care throughout the AST medical clinics. Rest assured that like the new building, these changes are aimed squarely at providing increasingly better patient care. One new initiative is appropriately named Improving Patient Care (or IPC for short.) 

IPC was developed by the Indian Health Service (IHS) to fundamentally transform the quality of care it provides. While the IPC model is uniquely designed to improve the problems in Indian Health clinics, this approach is based on the best practices of the health care quality improvement field. Started under the leadership of former CEO Gary Wabaunsee and continued by the leadership of head clinical administrator and interim CEO Beverly Felton, our clinical staff has begun training and implementation of this exciting IPC model.  

While the effects of IPC generally start small and expand gradually, there are a few changes that you should expect to see in the next few weeks to months at our medical clinics…

1.)  All patients should have a PRIMARY CARE PROVIDER (PCP.)
Have you ever gone to an Indian Health Service clinic and waited to see whichever doctor was available? Well, hopefully those days are gone. It turns out that patients who have a primary care provider generally get better medical care and are healthier than patients who do not. This makes sense because the better your provider gets to know you and your unique health issues the better she or he can diagnose your condition and recommend the best treatment plan for you. If you come to one of our clinics regularly, you probably already have a PCP. If not, you will be asked to choose one. It is important that you know who your PCP is, especially if you go to many different doctors. PCPs serve many important roles, such as coordinating care between specialists and making sure you get the recommended preventive care services like immunizations and blood sugar tests. And remember, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

2.)We will be offering PRIMARY CARE TEAMS.
Providing good health care takes more than just good doctors. Nurses, diabetic educators, counselors and pharmacists all have to work together to provide you good care. And just like in a basketball team, a coherent health care team improves the longer they work together.  We will be making efforts to organize care around teams to help us to achieve the goal of your improved health.  

3.) We are becoming a PRIMARY CARE MEDICAL HOME. 
In order to provide you excellent service we encourage you to consider our clinic your medical home. This means that we strive to provide most of your primary care medical services (and also some specialty services such as podiatry, gynecology and psychiatry) all under one roof.  If you do choose us as your medical home, please consider us the “first stop” for your medical needs. Having a primary clinic makes it more likely you will also have a primary care provider and a primary care team that knows your medical history and personal preferences. In addition to these above changes, please know that all of our staff are working hard to improve the way we do things. If you have questions, concerns, criticisms or positive feedback about these changes, feel free to inquire with one of our staff members. For inquiries about IPC, feel free to email me directly at spierce@astribe.com