Shared Medical Appointments—Key Factors for Successful Implementation

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - Nov. 12, 2013 - PRLog -- New Rochelle, NY, November 12, 2013–Group visits, also called shared medical appointments (SMAs), can offer advantages over traditional one-on-one patient-physician visits. However, few physician offices have successfully implemented this new care model. Specific factors to support SMA uptake are the focus of an article in Population Health Management, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Population Health Management website at http://www.liebertpub.com/pop.

“Overcoming Challenges to Adoption of Shared Medical Appointments” (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/pop.2013.0035) explores the factors that facilitated or hindered implementation of SMAs in three separate offices of a large multispecialty physicians group. Mary Honodel McCuistion and colleagues from Essential Anthropology (San Jose, CA), Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute (Mountain View, CA), University of California San Francisco, University of California Los Angeles, and Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation (Palo Alto, CA), coauthored the study.

“Shared medical appointments are an innovative way of speaking to a physician about health,” says Editor-in-Chief David B. Nash, MD, MBA, Dean and Dr. Raymond C. and Doris N. Grandon Professor, Jefferson School of Population Health, Philadelphia, PA. “SMAs are especially valuable to people dealing with chronic conditions, such as asthma, diabetes, and hypertension.”

About the Journal
Population Health Management is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published bimonthly in print and online that reflects the expanding scope of health care management and quality. The Journal delivers a comprehensive, integrated approach to the field of population health and provides information designed to improve the systems and policies that affect health care quality, access, and outcomes. Comprised of peer-reviewed original research papers, clinical research, and case studies, the content encompasses a broad range of chronic diseases (such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic pain, diabetes, depression, and obesity) in addition to focusing on various aspects of prevention and wellness. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Population Health Management website at http://www.liebertpub.com/pop. Population Health Management is the official journal of the Care Continuum Alliance (http://www.carecontinuumalliance.org/).

About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Journal of Women’s Health, Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, and Metabolic  Syndrome and Related Disorders. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website at http://www.liebertpub.com.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.    140 Huguenot Street, New Rochelle, NY 10801   www.liebertpub.com
Phone: (914) 740-2100    (800) M-LIEBERT     Fax (914) 740-2101