ProHEALTH Care CEO Launches Bold Agenda of Patient-Centered Reforms Destined to Transform the Healthcare System

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., April 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Zeyad Baker, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of ProHEALTH Care, the largest independent, physician-run integrated health system in the Northeast, launches the 2019 agenda of patient-centric programs designed to dramatically improve the patient's experience, make healthcare more accessible, and offer quality medical treatments at an affordable cost. Dr. Baker's new 2019 agenda for ProHEALTH Care supports his vision to reinvent the healthcare delivery model and create the first health system that is truly patient-centered.

"We hear constant rhetoric of the broken healthcare model in the U.S.," said Dr. Baker. "Missing from the dialogue are solutions from the patient perspective, such as providing more hours to see a primary physician and not surprising them with hidden medical costs. ProHEALTH Care is putting itself in the patients' shoes and developing programs to meet their needs, improve delivery, lower costs, and achieve better outcomes."

Dr. Baker has already executed several programs as part of the 2019 agenda for the healthcare organization with other initiatives scheduled to roll out throughout the year. The first program, which launched in January, created the longest hours for primary care services in the northeast through the Extended Hours Center. Coupled with ProHEALTH Care's primary care services, patients can now receive continual access to medical care 365 days a year until midnight. Dr. Baker plans to expand the Extended Hours Center to open in other locations in the ProHEALTH Care network.

"As a practicing physician, I found that patients had one thing in common; they all got sick at different times," said Dr. Baker. "The Extended Hours Center is designed to provide patients with medical access when they get sick, so they can see a primary physician instead of rushing to an already overcrowded emergency room. This keeps patients healthy and it keeps costs affordable."

To increase accessibility to providers further, Dr. Baker launched the Care Coordination Center (CCC), a communication center designed to improve the patient experience in both the offices and on the phone. The CCC provides a technological approach to common communication challenges by redirecting incoming patient requests for office appointments, referrals, prescription referrals, and other practice-related needs to a consolidated center that focuses on patient communications. This allows the in-office staff more time and access to help patients with clinical care, manage patient flow, and overall improve the in-office experience. Since launching this year, the Care Coordination Center has answered over 100,000 calls with as many as 3,000 in a day, decreased abandoned calls (where callers hang up before the call is answered) to fewer than 1 in 10, and over 80% of incoming calls are answered in under 30 seconds. 

In addition to improving the patient experience and provide better access to medical care, Dr. Baker and ProHEALTH Care are focused on keeping patients healthy and providing preventive education, screenings, and resources to the community, which ultimately contributes to lowering healthcare costs.

"There is a misplaced focus on cutting investment in healthcare," said Dr. Baker. "It's not that we should spend less on healthcare, but that we should spend more wisely. If we focus our resources on improving outcomes and keeping patients healthy so they don't end up sicker and in an acute setting - that's an investment well spent."

"Traditional healthcare settings often expose patients to other illnesses and lead to expensive bills," said Dr. Baker. "If we want to lower costs, then it is paramount that we find ways to improve the overall health of our patients and of the communities we serve."

To improve population health and the wellbeing of the communities it serves, ProHEALTH Care launched the Parenting Lounge, a free educational series designed to help parents in the community improve their parenting skills and to keep their children healthy. ProHEALTH Care plans to expand the event catalogue to daily courses and programs. In addition to the Parenting Lounge, ProHEALTH Care has developed the PHamily Circle community health initiative, which will offer several wellness events throughout the year including a Women's Health Fair on May 11^th, 2019, and a family event later in the year.

Another unique initiative in Dr. Baker's 2019 agenda is the ProHEALTH Centers of Excellence. These centers will focus on specific medical areas, such as neck and back pain, diabetes, or children's learning challenges, and house all medical needs under one roof. Patients will have a full service facility that addresses all their needs in one integrated evaluation & treatment visit, rather than having to wait to schedule lab work and other medical services over several weeks or even months. Dr. Baker also plans to provide additional access to other ProHEALTH Care services and programs such as extending access to Ambulatory Surgery, Radiology services and ProHEALTH Care's Urgent Care facilities seven days a week until midnight.

Dr. Baker's 2019 agenda elevates ProHEALTH Care's philosophy of the "patient comes first". In providing compassionate care, improving quality of service, and having better access to healthcare when and where patients need it, ProHEALTH Care is introducing a new delivery model that is poised to change the future of healthcare.

About ProHEALTH Care

Established in 1997, ProHEALTH Care is the largest, independent, physician-run, health system in the Northeast. ProHEALTH Care is reinventing the healthcare delivery model through a patient-centric focus, which give its over one million patients the care they need, when and where they need it. With over 1,000 providers in 300 locations throughout Greater New York and New Jersey, ProHEALTH Care utilizes the most innovative, state-of-the-art technology, and evidence-based practices. ProHEALTH Care offers a full range of healthcare services including Urgent, Primary, and Specialty Care. With the addition of the Extended Hours Center, ProHEALTH Care offer the longest hours for primary care services in the northeast. Crain's ranked ProHEALTH Care as one of the top ten largest physician groups in the New York Metro area, and the largest physician group not affiliated with a hospital. For additional information, visit www.prohealthcare.com

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SOURCE ProHEALTH Care

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