March 13, 2024
Lisa Talamantes, MD, physician owner of Coal Creek Family Medicine, joined Aledade in January 2022. Her small independent family practice in Louisville, Co., has a team of 38, including four physicians, four physician assistants and a robust support staff, who specialize in pediatrics, geriatrics and everything in between.
What motivated your practice to join an Aledade ACO?
Coal Creek has been involved in quality programs dating back to 2011. We have been a part of the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative (CPCI), Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC), CPC+, Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH), Primary Care First and now Aledade. We are a progressive group of physicians, always eager to find new and better ways to take care of our patients. We are committed to providing the highest quality care we can and like partnering with other practices and organizations trying to do the same.
Have there been any particular data insights that have been beneficial to your organization?
We have learned a lot about our practice through Aledade’s robust data collection and reporting. Aledade has helped us to look at ourselves more critically and to find ways to improve our care. We learned that we are not getting 20% of our patients in for Annual Wellness Visits (AWVs).
What unique strategies have you adopted since joining Aledade that have had a significant impact on your organization’s success?
We identified that we were not following Medicare’s guidelines for AWVs. We have since developed questionnaires for our age 65 and older patients to fill out prior to their AWV so we can address things such as memory, falls and advance directives. We have changed our appointments to separate AWVs from Chronic Care Management from acute care visits. In addition, we have started a walk-in clinic to help keep our patients out of urgent care, the emergency department and hospital.
How has being a member of an ACO changed the way your practice approaches patient-centered care?
Being a member of Aledade has encouraged us to keep working toward quality care and make sustainable changes in our practice. We have been working on this for years, but Aledade has been the most supportive and involved partner we have encountered.
Describe your long-term vision for your practice’s journey in value-based care.
My hope is that we, as a whole, are able to continue to find ways to improve our quality of care and to stay open to new ideas with enthusiasm and a sense of pride.
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