Hospitalist program up and running at UPMC Horizon
2012 to bring additional hospitalist physician to hospital and a new family medicine physician at Greenville Medical Center-UPMC
GREENVILLE, December 20, 2011– UPMC Horizon will kick off 2012 with a full expansion of its hospitalist program at its Greenville campus, which includes the addition of a full-time physician. At the same time, a new family medicine physician will join Greenville Medical Center-UPMC as a longtime medical staff member retires.
Thomas Pineo, DO, who has practiced family medicine at Greenville Medical Center-UPMC for more than 10 years, will join UPMC Horizon’s hospitalist program in January. He will join Paul Lange, MD, Roy Sartori, DO, Tanima Shaheed, MD, Debra Drapola, CRNP, and Emmy Burkett, PA-C, who are all part of the hospitalist program.
In a hospitalist program, a dedicated physician or group of physicians sees patients who have been admitted to the hospital. The physician or physicians then communicate and coordinate care with the patients’ family physicians, who see outpatients in the office.
UPMC Horizon adopted the hospitalist model last year in response to trends occurring both locally and nationally in health care. The program began at the Shenango Valley campus early in 2011 and expanded to the Greenville campus in the fall.
“While there are many goals associated with the hospitalist model, one is to enhance the availability of primary care services across our community. With the complexity of patients who end up in the hospital today, it's often very difficult for physicians to finish their work at the hospital and get to their offices on time. Enabling the physicians to be in their offices full-time increases their availability to their patients. At the same time, our hospitalists are able to spend as much time as needed to focus on the needs of the hospitalized patient” says Don Owrey, UPMC Horizon president.
“As we look to the growing demand for outpatient primary care services, I believe UPMC Horizon is becoming much better positioned to meet these needs in our community,” Mr. Owrey adds. “Primary care recruitment, particularly in rural areas, is becoming increasingly more difficult with new physicians seeking either an outpatient-only practice or a hospitalist position. The traditional primary care model, in which a physician practices both inpatient and outpatient medicine, is quickly going away."
Mr. Owrey also cited the recent introduction of electronic medical records in local UPMC Community Medicine Inc. (CMI) practices as an additional patient care enhancement. The hospital began using electronic medical records at the beginning of 2011.
“The adoption of the electronic medical record is a significant challenge. But we believe that the technology will play an important role in improving not only the quality of care being delivered, but also the patient's experience in accessing that care. Our EHR applications have the ability to connect patients with their medical information in ways that simply aren't possible with paper medical charts.” he says.
The hospitalist program and the full implementation of electronic medical records are not the only changes UPMC Horizon and Greenville Medical Center-UPMC face in early 2012. Victor Colaiaco, MD, who has practiced in Greenville for 33 years, will retire at the end of December, and Alicia Baker, DO, family medicine, will join Greenville Medical Center-UPMC in January.
Dr. Baker earned her medical degree from Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed a psychiatry internship at University of Arizona Health Sciences Center and a family practice residency at Phoenix Baptist Hospital, where she served as chief resident. Dr. Baker is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine. Her special interests include mental health, dermatology, and women’s health.
Dr. Baker joins family medicine physicians James Liszewski, MD, and Briana Yee-Providence, MD, and internal medicine physicians Todd Jones, MD, Troy Jones, MD, Philip Lee, DO, and James Perry, MD, at Greenville Medical Center-UPMC. To schedule an appointment with a Greenville Medical Center-UPMC physician, call 724-588-4240.