Primary Care Collaborative Presents Advanced Primary Care Practice Award
The Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) announced today the recipient one of its three annual awards for 2021. The awards recognize individuals and a practice in the primary care community that exemplify excellence in providing high-value primary care and shaping the policies that support such care. The award was presented during the PCC’s online working summit, being held Nov. 9 and 10.
“The PCC is very fortunate to be associated with these primary care champions,” said Ann Greiner, PCC’s President and CEO. “We congratulate this year’s honorees and thank them for their contributions to better patient outcomes, reduced health inequities and greater value during these challenging pandemic times.”
Advanced Primary Care Practice Award: Westminster Medical Clinic, Westminster, Colorado
The Advanced Primary Care Practice Award recognizes an organization that is an extraordinary primary care practice. This practice serves as a model for transformation through innovation as reflected in the Shared Principles of Primary Care, including patient- and family-centered, team-based care and high value.
Westminster Medical Clinic (WMC), established in 1952, is an independently owned practice serving 6,500 people. WMC uses a team-based approach that includes physicians, PAs, a nurse practitioner, a certified health coach, behavioral health professionals, a clinical pharmacist, and a Patient Advisory Council (PAC), all supported by medical assistants, care coordinators, program coordinators, technology, and administrative management. Multidisciplinary care teams hold monthly gatherings to develop comprehensive, shared-care plans.
At every visit, WMC patients are screened for depression, anxiety, and a new social determinant – loneliness. Clinicians incorporate serious illness conversations with families and loved ones. Home visits are scheduled for patients at their most vulnerable moments after hospitalization.
WMC initiated successful community partnerships with Denver Public Schools and the City of Westminster to teach a healthy lifestyles curriculum. The clinic has participated in practice-based research with the Colorado Center for Primary Care Innovation since 2008.
“If you want to see the future of primary care, look at Westminster Medical Clinic. It is the embodiment of the Shared Principles of Primary Care, which envision a patient-centered, team-based approach to delivering comprehensive primary care,” said Ann Greiner, PCC’s President and CEO. “The 350-plus organizations that have signed onto the Shared Principles have a model in Westminster Medical Clinic. Seeing the achievement of the Shared Principles’ vision is incredibly exciting.”
