American College of Physicians (ACP) Internist Magazine Recognizes
True North, an Integrative Health Center, for its Continuous Quality Improvement efforts
True North, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) integrative health care practice and research organization in Falmouth, ME is featured in the February 2010 edition of the American College of Physicians (ACP) Internist magazine for utilizing the ACP Patient Satisfaction survey for peer review and quality improvement.
Continually assessing and improving the patient experience is paramount to the success of any health care practice, and this uniquely collaborative center for cutting edge chronic disease management and prevention and Healing Arts in Falmouth, ME is no exception.
True North offers patients the integration of state-of-the-art medical care and evidenced-based complementary therapies along with time to position both provider and patient to identify and address the underlying causes of a challenge together, rather than just treating symptoms. True North’s on-site practitioners offer services that range from family medicine and cutting edge chronic disease management to many proven complementary services (e.g. chiropractic care, naturopathic medicine, acupuncture, and more). True North’s highly credentialed affiliate practitioners and collaborators offer a range of services from functional fitness training to psychotherapy to compounding pharmacy in satellite locations around the greater Portland area.
Working together to find quality assessment tools that would be appropriate for such a diverse array of services and practitioners, Dr. Joseph Semmes, True North’s Director of Research and Tom Dahlborg, True North’s Executive Director were particularly impressed with the Patient Satisfaction Survey developed by the ACP. As an ACP member, Dr. Semmes had access to the survey and received permission to modify the tool to include patient outcome-specific questions that are not only uniquely relevant to True North’s integrative approach but also key to true prevention, healing and wellness.
True North has benefited greatly from the data collected from the modified ACP survey and continues to leverage this data to provide information to patients, practitioners and staff alike in continued efforts to improve the health of individuals and communities. The results have helped True North practitioners consider how they are doing for patients in general and also in connection to specific health concerns such as eating better, sleeping better, smoking cessation, improved and smarter exercise programs and achieving optimal and healthy weight goals.
Of the results, Mr. Dahlborg said, “We have found wonderful opportunities to leverage the best practices from our practitioners focusing on the cutting-edge chronic disease management and prevention, from our more allopathic practitioners, and from our complementary practitioners. These areas include many of the key components assessed above such as the impact on sleep patterns and nutrition. And now, leveraging our integrative model, our practitioners are learning and sharing their best practices with one another in these and other areas to further help position patients for true healing.”
The ACP Internist magazine, which reaches 100,000 Internists, can be accessed online: http://www.acpinternist.org/archives/2010/02/success.htm.
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