Just one month shy of two years since the official groundbreaking ceremony, earlier this month we opened the doors to Penn Medicine University City, our newest outpatient facility that’s taking care delivery to a new level by encouraging patients to be actively engaged in their treatment.
A preeminent example of the collaborative model – developed using best practices from industry leaders in customer service, combined with patient feedback – is the Penn Musculoskeletal Center (MSK). Set to open on Monday, August 25, MSK offers a unique approach to treating orthopaedic disorders, injuries and other conditions of the joints, bones or muscles. On-site clinical specialties supporting the Center include orthopaedic surgery, rheumatology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, internal medicine, pain medicine, and therapy services.
“The Musculoskeletal Center offers a new approach to integrated care, and I don’t think anyone else is doing it locally or nationally,” said L. Scott Levin, MD, FACS, chair of the department of Orthopaedic Surgery. “The goal is to provide patients with the same world-class care they’ve come to expect at Penn Medicine, combined with added benefits and streamlined services to keep them engaged in their own care. When patients are involved and knowledgeable about their condition, their experience and care are improved.”
Upon arrival, patients visiting MSK will be escorted by a concierge to small waiting rooms which group patients according to specific conditions. For example, one “hub” is for patients with shoulder and elbow problems and another is for knee injuries. In keeping with the goal of providing patients with a more engaged and personalized experience, MSK also offers added services such as check-in kiosks, iPads preloaded with injury-specific educational material, and large flat screens in exam rooms making it easier for clinicians to explain x-rays or MRI results, or showing patient education videos between visits with specialists.
MSK also uses dedicated care coordinators, an innovative role in the health care landscape that provides patients with a single point of contact for scheduling follow-up visits, additional tests, referrals, and more. Previous studies have shown that having dedicated care coordinators who explain and follow up on patient care, dramatically improves the odds that a patient will remain actively engaged in their care and treatment.
Moving forward, Penn Medicine University City will serve as Penn Presbyterian Medical Center’s main site for ambulatory care. With six state-of-the-art operating rooms and more than 100 exam rooms – nearly half of which will be dedicated to the Penn Musculoskeletal Center – the facility expands the Health System’s outpatient services, which is essential to delivering a better patient experience. Faculty and staff at Penn Therapy & Fitness and the Surgical Center were among the first to occupy the new space and hit the ground running with sixty-two outpatient surgeries performed in the six new operating rooms, and over 850 patients visiting the new therapy and fitness center in the first week alone.
“Our expectation is this facility will help eliminate the need for patients to make multiple visits to different sites for outpatient care,” said Michele Volpe, CEO and executive director of Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, in an article from the Philadelphia Business Journal. “Having everything done in a single location where all the providers are located will make it very easy for those providers to communicate with each other. We see this [new building] as a good start to the future of how we expect to deliver care.”