“Summit Medical Group is focused on improving the quality of care and life for patients with co-morbid conditions, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” said Laura Balsamini, PharmD, BCPS, National Director of Pharmacy Services, Summit Medical Group.
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J. (PRWEB) April 16, 2018
Summit Medical Group announced today that it has been selected for a new initiative designed to find innovative ways to improve heart health for adults living with type 2 diabetes. This program, the cardiovascular disease (CVD) Cohort of the Innovator Track, is led by AMGA’s Together 2 Goal® campaign.
The Innovator Track’s CVD Cohort is a national program designed for medical groups and health systems to explore how providers can better identify and manage CVD risk among their patients with type 2 diabetes. During the 12-month initiative, Summit Medical Group, one of the nation’s largest independent physician-owned medical groups, will collaborate with 12 fellow medical groups and health systems; a clinical advisory committee; and AMGA to develop and implement care processes for improvement and track accompanying metrics.
“Summit Medical Group is focused on improving the quality of care and life for patients with co-morbid conditions, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and is proud to actively collaborate with AMGA to achieve meaningful outcomes,” said Laura Balsamini, PharmD, BCPS, National Director of Pharmacy Services, Summit Medical Group.
This initiative is a part of the national Together 2 Goal® campaign, supported by AMGA Foundation, which the association launched in 2016 with a goal of improving care for 1 million people with type 2 diabetes by 2019. Campaign participants report on and aim to improve standard type 2 diabetes measures, including blood sugar control, blood pressure control, lipid management, and testing for kidney disease. With the launch of the Innovator Track, the campaign is expanding its focus to explore other areas of treatment and measurement that could improve outcomes for patients with diabetes.
“As part of our mission to advance high performance health, AMGA wants to understand how providers can improve care to address CVD risk among people with type 2 diabetes in order to share that knowledge with AMGA members and the broader healthcare community,” said John W. Kennedy, M.D., chief medical officer at AMGA and president at AMGA Foundation. “We’re thrilled that Summit Medical Group has joined us to help achieve this goal.”
Approximately 30 million Americans and an estimated 415 million people worldwide have diabetes. People with diabetes are up to four times more likely to develop CVD than people without the disease. Annual medical expenses for people with diabetes total $245 billion (Source: American Diabetes Association), and costs for CVD are projected to rise to more than $1 trillion by 2035 (Source: American Heart Association).
“The common thread that runs through the groups selected for the Innovator Track’s CVD Cohort is that they are all leaders in improving diabetes care,” said Dr. Kennedy. “We’re grateful that—thanks to the support of Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company—we can work with Summit Medical Group and others to develop innovative care management strategies to improve the lives of people with type 2 diabetes and CVD.”
About Summit Medical Group
Founded in 1929, Summit Medical Group is the largest and oldest physician-owned multispecialty medical practice in New Jersey with more than 80 locations in seven northern New Jersey counties. Summit Medical Group has comprehensive care facilities in key locations: Berkeley Heights, Florham Park, Livingston, Westfield, Clifton and Fair Lawn. Summit Medical Group provides nearly 800 practitioners who cover more than 80 medical specialties and services, and who are focused on a patient-centered and coordinated approach to care. Recognized as the premier multispecialty medical group serving patients in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area, Summit Medical Group is the first independent multispecialty physician group in the country and the only healthcare provider in northern New Jersey to offer patients access to the world-renowned MD Anderson Cancer Network®. For more information, visit http://www.summitmedicalgroup.com.