ChenMed invests $500,000 on “Serving and Giving Day”: underwrites 9,000 pre-Thanksgiving volunteer hours in eight states
MIAMI (PRWEB) November 20, 2019 -- ChenMed, a leader in primary care operating some 60 medical practices serving Medicare-eligible seniors in eight states, announced that its more than 2,300 employees today will be volunteering in large and small groups for diverse organizations providing vital community services in 14 cities. The community-focused company is investing $500,000 to underwrite 9,000 “Serving and Giving Day” volunteer hours, with activity occurring between 1:00 and 5:00 PM.
“We’re a privately-held company that’s led by physicians, and we care deeply about each of the communities where our seniors are thriving” says Christopher Chen, M.D., ChenMed CEO. “This afternoon, we’ve arranged to have our executive team, clinical leaders, primary care physicians and every team member focus on relationship building and giving back. We are looking forward to making a difference by doing much needed volunteer work for some truly outstanding service organizations.”
Underscoring this sentiment, Stephanie Chen, ChenMed Chief Legal Officer, notes that “I met my husband, Chris, doing community service together many years ago in Nicaragua, and our family’s commitment to doing God’s work is still strong.”
“Yes,” she added, “today’s ChenMed 'Serving and Giving Day' represents a massive investment that few companies are able to do. But, everyone at ChenMed knows the importance of serving others and giving back. We have a diverse and passionate workforce and we are blessed to be able to share some of what we have with others. ChenMed is a truly special place to work because of the people we work with and the patients we serve.”
Decades of ChenMed Community Service
Notable examples of community service for the rapidly-growing medical practice include:
- Decades of traveling doctors to Nicaragua to provide free medical services to people living in the poorest nation in Central America and second poorest in the Western Hemisphere
- Partnering with nonprofits to distribute more than $1.5 million in enhanced-audio phones to hearing-impaired seniors during the past 18 months
- Sponsoring monthly Salvation Army Mobile Food Pantry for Seniors events having distributed more than $500,000 in nutritious foods to improve health for people living with food insecurity
- Certifying hundreds of low-income seniors to receive monthly food boxes funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Commodity Supplemental Food Program
- Inviting thousands of at-risk, non-patient seniors to benefit from courtesy medication reviews and complimentary diabetes screenings provided as a public service by ChenMed primary care clinicians
- Sponsoring a Meals on Wheels distribution of more than $20K in Hurricane Preparedness Kits to Miami Seniors immediately before Hurricane Irma
Value-based Care Pioneer and Champion
The proven ChenMed approach to primary care is simple and vital to Medicare-eligible seniors, many of whom are living with major and multiple chronic health challenges. ChenMed primary care physicians average 10 times more face-to-face time with their patients than a typical physician does.
Instead of the national average of just 20.3 minutes of direct time yearly with patients, ChenMed patients in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia benefit from average time with doctor exceeding 200 minutes annually. The more doctors see their patients, the better they know them. And the better they know them, the better chance they have of helping them stay healthy by catching small issues before they turn into big ones.
Important personalized care benefits for ChenMed patients include:
- Door-to-doctor transportation, if necessary.
- Having the cell phone number for his/her ChenMed primary care physician for timely and informed help whenever a health concern might arise.
- Unlimited visits, including walk-in appointments.
- On-site cardiology, medication dispensing, imaging, labs, acupuncture, and more.
- Healthy lifestyle classes.
- Almost all costs of care covered by fixed Medicare and/Medicaid reimbursements that are enhanced by Medicare Advantage supplemental insurance.
About ChenMed
For seniors most in need of care, high-quality health care often is beyond reach. ChenMed brings concierge-style medicine — and better health outcomes — to the neediest populations. ChenMed is a privately owned medical, management and technology company that currently operates 59 primary care medical practices for diverse populations of seniors. Its brands include Chen Senior Medical Center, Dedicated Senior Medical Center, and JenCare Senior Medical Center.
Results of its high-touch approach to primary care are impressive, as illustrated in the Modern Healthcare cover story (Oct. 20, 2018), which reports, “Indeed, ChenMed's approach has resulted in 50 percent fewer hospital admissions compared with a standard primary-care practice, 28 percent lower per-member costs and significantly higher use of evidence-based medications.” Inspired by ChenMed chairman and founder James Chen, M.D., Ph.D., the company has been serving low-to-moderate-income seniors with multiple complex chronic conditions for over 30 years.
James Brown, ChenMed, http://chenmed.com, 305-310-7214, [email protected]
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