Proactive Heart Health Management Through Primary and Specialty Care Collaboration

Published: January 28, 2022

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With American Heart Month rapidly approaching, now is the time to think about the proactive management of your heart health. One of the ways to get started with this is through collaboration with your Primary Care Provider. Primary Care Providers can help determine a variety of risk and lifestyle factors that contribute to your overall heart health and asses any lifestyle changes necessary to improve upon your health.
 
Eliance Health Solutions members have a unique advantage when managing their heart health because of the availability of heart experts within The Heart Group at Lancaster General Health and the coordination between those experts and the Primary Care Providers in the Eliance Network. Health plan members are encouraged to obtain screenings through their Wellness program or Primary Care Providers to determine risk factors and evaluate elements such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Primary Care Providers work to lower patients’ cardiovascular risk through helping them design an exercise routine, quit smoking and adopt dietary changes to manage their cholesterol and blood pressure. The Heart Group is available for consultation or for evaluating and treating patients that start to show signs of heart disease. 
 
If the patient needs coordination of care through The Heart Group, there are a variety of options available outside of a traditional office visit. The Heart Group bridges primary and specialty care with a collaborative mindset and offers a variety of ways to help patients receive the care they need. One of the ways they do this is with electronic consultations between Primary and Specialty Care Providers so that Primary Care Providers can access The Heart Group’s expertise while helping to minimize the amount of appointments a patient needs to attend. If the patient’s treatment cannot be handled through their Primary Care Provider, The Heart Group will step in to assist the Primary Care Provider with managing the patient. There is an emphasis placed upon treating conditions through a Primary Care Provider and referring the patient to specialty treatment through The Heart Group for things like high risk screenings, genetic conditions, advanced cardiac testing and therapies, and when the first line of treatment does not work.
 
As with all aspects of care under the Eliance Health Solutions health plan, the quality of care around heart health is top-tier. One of the initiatives of Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health is to ensure that patients are receiving the care they need from a Primary Care Provider and that routine items such as blood pressure are being monitored to demonstrate progress in the care received over time. The collaborative approach across the providers and dedication to quality of care ensures that members receive the right care at the right time. It is another advantage for Eliance Health Solutions members and helps to keep employees healthy and on the job while also helping employers to manage their medical spend.
 
To learn more about The Heart Group please click here.