February 22, 2008
Palo Alto Medical Foundation Part of Innovative
Northern California Physician Network
The Palo Alto Medical Foundation, a Sutter Health affiliate, is part of a new Sutter Health network of more than 3,000 Northern California primary care and specialist physicians who are uniting around a common commitment to provide patients with more convenient access to consistently high-quality health care services. The Sutter Medical Network will have a presence in dozens of cities and towns across Northern California – from Sonoma County to the Central Valley and from Santa Cruz to the Mother Lode foothills.
By joining the network, physician groups commit to the rigorous process of working together to develop and follow clinical guidelines based on proven best medical practices, addressing nationally identified priorities for improving health care, seeking to improve affordability of health services and establishing standards for timely appointments and specialist referrals. Physicians will review and measure performance based on common and regular reports. All of these efforts will benefit patients, their families and the employers who often help pay for health insurance.
"The Sutter Medical Network was designed by physicians with today's discerning health care consumers in mind," said David Druker, M.D., president and CEO of Sutter-affiliated Palo Alto Medical Foundation who led development of the network. "The Sutter Medical Network will provide a consistent approach to delivering the highest quality medical care to patients, including clinical guidelines and medical treatments based on recognized best practices, and a common approach to making prompt patient appointments and referrals," Druker said.
While the words ‘Sutter physician' have always stood for quality, the Sutter Medical Network will more clearly define what it means to be a Sutter-affiliated doctor and how this benefits their patients and each other. Participating physician organizations will commit to best-practice approaches with an eye toward creating a more organized, patient-friendly system of care and delivering a more consistent experience - where and when patients need it.
In addition to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, the Sutter Medical Network will include physicians from other respected Northern California physician groups. Participating are all of Sutter Health's affiliated medical foundations as well as four well-known Northern California independent physician associations. Sutter affiliates include the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, the Physician Foundation at California Pacific Medical Center, Sutter East Bay Medical Foundation, Sutter Medical Foundation North Bay, Sutter Gould Medical Foundation, Sutter Medical Foundation, Sutter North Medical Foundation and Sutter Regional Medical Foundation. Participating independent practice associations are the Marin IPA, Alta Bates Medical Group, Mills-Peninsula Medical Group and Sutter Independent Physicians.
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