Sage Family Medicine is Your Patient-Centered Medical Home

In 2004, the Future of Family Medicine Project published a report that represented the findings from many years of research in the field of practice improvement. The aim of this research was to find out what Americans wanted from their primary care healthcare provider, and how we physicians could provide that in the best, most efficient and cost-effective way possible. From that report came the recommendations for a new model of Family Medicine –the patient-centered medical home. Sage Family Medicine embodies that new model.

What are the ways in which this new model is different from the traditional model of primary care? First and foremost is the shift in focus of the medical practice from one that is centered on the doctor. At Sage, you, the patient are center stage. We are putting systems in place that support a continuous healing relationship between you and your healthcare team. 

Rather than creating a schedule that makes it impossible for you to see your doctor when it is convenient for you, we offer open-access scheduling. That means that you call (or request an appointment through the patient portal) the day you need to be seen, or a few days ahead of time, rather than having visits scheduled at rigid intervals months ahead of time.

By using our patient portal, we make it possible for you to communicate with your healthcare team when it is convenient for you. Rather than waiting on hold or routing through a long telephone tree to speak with someone (often, only be told to leave a message at the end), non-urgent communication can be handled through a secure email system. You can request an appointment, a drug refill, or review labs, or even have a virtual visit from wherever you access the internet at any time. This also means that when you need to talk to someone live at the office, they won’t be tied up with other non-urgent calls and can attend to you promptly.

Integrated with the patient portal is a state-of-the-art electronic health record. With the push of a button, your physician can alert you to any recommended health screening activities. There are no more lost or damaged paper charts in our office, and no more wasted paper (which is good for the planet, and therefore good for you).

In the traditional model, chronic disease management and health promotion was often haphazard and disorganized. Our electronic health record helps your healthcare team to insure they provide you with the most up-to-date, evidence-based care available. Where quality of care was only an assumption in the traditional model, our systems allow us to check how we are doing and make timely improvements when they are needed.

At Sage Family Medicine, we are doing research in the field of primary care, as well. Rather than being passive consumers of medical literature, we are creating the new data that improves the care of our patients and our community through participation in the American Academy of Family Physicians Practice-Based Research Network.

All of this only adds to our ability to spend the personal time with you that you deserve. In the end, we just want to be the best healthcare team that we can be for our patients. The core values of family medicine are the heart of our new practice model. We want you to have the experience of feeling that you have a home for all of your healthcare needs, a home where you know not only your doctor, but your entire healthcare team, where you feel safe and well cared-for; a place where you can get most of what you need from your healthcare, and where services that are not offered are coordinated and integrated into your care as a whole person.

Services Offered
Health care maintenance and preventive care for all ages and both sexes.

• Well baby and child exam and vaccinations
• Pediatric developmental screening
• School/Athletic Participation Physical Exam
• Adolescent/Teen Health
• Family Planning Services
• Well Woman Annual Exam
• Adult Man’s Physical Exam And Screening
• Welcome to Medicare Exam
• Routine Geriatric Health Maintenance

Acute Care

• Sprains/Strains/Lacerations
• Illness

Family-Centered Maternity Care

• Prenatal Care
• Labor and Delivery (Seton Williamson or St. David’s Round Rock Medical Ctr.)
• Newborn Care

Chronic Disease Management

• Diabetes
• High Blood Pressure
• High Cholesterol
• Coronary Artery Disease
• Peripheral Vascular Disease
• Congestive Heart Failure
• Asthma
• Thyroid Disease
• Others

Inpatient Care at Seton Williamson or St David’s Round Rock Medical Center

Nursing Home/ House Call

Virtual Visits via Patient Portal

Insurance Accepted
Most major insurance accepted, including:

• Blue Cross Blue Shield
• Humana
• TriCare
• Seton Physician Hospital Network Groups
• PHCS Groups
• Aetna
• United
• Capitol Area Insurance Groups
• Medicare (pending -anticipate 01/2008)
• Medicaid (pending –anticipate 02/2008))
• And many others –please call with questions