SCAN Health Plan and UCLA Recognize Brown & Toland Physicians for Implementing Best Practice in Advance-Care Planning

LONG BEACH, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–SCAN Health Plan and UCLA Multicampus Program in Geriatric Medicine and
Gerontology (MPGMG) announced today the presentation of a Best
Implementation Award to San Francisco-based Brown & Toland Physicians in
recognition of its work in launching a comprehensive care program to
address advance-care planning for high-risk patients.

The program was one of five “best practices” in senior care that was
presented at the SCAN-UCLA Best Practices Summit held in Long Beach,
California, last November. Eleven of California’s largest physician
groups attended that event, which launched a unique collaboration among
physician groups and the health plan in an effort to advance best
practices related to senior care.

“The provider groups that participated in the summit and in the
subsequent coaching and program implementation are demonstrating how
healthcare organizations can effectively work together to improve
patient care,” said Romilla Batra, M.D., medical director for SCAN
Health Plan. “Adopting best practices is a critical step toward
improving health outcomes across entire populations.”

The comprehensive advance-care planning program adopted by Brown &
Toland was created by DaVita HealthCare Partners and honored by SCAN and
UCLA at the November summit as a “best practice.” In the months that
followed, SCAN’s Dr. Batra served as coach and liaison to Brown &
Toland’s internal implementation team, while Dr. Jay Thomas from DaVita
HealthCare Partners provided expert guidance.

“As a result of the presentation at the SCAN-UCLA Best Practices Summit,
we realized we needed a better way to document advance-care wishes,”
said Pamela Laesch, M.D., FACEP, medical director for Brown & Toland.
“Through a collaborative effort with SCAN and DaVita HealthCare
Partners, as well as the work of our own cross-functional implementation
team, our nurse managers are now more prepared than ever to have these
important discussions with high-risk patients and their families, and
are now able to document the patients’ wishes on their electronic
medical records.”

Motivated by the aging of society, new payment mechanisms and greater
consumer awareness, the healthcare industry is witnessing increasingly
creative collaborations between health plans and physicians. In addition
to its sponsorship of the Best Practices Summit, SCAN is committed to
developing affordable programs and products that meet the needs of
Medicare beneficiaries, conducting research into best practices in
geriatric care (and then sharing that information across the industry),
and adopting improvements in administrative efficiencies between health
plans and provider partners with a particular focus on data exchange to
support better systems of care and service.

SCAN Health Plan is one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit Medicare
Advantage Prescription Drug plans currently serving 170,000 members in
California and Arizona. Further information may be obtained at scanhealthplan.com
or on Facebook at facebook.com/scanhealthplan.

Since its inception in 1979, the UCLA Multicampus Program in Geriatric
Medicine and Gerontology (MPGMG) has been recognized as a national
leader in providing clinical care for older persons, teaching physicians
and other health professionals how to better care for older persons, and
conducting research aimed at improving the health and independence of
older persons. With over 65 full-time faculty members representing many
disciplines, the UCLA MPGMG is one of the largest academic geriatrics
programs in the world. http://www.geronet.ucla.edu/.

Y0057_SCAN_9397_2015 IA 09102015

Contacts

for SCAN Health Plan
Ross Goldberg, 818-597-8453, x-1