University Health Connection: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Providing Healthcare in the 21st Century

Christopher G. Green, Pharm.D., Stephanie C. Cook, D.O., Mitchell A. Medow, M.D., Ph.D., Renee A. McCarthy, Pharm.D., Jane Brody, R.N., Marialice S. Bennett, R.Ph., FAPhA

The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio

Purpose

University Health Connection (UHC) is an interdisciplinary healthcare practice based on a unique wellness and prevention model that serves the employees at The Ohio State University. The mission of UHC is two-fold:

1. To promote the health of employees by providing easily accessible, innovative, high quality, and economically efficient worksite healthcare services;
2. To further develop a healthcare delivery model based on health promotion, prevention, and disease management utilizing an interdisciplinary team.

Description of the Program

Since the clinic's inception in the fall of 1999, the interdisciplinary team at UHC has provided both urgent and primary care healthcare, wellness and prevention services, disease management, advanced pharmacy services, and complementary and alternative medicine. With inclusion of several key stakeholders at the University, UHC was designed to include physicians, nurses, pharmacists, administrative staff members, and alternative medicine practitioners in a collaborative approach to providing healthcare. In traditional healthcare delivery models, communication between providers may be fragmented. In UHC, borders are shared and this aids in the delivery of care to patients.

Experience with the Program

In six years, UHC has been able to accomplish its mission through promotion of health and wellness, demonstration of improved clinical outcomes, and delivery of a unique educational model to students and residents. By performing health risk assessments (HRA), the clinic staff has increased awareness and detection of patients with undiagnosed diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and obesity. Additionally, the HRA tool has assisted in identifying patients who are diagnosed, but not at treatment goals. In the primary care setting, we have demonstrated outcomes that are above national standards for diabetes and hypertension. Commitment to patient care has allowed the clinic to become involved in a national pharmacy-based diabetes management initiative. Final outcomes of this initiative exceeded nationally comparable standards. Programs initiated by our students and residents have shown improvements in the management of hypothyroidism and patient awareness of antibiotic resistance. Utilizing a unique healthcare delivery model, our staff has been involved in educating 55 current and future pharmacists and 436 members of allied health disciplines.

Conclusion

Through innovative practice and the sharing of borders, UHC continues to promote and provide healthcare, wellness and prevention services, and improvement in the quality of the lives of our patients.

View a pdf of the poster from the Midyear Meeting (4.5mb).