Having a life-long autoimmune disease, I am very familiar with doctors. And clinics. And hospitals. And doctors. And health insurance. And working with PAs and MAs and any other abbreviations you can think of. I’ve seen plenty of different doctors, in different health care providers, in different offices, across the state. In fact, I’ve even paid annual dues to be a part of a concierge medical clinic that ended up just being a drain in my pocket book instead of a way to be cared for more than an “average” patient. Needless to say, I’ve seen a lot in the medical community in Arizona. So when I had the chance to meet another group with clinic locations in the Phoenix area, I was happy to meet them and see what they have to offer our community.
Walking into the new OptumCare® Primary Care clinic in Moon Valley, I was surprised at how pristine the office looked. Granted, this is a new office, but there is art hanging on the wall for their cause-based art program. There are couches to hang out on instead of rickety chairs that smell like they’ve been in a doctor’s office since it opened. And that’s just the lobby. I ended up meeting with a marketing team member who sat down with me and explained how OptumCare locations function in Phoenix.
We walked back to the locker-room-esque private area away from patients – a place where providers can decompress away from patients. I was happy to pass by “offices” that were set up in open pods. These open pods house the doctor, PA, and MA within one open desk area. Instead of having to email back and forth, these providers actually talked to everyone – making communication a top priority. If the MA has a phone call from a patient, you can bet that it will be a quicker line of communication than most providers not set up like this! To me, it was a novel idea. It was actually nice as the patient to see everyone sitting together – working together, for their patients.
Finally, we went on a full tour of the Moon Valley location. Each room was outfitted with a standing desk for providers – a way to keep everyone on their feet and active. And get this – there was a DEXA scanner on site! Each room had new fixtures, including larger than normal sized plush chairs and even a scale that can accommodate wheel chairs. Accessibility to care, regardless of age or size does not seem to be an issue at this clinic location.
While talking to their marketing associate, it was easy to see their passion for the patients. I heard stories of patients receiving superior care, like a team coordinating an oxygen tank for a gentleman that was traveling across the country with a broken tank! Their care coordination team has a goal of keeping the patient happy with seamless, quality care – always! And I can’t wait to tell you about their community centers. These centers offer free fitness (body and mind) classes for seniors. I’m headed to one of their centers for a few classes myself and can’t wait to report back.
While the providers might be the driving factor for patients to visit an OptumCare location, the perks are definitely a plus for any patient. Having a provider in an OptumCare location means more resources for them – better and newer equipment that a provider outside of a network might not have access to. As a patient, that means better, easier, more accessible testing that can be done by my doctor, or the office staff, without having to go off-site.
The patient experience is definitely put first at OptumCare, as seen by the patient surveys that are publicly-displayed upon check-out. You can actually see how each doctor, PA, nurse, ranked on customer satisfaction surveys. I don’t even see fast food locations that provide information like that – although I’d love to.
The quality of care at OptumCare locations are seen throughout the clinic – from lobby to exit surveys. I’m happy to report back that there are still providers and patients that have access to quality care and quality service throughout Arizona.
This blog post is sponsored by OptumCare Arizona, but thoughts and opinions are my own.