Looking to create ‘Medical Home’
Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.
In 2001, Dr. Rock Helms — not too far removed from medical school — founded a practice in his hometown of Pell City. By 2015, it is setting a new standard in health care for the entire region.
Construction crews are putting the finishing touches on Northside Medical Associates’ latest venture, a state-of-the-art imaging suite, and plans by Williams Blackstock Architects for another phase of the burgeoning practice is on the drawing board. It will be a 40,000-square-foot addition that is a joint venture with a diverse group of specialists.
The Northside partnership of Helms, Dr. Michael Dupre’ and Dr. Bob Whitmore is on the move to make Northside what Helms describes as a “medical home” for the region. The comprehensive services they offer can all be found on the same campus just south of Interstate 20 off U.S. 231.
It’s a new trend that has started in health care around the country, giving patients full access to their primary care, specialty physicians and diagnostic testing all in one place. It is spurred by a push from Medicare that has “naturally been progressing” — a concept that makes practical sense for the practice and patients alike.
Dupre’ is overseeing the imaging-suite project set to open soon. It is hard to conceal the excitement — and the pride — when he talks about it. A wide-bore, open MRI, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, is the centerpiece of it, the only one of its kind in St. Clair County. Before, Northside had to send its patients to larger, metropolitan areas to acquire these kinds of services. Now, it’s just a few steps from their doctor’s office in an 8,000-square-foot addition built by Goodgame Company.
What sets this cutting-edge diagnostic tool apart, Dupre’ explained, is not only its precise imaging capabilities but its openness, quietness and its quickness. No longer must patients endure a lengthy process in cramped and noisy conditions.
Toshiba’s unique technology puts the magnet in a vacuum container that doesn’t allow the transmission of sound. The patient and technician could carry on a conversation there is so little noise, which wasn’t possible with the old technology. “The imaging plane is wider so you don’t even have to have your head inside to get the scan most of the time,” Dupre’ said.
And it’s quicker. Most studies take 15 minutes or less. It has the ability to test 25 patients a day versus the 10 to 12 average with the older technology.
An added benefit, since it is done outside a hospital setting, is that the patient usually has much lower co-pays, similar to a doctor’s visit.
Dupre’ said the partners saw a “huge need” for this phase of their practice, especially in sports medicine, geriatrics and for the veteran population. “We want to keep our patients here. We felt like it fit well with our vision.”
The vision continues with a multi-specialty building planned for construction in the fall of 2015 with completion expected by summer 2016. While specialties are part of the practice already, this will enable specialty physicians to own part of the facility and be housed along with other physicians Northside is recruiting. Additional imaging will be included as well.
The newest phase of Northside’s medical home will include cardiology; ophthalmology; optometry; pulmonary; ear, nose and throat; orthopedic surgery; dermatology; urology and gastroenterology specialists.
Meanwhile, Northside has reached out to other areas to provide medical services in other communities where there is a need. In recent months, Northside clinics have opened in Vincent and Moody with full-time staff. The Moody location offers after care in the evenings and on Saturday as well. Northside’s main location has been offering after care for years, recognizing a need to become more accessible and more flexible in its hours of operation.
In today’s environment, it is “challenging to survive in a smaller practice,” Helms said. Demands on a one or two-doctor practice take their toll, and it gives larger practices an opportunity to look at multiple locations and expand services to areas of need.
A separate company, Northside Services, has been formed to assist other practices with tasks like billing, coding, quality measures and accounting — “all the things it takes to run a practice,” Helms said.
Its outreach has begun to focus on occupational medicine. “Employers are under pressure to keep insurance costs down,” so Northside is working with companies and industries to institute wellness programs and develop on-site clinics where the doctor conducts exams at the company, Helms said.
It is Northside’s way of seeing medical needs throughout the region and filling them, much like its in-house pharmacy, Northside Apothecary, fills prescriptions and even offers free delivery.
As Helms puts it: “We are trying to create, basically, a medical home where you can obtain all your healthcare needs in one place.”
