Outpatient Nutrition Services Program
Among the top health concerns identified in our most recent Community
Health Needs Assessment are cancer, overweight/obesity, diabetes and heart
disease. Treating these and other chronic conditions through diet education
is an effective intervention to prevent hospital readmissions and improve health.
Phase 1 of our new program includes expansion of nutrition services along with
making use of existing community and health system resources and relationships.
Nutrition counseling goes far beyond weight management, offering guidance
to improve the health of individuals with cancer, gastro-intestinal diseases,
malnutrition and other conditions.
Phase 2 will include development of a multigenerational wellness building, in
conjunction with the Integrative Health Program to provide cooking education
and hands-on demonstrations for the community, including a kitchen and
garden space, a bike-share program to improve access, and multipurpose
areas to meet the nutrition and wellness needs of our patients.
Medication Therapy Management
We are expanding the medication therapy management (MTM) program provided
by AGHRx RediScripts Pharmacy. RediScripts began providing these services
- which include pharmacist intervention, evaluation and development of
a medication plan of care within the patient’s overall treatment
plan - this past year. Prescription adherence was an impressive 96.5%
among MTM participants, compared to a national average of 79%. Moreover,
no patients participating in the program were readmitted to the hospital
for additional care.
Up to now, the MTM program has been limited to patients of AGHS physicians
already enrolled in the Patient Centered Medical Home. Now, any patient
of Atlantic General Hospital or Health system who is at-risk for medication
mismanagement will be eligible to participate. In addition to one-on-one
education, patients receive a pre-packaged medication service that helps
simplify complex dosing for people taking multiple medications. With the
expansion, this program will be able to accommodate 300 patients.
Integrative Health Services
With this new program we will provide access to a variety of services,
allowing patients and their health care provider teams to choose their
own treatments and select preferred providers to support the plan of care.
The program will include an office to help navigate patients through the
process while expanding upon existing community and health system resources
and relationships.
Available services will include massage, reflexology, reiki, meditation,
tai chi, animal-assisted therapy, acupuncture, nutrition counseling, yoga,
essential oils/aroma therapy, osteopathic
manipulation and creative writing.
The second phase of the Integrative Health Services program, to be explored
the following year, will include a multigenerational wellness center where
community residents can receive these services in one location.
Project Management Office
With the rapid changes happening in healthcare, Atlantic General Hospital
and Health System is establishing a project management office. We have
hired a project management director who will oversee this office and implement
systems to track progress as well as improve workflow and communications
in the efficient implementation and funding of complex projects.
In addition to these initiatives, during Fiscal Year 2018 we will continue
to research plans for establishing a cardiopulmonary rehabilitation center,
a pain rehabilitation program, and geriatric care services.