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Centura rethinks health care deliveryJan 16, 2013 (The Pueblo Chieftain - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Centura Health on Monday announced that Pueblo, Canon City and the San Luis Valley are among 13 locations statewide that will pioneer a new approach to health care delivery. The "health neighborhood" model will create a "clinically integrated network for all Coloradans," moving beyond the bricks and mortar of traditional reactive "sick care" . . . "to help individuals access health care in a more timely, appropriate and efficient ways," according to a Centura news release issued Monday. The idea is to create provider networks that will help people take a more active role in their care through prevention and other services aimed at preserving health and uncovering problems before they've become serious ones. Electronic records will provide seamless communication about each patient's care throughout the system, and between each patient and every provider the patient accesses. "This new approach to health care delivery changes the paradigm of how consumers interact with their health and the health care system today, shifting from a traditional reactive hospital- and physician-centric model to a consumer-centric model aimed at keeping people healthy. And while access to health neighborhoods is still very limited, the transformation is under way and is already serving Centura Health's associates and families through their 20,000-member-plus benefit plan," said Andrew Wineke, Centura Health manager of strategic communications. Integrated networks are being developed or expanded at 13 sites statewide. Pueblo's Centura "health neighborhood" includes five primary care practices with 23 primary care physicians, five specialty practices with 10 specialists offering orthopedics, general surgery, rehabilitation, gastroenterology, along with ear, nose and throat care. In Canon City, the system includes one primary care practice with four physicians and three specialty practices with six doctors offering general surgery, OB/GYN and osteopathic care. The health neighborhood networks tie in closely with Centura's formation of Colorado's only Accountable Care Organization for Medicare patients, a part of federal health reform. [email protected] ___ (c)2013 The Pueblo Chieftain (Pueblo, Colo.) Visit The Pueblo Chieftain (Pueblo, Colo.) at www.chieftain.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |