Baptist Health Medical Group

Baptist Health Medical Group, Inc. ("BHMG") is a professional medical services company organized and operated to benefit the member hospitals of Baptist Healthcare System, Inc. ("BHS"). BHMG is a comprehensive network of primary and specialty physician practices in Kentucky and Indiana that includes approximately 700 physicians and more than 700 advanced practice clinicians. Providers represent more than 85 specialties, including primary care and family medicine, internal medicine, osteopathic medicine, emergency medicine, general surgery and a wide range of surgical specialties offering advanced treatments and care. During fiscal year 2022, BHMG had over 4,300,000 patient visits at 370 locations. BHMG also operates urgent care centers, rural health clinics and occupational medicine facilities. The primary care and specialty care physician services support the hospitals operated by Baptist Healthcare System, Inc. by staffing emergency departments, providing hospitalist services and surgical care services for patients. BHMG's primary and specialty care physicians, urgent care centers, occupational medicine facilities and rural health centers offer more convenient and less costly quality care services to patients and help to maintain sufficient physician expertise and capacity to deliver efficient, appropriate and compassionate patient care in the communities BHMG serves. Our physicians play key leadership roles in determining the direction and development of patient services, they spearhead innovation by leading clinical research and they help to bring advanced treatments and technology to our facilities.In order to meet the health and wellness needs of our communities throughout Kentucky and Indiana, Baptist Healthcare System, Inc. (BHS) provides grants to Baptist Health Medical Group, Inc. (BHMG). BHS is a nonprofit Section 501(c)(3) related entity and the sole member of BHMG. These grants allow BHMG to continue to provide support and care for Medicaid and charity care patients through primary care centers, rural health centers, urgent care centers and specialty health centers that meet a demonstrated community need. BHS makes these grants on the condition that BHMG use the grant funds only for the following activities:1. To provide care for patients participating in Medicaid and other means-tested government health programs, including but not limited to the Kentucky Children's Health Insurance (KCHIP) program.2. To provide care, for free or at discounted rates, to low-income patients who cannot afford the cost of care.3. To fund the operations of rural health clinics that provide care for the patients described above.4. To engage in community activities and programs in response to demonstrated community needs to improve community health, including but not limited to health screenings; COVID testing; vaccinations and community health education. Baptist Healthcare System, Inc. reports the grants related to the above activities on its respective IRS Form 990, Schedule H, Part I, Line 7. Impact of COVID-19:Baptist Health reached out to our state and our communities:Clinical leaders from Baptist Health, the largest health system in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, have played a principal role as advisors to the Commissioner for Public Health, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services ("CHFS"), Office of Inspector General, and other state agencies in response to the unprecedented needs of our community during the COVID-19 pandemic. In conjunction with leadership teams from other health systems and the Kentucky Hospital Association, Baptist Health played a lead role in advising and developing the State's COVID-19 policies and its guidelines on multiple matters including: --- Initial planning at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the safety of patients, first responders and healthcare workers by establishing guidelines for the suspension of healthcare services. --- Collaboration with the CHFS to help manage the nursing home and post-acute care setting emergencies that became a focal point of the COVID-19 pandemic. Baptist Health worked closely with the State to provide on-site resources in support of facilities that were in crisis, in an effort to help stabilize those facilities and provide care to vulnerable residents. --- Provided critical PPE and other necessary materials to fellow healthcare providers when the State was unable to secure much needed supplies. --- Coordinated key vendor relationships that allowed the State to secure high quality PPE products with fluid deliveries. These products were ultimately made available to nursing homes and other facilities that provided care and aid to indigent members of our community. --- The development of guidelines for restarting all non-emergent clinical services including the appropriate phasing and criteria required of health practitioners to resume elective care, both in ambulatory and acute care settings.Two Baptist Health executives joined the Kentucky Procurement Advisory Committee to support entrepreneurs and small businesses that began producing PPE during the COVID 19 pandemic, allowing for the possibility of producing PPE on a permanent basis. The benefits of having a source of critical supplies in the US and within the State are significant. Healthcare and non-healthcare companies came together through this committee to develop an inventory system for the State to ensure that adequate inventory levels of appropriate supplies would be maintained in preparation for any future state of emergencies.The Baptist Health Back to Work Program was developed to help employers implement a safe return to work plan for their employees through convenient and easy-to-use screening and monitoring tools, including COVID-19 Testing Solutions, a web-based screening application, and a MyChart-based home monitoring and case management platform. Baptist Health is the only major health system in Kentucky or southern Indiana that offers customized COVID-19 solutions for employers.Baptist Health acted swiftly and efficiently to the COVID-19 pandemic by responding to the needs of our communities, our patients and our staff members through implementing disaster readiness protocols and the following: --- In early March 2020, Baptist Health began to secure PPE to meet the expected COVID-related demand throughout each of its markets and developed System-wide warehousing and logistics plans to manage and distribute critical equipment and PPE to ensure that all facilities had adequate supplies at all times.--- Established local incident command operations in each market, with hospital and medical groups coordinating in to a single unit. The System Crisis Management Team coordinates efforts and all communications across the System to ensure safety, best practices and consistency of implementation.--- Baptist Health secured additional testing supplies and more rapid testing capabilities, and developed specific screening, testing and treatment protocols. --- Our quick pivot to digital healthcare solutions, with the creation of new processes and procedures and the enhancement of existing services, allowed us to provide healthcare services for patients to address their immediate medical needs, all while ensuring the safety of the patients, staff and physicians. Video teleconferencing services proved to be a valuable tool as it became a lifeline for our behavioral health patients. In just a few months, we advanced digital health services by years and have seen our patients embrace this change. We made access to healthcare more convenient and more readily available, and eased our patients and their caretakers' concerns about exposure to COVID-19. Because of these innovations, we will be able to continue to utilize and enhance digital solutions well in to the future. Navigating the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth and development of innovations in the delivery of healthcare services that will positively affect how care is provided in the future. Baptist Health Medical Group continuously monitors COVID-19 health data, statistics, trends, clinical information and research in order to reevaluate and reassess current policies and procedures so that we can maintain the highest safety standards and provide peak levels of care to our patients.Baptist Health continues to make a concerted effort to support our communities by providing frequent education and assistance to community members and local businesses who have questions regarding operating in a COVID-19 environment. Telehealth and telemedicine continue to be utilized effectively to better protect patients and improve patient experience, and high quality PPE inventories are closely monitored to ensure the safety of patients and staff.