Lehigh Valley Physician Group - Pocono

Lehigh Valley Physician Group - Pocono was established in 1985 as an affiliate of the Pocono health system. As a non-profit corporation which supports both the Lehigh Valley hospital - Pocono (lvh-p) and Lehigh Valley health network, lvpg-p operates several physicians' practices, including but not limited to, Family medicine, hematology and oncology, internal medicine, psychiatry, pediatrics, cardiology, general surgery and obstetrics and gynecology. Lvpg-p also operates 4 expresscare locations. Lvpg-p is dedicated to serving our patients through the delivery of high quality and exceptional service. Continued clinician recruitment and growth are a focus, with the purpose of delivering the best resources and services to the community. With a current size of about 70 physicians and around 70 advanced practice clinicians, lvpg-p operates as a single entity with services provided at numerous locations within the monroe county region. During fy23, lvpg-p practices had over 300,000 patient visits. The organization has also enhanced the outpatient services offered to individuals in the area, including underinsured and indigent patients. Also, the organization provides Physician practice support services including billing, information technology, and telecommunications. Providing excellent quality Care to our diverse and growing community while providing necessary capital for future growth is the organization's goal. All resources and program service expenses are utilized to offer our patients quality Care through multiple service lines. For these services, the lvpg-p consistently evaluates and improves facilities, equipment and technology, quality review measures, and scheduling considerations to meet or exceed the standard of Care expected. Several of our practices offer multiple locations and extended office hours to make Care more accessible to patients, including those living in underserved areas of the community. Patient Care programs:lvpg-p offers a continuum of health Care promotion, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to the community. Outpatient services are provided at locations throughout the region and are a part of a healthcare network established by lvpg-p and lvh-p to meet the medical and surgical needs of the residents of the monroe and surrounding counties.infants/children/young adults:through our patient-centric philosophy including state-of-the-art diagnostic and medical techniques, lvpg-p provides superior outpatient pediatric medical Care. A team of physicians and subspecialists, both from the community and from the hospital, provides services.primary care:lvpg-p physicians and apcs provide high-quality, comprehensive, coordinated Care to adults and children. We strive to provide access to Care at the time of need, focus on prevention and chronic illness management and provide coordination among specialists and service lines. Our ongoing recruitment of physicians and apcs increases our ability to meet the needs of patients in the area.expresscare:numerous expresscare locations are available at lvpg-pocono, providing residents with immediate walk-in Care. A walk-in appointment is available for common illnesses and minor injuries such as sprains, cuts, rashes, seasonal allergies, flu symptoms, bronchitis, ear infections, sore throats, fevers, and more. Furthermore, they offer coverage for routine school physicals and follow-up vaccinations to provide patients with convenience. As an alternative to the emergency room, this clinical Care model offers a lower cost, easier access option for patients of lower acuity.medical specialties:lvpg-p provides a broad array of medical specialty Care across the Pocono region. Care coordination with access to specialty areas and collaboration with primary Care colleagues is essential to provide optimal patient outcomes for our community.heart and vascular services:as the only hospital-based vascular surgery team in the region, lvpg-p offers cardiac procedures on site, a team that is designated to treat high-risk heart attacks, and the only open-heart surgery program of its kind in the region.women's health services:lvpg-p maintains comprehensive obstetrics and gynecology services, including general obstetric / gynecologic Care, maternal fetal medicine and urogynecology services. These comprehensive programs are delivered by teams of healthcare providers including physicians, midwives, and advanced practice clinicians along with their related clinical staff. The practice recently welcomed andrea mclaren, cnm, long-time independent midwife in the community to continue to offer her expertise to the region.cancer services:as part of the Lehigh Valley topper cancer institute, the dale and frances hughes cancer center at lvh-p is a member of the memorial sloan kettering cancer alliance. For patients, this represents recognition of the high quality of Care and availability of innovative treatments and clinical trials close to home in the Pocono region. The cancer Care program includes several components, such as prevention, genetic counseling, detection, diagnosis, therapy, clinical trials, rehabilitation, and evaluation of Care related to cancer.surgical services:lvpg-p physicians, advanced practice clinicians and allied health providers perform comprehensive, coordinated surgical Care and provide services in specialties such as: bariatric surgery, cardiac surgery, general surgery, orthopedic surgery, otolaryngology, plastic and reconstructive surgery, surgical oncology, trauma surgery, urology and vascular surgery. A new offering to the region is lvpg -p colon rectal surgery. There are two da vinci robotic-assisted surgery systems that support minimally invasive Care to patients in specialties including colon-rectal, bariatrics, general, and gynecology. Neurosciences:neuroscience Care is available through the practices at lvpg-p. The site received its 5th recertification as a primary stroke center from the joint commission. The reviewer was very complementary of the stroke services provided at lvh-pocono and had commented on the reputation lvhn has for maintaining stroke Centers to support our communities.the stroke coordinators of Pennsylvania, known as scopa, have a quarterly door-to-needle treatment challenge with hospitals and health systems across the state. The primary stroke center at lvh-pocono was the 2023 2nd quarter performance winner with a 100% dtn rate of less than 45 minutes.we launched outpatient emg service at Pocono. Community outreach included attendance at the west end fair and providing free blood pressure checks and education to the community.behavioral health:lvpg-p physicians and advanced practice clinicians provide medical leadership for the lvh acute Care inpatient mental health program for adults in primarily carbon, monroe, and pike counties and provides inpatient psychiatric, psychological, substance abuse and social services in all clinical areas. Among the areas of focus were the continued expansion of the zero suicide initiative, including internal suicidal prevention pathways, mitigation of ligature risk, and suicide prevention training in the emergency departments and medical-surgical units. Partnering with carbon/monroe/pike counties, the "warm handoff" program continues. This program follows individuals who have had suicidal thoughts and behaviors as they are discharged from lvhn inpatient and emergency departments into the community to confirm a solid connection to appropriate Care. There is a continuing focus at the Pocono inpatient psychiatric unit on quality measures. These include patient safety, fall reduction, and improved compliance with treatment plan reviews, as well as ensuring continuity of Care between the patient and their primary Care provider. The psychiatric evaluation services in the ed and medical surgical services have been aligned with the practices in Lehigh region.

Virtual Care programs (telemedicine):lvhn has remained a leader in the development and implementation of innovative virtual Care programs that have expanded our capacity to provide high-quality healthcare services throughout our growing network and beyond. Another example of this is the start of a first-ever fully virtual primary Care practice, launching in 2023. Virtual Care programs allow our team to offer specialty Care to sites and patients that would otherwise not have access to these services. E-consult program:as part of the e-consult program, lvpg-p clinicians can pose non-urgent questions regarding their patients to their specialist colleagues across multiple disciplines. Requests and recommendations are formally incorporated into the emr and are included in the patient's medical record. The availability of specialists across the ambulatory landscape is thus enhanced.community health needs assessment (chna):a chna report examines the factors impacting people's health and wellness in a particular geographical area. The chna report provides an overview of the current state of health in the region and identifies potential areas of concern that can inform the design of clinical programs.these reports are generated annually and are reviewed by lvhn executive leadership at each campus. Population health needs are prioritized based on the community's input and lvhn's ability to make a difference on those initiatives. Next steps include developing strategies to address prioritized health needs which will be presented in lvhn's chna implementation plan.