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This book provides the reader with an authoritative reference for today´s major group visit models: what they are, their strengths and weaknesses, and how they can best be used together and in combination with traditional individual office visits.

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A Fateful Meeting A year and a half ago, I was sitting at a conference listening to Ed Noffsinger speak, and suddenly had the most profound ´´Aha´´ moment of my professional career. Here was someone presenting a practical and tested solution to some of the most challenging problems currently plaguing the US healthcare system, problems such as poor access to primary and specialty care; the uncontainable and rising costs of healthcare; our nation´s relatively poor quality outcomes; and finally, the sense of frustration, disempowerment, loneliness, and disenfranchisement that patients and their families too often experience. Dr. Noffsinger´s solution seemed deceptively simple-shared medical appointments (SMAs) that afford the highest quality healthcare to be delivered in the highest quality care experience-a group setting. Experience collected over a decade and involving more than 100,000 patient visits throughout the United States, Canada, and parts of Europe has demonstrated that SMAs, when used in primary care as well as in the medical and surgical subspecialties, lead to increased access to care, enhanced quality of care, and improved patient satisfaction. For physicians, the efficiency gains and team support from their participation in SMAs translate into much needed relief and improved career satisfaction.

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1. Group Visits: The Next Step in Medical Care.- to Group Visits.- The Drop-In Group Medical Appointment Model: A Revolutionary Access Solution for Follow-Up Visits.- DIGMAs: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Real-Life Examples.- The Cooperative Healthcare Clinic Model: Following the Same Group of Multi-Morbid Geriatric Patients over Time.- The Physicals Shared Medical Appointment Model: A Revolutionary Access Solution for Private Physical Examinations.- Physician Buy-In: The Key to Successful SMA Programs.- A Comprehensive Chronic Illness Treatment Paradigm that Makes Full Use of Group Visits.- Do Not Abuse Group Visits.- Reports, Case Studies, and Outcomes Data.- 2. How to Implement Your Own Group Visit Program.- Twenty Essential Steps to Implementing a Successful Group Visit Program.- A 10-Week Pipeline for Launching New DIGMAs and PSMAs.

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The group visit model, which was developed by Dr. Noffsinger in 1996, has consistently been demonstrated to work in actual practice. Dr. Noffsinger is well regarded in the field of primary care; he has published numerous articles on the the topic--NEJM, Journal of Family Practice, and Journal of the American Board of Family Practice.

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