Columbus-based Dedicated Senior Medical Centers founded and operated by ChenMed in partnership with OhioHealth establish relationship with Aetna

COLUMBUS, Ohio (PRWEB) February 18, 2020

Dedicated Senior Medical Center ("Dedicated") and Aetna today announced that Aetna Medicare Advantage (MA) plan members in the Columbus, Ohio Metro area have a new quality provider option. Those enrolled in Aetna HMO and PPO MA plans can now receive covered services from Dedicated.

Dedicated provides personalized services and value-based care to Medicare-eligible people with a focus on seniors age 65 or older. Its primary care doctors welcome scheduled and walk-in appointments. They also share their mobile phone numbers with patients for when health needs arise. Dedicated promotes smooth transitions of care through coordination with OhioHealth.

Dedicated centers are operated by ChenMed. Several months ago, ChenMed opened three Dedicated centers in underserved areas of Columbus. ChenMed expects thousands of people to soon benefit from care at the north (2260 Morse Road), east (Whitehall; 5156 East Main Street) and west (Hilltop; 50 North Wilson Road) Dedicated locations.

Aetna's work with providers like ChenMed aligns with its aim to support seniors in underserved, diverse and low-income areas. Besides the three Ohio clinics, Aetna contracts with ChenMed centers in Florida and Pennsylvania.

"ChenMed gives our Medicare Advantage members access to quality, value-based care across the country," said Charles Brown, Aetna's Chief Medicare Officer of Ohio and Kentucky markets. "The three Ohio clinics help us serve Aetna Medicare Advantage plan members through personalized and coordinated care."

The Dedicated centers provide the access to care patients expect. This includes timely appointments, longer office visits and on-site specialists. They also provide X-rays, echocardiograms, ultrasounds and medication dispensing. Transportation is also available to patients when they need it.

The Dedicated concept is simple and particularly beneficial to seniors age 65 or older, many of whom live with chronic health issues. "The more our doctors see their patients, the better they know them," notes Paul Hicks, M.D., MSHCM, Associate Chief Medical Officer for the Dedicated centers in Columbus. "And, like all ChenMed doctors, we earn trust every day by helping people stay healthy with preventive care that's highly personalized."

ChenMed plans to help improve the health of people at nearly 80 medical centers in 10 states, by the end of August 2020. ChenMed medical records show primary care doctors in their clinics average 10 times more face time with patients than a typical doctor does. Instead of the national average of 21.7 minutes of direct time with patients yearly, ChenMed doctors average more than 210 minutes annually.

About Aetna
Aetna, a CVS Health company, serves an estimated 38 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental and behavioral health plans, and medical management capabilities, Medicaid health care management services, workers' compensation administrative services and health information technology products and services. Aetna's customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, visit http://www.aetna.com and explore how Aetna is helping to build a healthier world. @Aetna

Aetna Medicare is a HMO, PPO plan with a Medicare contract. Our SNPs also have contracts with State Medicaid programs. Enrollment in our plans depends on contract renewal. See Evidence of Coverage for a complete description of plan benefits, exclusions, limitations and conditions of coverage. Plan features and availability may vary by service area. Other physicians and providers are available in our network. The provider may change at any time. You will receive notice when necessary. Participating physicians, hospitals and other health care providers are independent contractors and are neither agents nor employees of Aetna. The availability of any particular provider cannot be guaranteed, and provider network composition is subject to change.

About OhioHealth
OhioHealth is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit, charitable, healthcare outreach of the United Methodist Church. Based in Columbus, Ohio, OhioHealth has been recognized as one of the top five large health systems in America by Truven Health Analytics, an honor it has received six times. It is also recognized by FORTUNE as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" and has been for 13 years in a row, 2007-2019.

Serving its communities since 1891, it is a family of 30,000 associates, physicians and volunteers, and a network of 12 hospitals, 200+ ambulatory sites, hospice, home-health, medical equipment and other health services spanning a 47-county area.

OhioHealth hospitals include OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, OhioHealth Doctors Hospital, OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital, OhioHealth Dublin Methodist Hospital, OhioHealth Hardin Memorial Hospital, OhioHealth Marion General Hospital, OhioHealth O'Bleness Hospital, OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital, OhioHealth Shelby Hospital, OhioHealth Grove City Methodist Hospital and OhioHealth Berger Hospital. For more information, please visit our website at http://www.ohiohealth.com.

About ChenMed
For seniors most in need of care, high-quality health care often is beyond reach. ChenMed brings concierge-style medicine -- and better health outcomes-- to the neediest populations. ChenMed is a privately owned medical, management and technology company that currently operates 59 primary care medical practices for diverse populations of seniors. ChenMed brands include Chen Senior Medical Center, Dedicated Senior Medical Center, and JenCare Senior Medical Center.

Results of ChenMed's high-touch approach to primary care are impressive, as illustrated in the Modern Healthcare cover story (Oct. 20, 2018), which reports, "Indeed, ChenMed's approach has resulted in 50 percent fewer hospital admissions compared with a standard primary-care practice, 28 percent lower per-member costs and significantly higher use of evidence-based medications."

Inspired by ChenMed Chairman and Founder James Chen, M.D., Ph.D., the company has been serving low-to-moderate-income seniors with multiple complex chronic conditions for over 30 years. Learn more about the high-growth company by visiting http://www.ChenMed.com.

Source: 2016 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey; Mean time spent with internal medicine physician.

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