Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center Foundation awarded a $20,000 grant to support obesity collaborative pilot program

AMGA Foundation in partnership with Novo Nordisk Inc., announced Novant Health Medical Group in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as one of its participants in the Obesity Care Model Collaborative (OCMC), a program dedicated to developing a working framework and success metrics for comprehensive population management for patients with obesity in a multispecialty medical group or integrated health system.

“Obesity is a disease that affects more than one-third of adults in the United States1. The impact is greater than one statistic can indicate, as the medical, psychological, social, and economic burden of the disease is far-reaching,” said Jerry Penso, M.D., M.B.A., president and chief executive officer, AMGA, and president of AMGA Foundation. “We applaud our members that have made a significant commitment to contribute to reducing the burden of the disease through this collaborative. I believe their work will reflect the cutting edge of a systems approach to obesity management.”

Two committees of expert advisors developed the inclusion criteria for selection of AMGA members and are drafting the framework and measures. Novant Health Medical Group was selected based on its ability to contribute to the further development of the framework, test measures, and commitment to implement an obesity program that includes a minimum range of services, either within the group or through referral partnership.

Participating organizations will meet in-person four times and attend monthly educational webinars to share insights and challenges and to refine the framework and measures based on the data and their experiences. The groups participated in their first in-person meeting held in New Orleans, LA, on December 6-8, 2017.

After an 11-month development period, Novant Health Medical Group will have 6 months for program design and implementation and 12 months for program operation, during which interventions and patient outcomes will be tracked. AMGA will make site visits to assist groups with adapting and implementing the framework and to help with translating emergent best practices across groups. Following 12 months of operation, AMGA will spend 6 months in data analysis and publication development.

“Novo Nordisk is proud to support the AMGA Foundation in the development of the Obesity Care Model Collaborative, as it is essential for the primary care community to come together to help improve care for the disease of obesity in the United States,” said Todd Hobbs, vice president and U.S. chief medical officer of Novo Nordisk. “We encourage any effort to help outline practical steps to treat people living with obesity and establish meaningful quality measures across the entire spectrum of obesity management.”

About AMGA Foundation
AMGA Foundation is AMGA’s philanthropic arm that enables medical groups and other organized systems of care to consistently improve health and health care. AMGA Foundation serves as a catalyst, connector, and collaborator for translating the evidence of what works best in improving health and health care in everyday practice. Learn more at amga.org/foundation

About AMGA
AMGA is a trade association leading the transformation of health care in America. Representing multispecialty medical groups and integrated systems of care, we advocate, educate, innovate and empower our members to deliver the next level of high performance health. AMGA is the national voice promoting awareness of medical groups’ recognized excellence in the delivery of coordinated, high-quality, cost-effective care. More than 175,000 physicians practice in our member organizations, delivering care to one in three Americans. Learn more at amga.org

About Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company with more than 90 years of innovation and leadership in diabetes care. This heritage has given us experience and capabilities that also enable us to help people with other serious chronic conditions: hemophilia, growth disorders and obesity. With U.S. headquarters in Plainsboro, N.J., Novo Nordisk Inc. has nearly 5,000 employees in the United States. For more information, visit novonordisk.us or follow us on Twitter: @novonordiskus.

References

1. CDC National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) data brief. Available at gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db219.pdf.