Ted Baker: Good morning, it's 8.36, it's FLX Morning Tuesday, Paul is on vacation, I'm TFG, the former guy, Ted Baker, and it's time to get healthy with UR Medicine at Finger Lakes Health. Caroline Scott is here, good morning.
Caroline Scott: Good morning.
Ted Baker: And hello to Kimberly, who was not able to make it today, but she's a longtime friend as well. So, a couple of things that you wanted to talk about in the news and notes department before we meet our provider today.
Caroline Scott: Yes, I just have a couple announcements. One is, if you are a golfer and you're not signed up yet for the Finger Lakes Health Foundation's 108 Holes for Health Golf Challenge, please do sign up. It goes through September 15th, and you can learn more and sign up at flhealth.org, and yeah, it's a great way to support a wonderful cause, and you're playing golf anyway, so why not sign up for a great fundraiser?
Ted Baker: Now, that was born out of the pandemic, wasn't it? The idea of instead of having a, because that year nobody had regular tournaments.
Caroline Scott: Right, so that's when we went virtual, and it's actually, you know, people love it because you play where you want, how you want, and you still support the foundation and all the great work that they're doing in the community. And then the second thing, and this is great, because a lot of times when you're talking about healthy things people should do, I'm guilty of not doing them, and I make a poor example, but in this case, I'm ahead of the curve. So tell us about the other thing.
Ted Baker: I am thrilled to hear that, because you are setting a good example. So yes, as of November 1st, which also happens to be my birthday, Finger Lakes Health will be fully utilizing the MyChart health system or tool, online tool, so we are encouraging people to download it today through the UR Medicine app or to go online to flhealth.org and sign up. Right now you can see test results, lab results online. As of November 1st, you'll be able to schedule your appointments, you'll be able to communicate with your provider. So it's just one more example of how we are continuing to bring more access to care in the community. So please download the app today, sign up online, it's easy to use, it really helps you. I'm sure you'll agree.
Caroline Scott: Navigate. I mean, it's just because everything's right there.
Ted Baker: Everything's right there. If you have billing that the insurance doesn't cover, that's there. Like you said, the appointments, the after-visit summary in plain language, too. You look at your chart and you go, what is this? But it tells you in plain English what we talked about and what we did.
Caroline Scott: It's very true. It really allows you to have better control of your healthcare and all things associated with it. And plus, if you have a question, you can email directly to your provider and they get back to you, which is fantastic. And in the area of too much information, both my cardiac and prostate doctors say I'm good to go for the next year or so.
Ted Baker: Well, this is good to know. We do like that. All right. We always like to meet providers and talk about their stories. Who do we have today?
Caroline Scott: So we are continuing to provide more access to care in many different ways at Finger Lakes Health. And today we have with us Melissa Nult, who is the Chief Clinical Officer for Physicians Network at FLH. And she's in charge of an initiative that is bringing more primary care access to the community. So with that, I'll turn it over to her to talk a little bit more about all the work she's doing. We're thrilled that she had the time to even be here today. Welcome. It's good to have you here.
Melissa Nult: Good morning. I'm glad to be here.
Ted Baker: Now, you've had a long career with UR Medicine Finger Lakes Health. So take us through your start up until today in an administrative position.
Melissa Nult: I have. So I'm not a clinician, but I am a nurse. I started with Finger Lakes Health in 2014 as a care manager at one of our smaller primary care practices in Panyan. Worked down there really trying to connect the community to health care and to services that they needed. And kind of moved into a quality position. And that has kind of taken me through the ranks where I can look really more at our access to the community and the services that we're providing to the community, the care and preventive services that we're providing to the community.
Ted Baker: Did you always want to be in administration and management?
Melissa Nult: Did not think I would be in administration and management. Always liked health care. Always liked helping people. So just kind of a natural progression from there. Just looking at it more on a community wide scale versus working with individual clients.
Ted Baker: Now I always hear when I talk to people with Finger Lakes Health that that opportunity is there to advance. Did you always feel like that next step was always there and the doors were open for you?
Melissa Nult: Absolutely. And we're always looking for people that are wanting to move further in their career and trying to create those opportunities for them.
Ted Baker: Now we're not here to talk about town government, but you've served in town government. Just tell us a little bit about that.
Melissa Nult: So I spent four years on the planning board for the town of Geneva. And after that I was four years on the town board for the town of Geneva. Then decided to go back to school and get my Bachelor's of Nursing. So at that point kind of moved out of politics, focused a little more on the career. And that's really kind of what drove the path forward from there.
Ted Baker: I was asked in my village to serve on the Zoning Board of Appeals and I said, you want me to be on the committee that tells people they can't build what they want to build? I love that. I thought that was a really good way to learn the community.
Melissa Nult: I guess it is. It's a good way for people to learn your phone number and call you, I imagine.
Ted Baker: True. And emails.
Melissa Nult: So tell us about this primary care initiative that's going on.
Ted Baker: Yeah. So we really are focused on growth right now and providing access to care, increased access to care. You know, currently we have nine primary care offices over our four counties. We are caring for patients from birth through, you know, older adults. And then we are looking to create a couple of new places. So we're looking at opening an office in Lyons. So we've got that coming toward the fall of this year. We also are starting pediatrics in Geneva. So we're excited to be bringing that service line back to the community.
Caroline Scott: Is this kind of a swinging back of the pendulum? It seems to me that health care at one point was moving towards a lot of specialists and specialization, which is still there. But now it seems like the recognition is there, if we devote resources to primary care, we don't have to devote as many resources to curing problems later.
Melissa Nult: Absolutely. So we're focused, most of our practices are patient-centered medical homes. So they have a unique qualification, a certification, patient-centered medical homes. And really that is kind of the hub for all care. So we direct care out from there as needed to specialists. But we really try to coordinate that, make certain that we are really focused on preventive care in the office. And then as needed when people require specialists, directing that care to the appropriate specialist. And still, you know, coordinating that, getting the information back, and using that information for us to continue caring for them.
Ted Baker: Now, of course, a lot of the area served by UR Medicine Finger Lakes Health is rural. And you know, if you live like right in Geneva or in Canandaigua, or I live in Rushville, which has facilities nearby, you take for granted that access to care. But I take it that hasn't always been the case, that for a lot of times, people in the rural parts didn't have good, easy, affordable access to basic primary care.
Melissa Nult: It's true. But we do have offices that are in our more rural areas. So we have an office in Dundee. We've got an office in Clyde, an office up in Clifton Springs, which you don't really think is rural. They've got, they do have their community hospital there. But you know, really trying to reach out to the areas that didn't have consistent care and moving into those areas to be certain that we could provide those care services.
Caroline Scott: So as a chief clinical officer, what do you do to roll out this increased care and manage it and make sure that it's up to standards?
Melissa Nult: Yep. So I oversee our nine primary care offices, which are growing, as I mentioned. And we're always looking at the opportunities and the needs of the community to see what services we need to bring in and where we need to move to be able to care for populations that don't have access.
Ted Baker: Are there particular types of services that are becoming more in demand now?
Melissa Nult: I don't have a really great answer for that. I mean, we're very focused on, you know, the major things that impact patients in primary care, certainly as older adults. We're looking at diabetes and hypertension and, you know, other chronic diseases. And then we recognize that there's also a need for pediatric care. Most of our practices do see family medicine, so they do see pediatrics through adults. But again, in Geneva, we've traditionally had internal medicine practices moving in Geneva to offer pediatric services.
Caroline Scott: I've talked to a number of providers over the years, and almost every time, whatever it is, how do you make this better and eat better is always one of the things. So let's talk about the role of just basic nutrition in family care and preventative care.
Melissa Nult: Yep, absolutely. A good diet is key to good health. And so, yes, we certainly encourage and have clinicians that encourage people to really look at what they're putting into their bodies because that does impact how your body functions and the diseases that you are more likely to succumb to, you're more likely to get.
Ted Baker: So I'm always interested in the nuts and bolts of management and administration. What kind of measures do you use and what kind of systems do you have in place to look at yourself and the facilities you manage and make sure they're doing what they need to do?
Melissa Nult: Yeah, so we follow some guidelines from Medicare and from other certifying agencies, but really there are some key measures that we look at for colonoscopies, breast cancer, bone density scans, you know, some pretty common things that you'll see across the country people focusing on.
Caroline Scott: Colonoscopy is a really important one, right, because we know that there are some things that we can catch early if we're doing the preventive care all along. That's one of the things that we're seeing in a lot of types of cancers is now that we have better detection, and we've talked about the imaging facilities that you have and everything, that better detection means better prevention because in almost any cancer, if you catch it early, you've got a fighting chance.
Melissa Nult: Absolutely, and that's why these screenings are so important and getting screenings on time is important.
Ted Baker: How would you advise a patient to pick a family provider? What kind of questions should you bring to the office and how do you know that somebody's going to be a good fit for you and your family?
Melissa Nult: I think you have to know your approach to healthcare. We have a lot of different clinicians across the network, and they're going to be focused on a lot of the same measures, but sometimes just personalities are different, philosophies are a little bit different, so if you've got something, you know, that's an approach that's very important to you, you can call our offices, you can talk to one of our receptionists, they can help guide you to the appropriate provider for the type of care that you're looking for.
Caroline Scott: We have technology now, like I do a lot of the interviews on this program over Zoom. Is UR Medicine Finger Lakes Health using a lot of the telehealth and those kinds of things now?
Melissa Nult: We do, and you know, just out of necessity, I think we were all pushed forward on that in COVID, right?
Caroline Scott: Yeah.
Melissa Nult: So there's no turning that back at this point, but there are sometimes certain visits that are appropriate to do over video, and then there are visits that we really do need to see you in the office and really evaluate kind of head-to-toe what's going on in order to provide care, but there are definitely appointments that are appropriate to do by video.
Ted Baker: Well, congratulations on this initiative, and I think it's a great thing for healthcare that we're focusing on those basics, and it was great to get to talk with you today.
Melissa Nult: Thank you. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Ted Baker: Caroline, thank you as always.
Caroline Scott: Well, thank you. Can I just add, Ted, that if folks are looking for a primary care doctor or are looking for a pediatrician, to please call our physician referral line at 315-787-4060 or visit us online at flhealth.org, and they can see all the doctors that we have, read their bios, and schedule appointments. I mean, providing, you know, it's great to have all the screening, but you've got to be able to get into the doctor first, and that is our goal, to make sure that people have a primary care home that they have a doctor they can go talk to. And remind us, again, about signing up for golf.
Ted Baker: Oh, my goodness. And sign up for golf, again, on the website, flhealth.org. It's a virtual challenge, so you play on your time and chance to win prizes.
Caroline Scott: Yes, please.
Ted Baker: All right. Thank you both very much.
Melissa Nult: Thank you. Appreciate it.
Caroline Scott: We love getting healthy on Tuesdays with UR Medicine at Finger Lakes Health. It's 849 now.
