PALADINA HEALTH KICKS-OFF PARTNERSHIP WITH STATE OF NEW JERSEY
BY OPENING HAMILTON OFFICE
Direct Primary Care Medical Home Program gives access to personalized, patient-focused physician relationship for State employees & their families

(HAMILTON, NJ) – Bringing patient-focused healthcare to the Garden State, Paladina Health opened their first New Jersey doctor’s office last month, in Hamilton, as part of the Direct Primary Care Medical Home (DPCMH) Program for the New Jersey State Health Benefits Program (SHBP) and School Employees’ Health Benefits Program (SEHBP). This innovative primary care approach will offer comprehensive, individualized healthcare to public employees and their families enrolled in the SHBP or SEHBP, through a Paladina Health family doctor who can devote the time needed to treat and care for patients via a more personal relationship.
“Paladina Health has an established reputation for delivering high quality care and easy doctor access,” says Chris Miller, Paladina Health CEO. “Our team strives to offer an exceptional experience for our patients and New Jersey’s Direct Primary Care Medical Home program gives us a platform to yet again prove that patient-focused, high quality healthcare is attainable. We’re excited for all this represents as we begin serving New Jersey workers and their families at our Hamilton doctor’s office.”
With this new Mercer County office, Paladina Health now delivers care to many satisfied patients at more than 50 locations in 11 states – in very different ways from a typical primary care practice. This new partnership aims to help families improve their health measures, while providing enhanced access to care for the entire family – including primary and preventive care, urgent care, and care coordination with specialists and hospitals. Patients can enjoy unhurried appointments, allowing more time with their physician at each visit. Additional exclusive benefits include no co-pays, direct 24/7 phone access to doctors for urgent needs, and a broad scope of services meant to eliminate or minimize the need for costly specialist visits.
“This launch marks an important, exciting step forward as we work to show New Jersey families just how great primary care can be,” said Paladina Health’s first New Jersey doctor, Pearl Guerzon, M.D. “Everyone deserves high-quality healthcare and easy access to a doctor who truly cares about their well-being and has time to care for their needs. I consider it a privilege to be a family physician. Caring for kids, their parents and grandparents allows meaningful, trusting relationships to form with all my patients.”
Doctors at Paladina Health are paid a salary, regardless of how many patients he/she sees – with bonuses awarded for keeping those patients healthy. These physicians are able to spend more time with each patient, because they have more time and their pay is not dependent on collecting fees for each service. Instead, Paladina Health doctors are paid to serve their patients well, to help them meet their wellness goals, and be at their healthy best.
Most Paladina Health patients can receive up to 80-90% of their healthcare needs for their whole family in one place, including:
• Primary, urgent, and preventive care
• Pediatrics, including well-child visits
• Specialist physician care coordination
• Health risk assessment and care planning
• Proactive management of chronic conditions
• Fitness and nutrition coaching

Currently, any employee – or family member – actively enrolled in either the SHBP or the SEHBP NJ DIRECT or OMNIA plan administered by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ) is eligible to enroll with Paladina Health. Patients will retain the same provider access and benefits through Horizon BCBSNJ, as offered in their current SHBP/SEHBP health plan, but simply also have a Paladina Health doctor for their primary care needs. Participants must sign up for Paladina Health physician access, and there is no fee to those taking part. Moreover, membership doesn’t restrict patients from visiting other doctors in their plan network.
For more information – and to sign up – please visit www.paladinahealth.com/newjerseyinfo. The Hamilton location is just the first Paladina Health office coming to New Jersey. Another location is set to open early this Fall in North Jersey.

About Paladina Health: Paladina Health, a subsidiary of healthcare services company DaVita Inc., is a physician-access model of healthcare that improves patient care and satisfaction by providing convenient and unhurried patient-centered care and a broad scope of services. Employers who offer Paladina Health to their employees aim to provide the highest-quality benefits while keeping a long-range view of improving the health and wellness of their covered population. For more information, visit paladinahealth.com.

About DaVita Inc.: DaVita Inc., a Fortune 500® company, is the parent company of DaVita Kidney Care and DaVita Medical Group. DaVita Kidney Care is a leading provider of kidney care in the United States, delivering dialysis services to patients with chronic kidney failure and end stage renal disease. As of March 31, 2017, DaVita Kidney Care operated or provided administrative services at 2,382 outpatient dialysis centers located in the United States serving approximately 189,400 patients. The company also operated 162 outpatient dialysis centers located in 11 countries outside the United States. DaVita Medical Group manages and operates medical groups and affiliated physician networks in California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington in its pursuit to deliver excellent-quality healthcare in a dignified and compassionate manner. As of December 31, 2016, DaVita Medical Group’s teammates, employed clinicians and affiliated clinicians provided care for approximately 1.7 million patients. For more information, please visit DaVita.com/about.

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PALADINA HEALTH – WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING:
Wendell Steinhauer, New Jersey Education Association President:
“NJEA is proud to have introduced this opportunity to the SEHBP Plan Design Committee because we recognize the overall benefits that a Direct Primary Care Medical Home Model can bring to thousands of public school employees. Increasing quality care to members and their families as well as providing them with more information to make better quality healthcare decisions—while simultaneously reducing overall healthcare costs—is a win-win for all.”

Hetty Rosenstein, CWA New Jersey State Director:
“Primary care is the key to good health. New Jersey’s costs are so high because of fee-for-service, for-profit care. The unions on the Plan Design Committee wanted to make this high-quality healthcare available to our members with no co-pays. And a Hamilton office location makes such care extremely convenient for these hard-working men and women.”

Donna M. Chiera, President, AFT New Jersey:
“The direct care model is an innovative idea to get the practice of medicine back to a focus on stronger doctor-patient relationships. Members should explore the benefits and consider joining the program. We are glad to see efforts to provide more individualized and responsive programs to get members in to see their healthcare providers, get the care they need and cultivate healthy relationships with doctors.”

State Senate President Steve Sweeney:
“I want to congratulate Chris Miller and the entire team at Paladina Health on the opening of their new clinic in Hamilton and welcome them to New Jersey. Their model reflects the ‘quality of service’ vision that’s behind the Patient Centered Healthcare initiative I created in the Senate. By focusing on patient outcomes instead of fee-for-service, we can keep people healthy and out of the doctor’s office.”

State Senator Linda Greenstein (14th District):
“I’m extremely excited to welcome Paladina Health, as they open their very first New Jersey doctor’s office right here in Hamilton. The Paladina Health model is one which saves time, saves money and gives piece of mind. At no out-of-pocket cost, families get the most out of essential medical services from an experienced physician who takes the time to get to know and care for the patient.”

Assemblyman Daniel Benson (14th District):
“Congratulations to Paladina Health on their opening of their Hamilton location. Patient-centered care is the model in today’s healthcare environment and I wish them well as they seek to serve our many public employees and their families and the wider community. This continues to show the success of NJ’s Direct Primary Care Medical Home Program and it’s goal of lowering costs for patients and the state.”

Mark Blum, Executive Director of America’s Agenda:
“Paladina Health is a nationally recognized innovator and leader in providing high-value patient-centered care. Their entry as a provider in New Jersey’s Direct Primary Care Medical Home Program offers a very attractive, personalized, high-performance healthcare option to public employees and their families. The opening of Paladina Health’s first New Jersey office is a really significant step in the State’s transformation to delivering quality care and improved patient experiences at significantly lower costs. As this offering expands to more locations, the State will reduce more and more wasteful and inefficient spending. Everybody wins!”

Contact: Joshua Henne (732-407-5938)