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Scope of Care
Wyckoff Heights Medical Center’s Ambulatory Care Services are comprised of the on-site operation at the Medical Center, the Women’s Health Center located within the vicinity of the Medical Center, and one off-site centers.
Patients enter the Ambulatory Care Services via referrals from the Emergency Department, as part of discharge instructions for continuity of care and follow-up, community agencies, private physician/primary care provider referrals and self-referral. The primary focus is to improve patient access to care, with a focus on prevention, education and treatment in support of the Medical Center’s Mission Statement.
The most frequent diagnoses treated in the clinic include:
- Diabetes Mellitus
- Asthma, URI, Influenza Viruses
- Minor Soft-Tissue Injuries
- Gastrointestinal Disorders
- Pregnancy
- Anemia
- Hypertension
The largest ambulatory clinic resides on-site at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center and offers the most comprehensive range of services indicated below.
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Both the LaMarca and the Women’s Health Center are full time clinics. The Women’s Health Center provides Obstetrics/Gynecological services and related services for women. The LaMarca Family Health Center is a teaching site for the Family Medicine residency training program.
Patients who are in need of specialty and sub-specialty services or advanced laboratory and/or diagnostic testing are referred to the main campus at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center.
The age range of patients served spans the complete life cycle. Pediatric services cover children from birth up to 18 years of age and adult services serve those patients over the age of 18 years.
Methods Used To Assess and Meet Patients’ Care Needs
The method used for determining patients’ care needs begins at the time of the registration process. Patient Access Service Representatives are trained to be sensitive to patients’ medical needs as well as their socio-economic conditions by making appropriate referrals without delay.
Medical Assistants and Nursing staff (Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, Nursing Technicians, Nursing Assistants) gather data: past and present medical history, allergies, evidence of health care proxy, vital signs (including pain measurement, height and weight) and perform point-of-care testing (finger stick glucose testing, urine dipstick) to assist the Provider in the assessment of the patient. Learning needs are identified and readiness to learn is ascertained. All appropriate educational interventions are recorded. At the Women’s Health Center, a focused assessment is performed and documented.
At the time of the Patient/Family interview, during the Provider’s assessment, physical examination and history taking, needs are identified. In addition, the patient’s needs and expectations are also determined by the following:
- Intake data gathered by Nursing Staff or Medical Assistants
- Previous Clinic Visits/Hospital Admissions
- Medical Record review
- Laboratory and Diagnostic Testing results
- Referral from PMD/PCP
- Factors identified by Support Services
- Community Advisory Council input
- Surveys and Questionnaires
Scope and Complexity of Patient Needs
Ambulatory Care Services are provided to a diverse and complex patient population of approximately 7,000 adult and pediatric patients per month. Age-appropriate care is rendered to meet identified patient needs, both actual and potential.
The complexity of the patients served requires the coordination of health care disciplines to aid in the patient’s recovery, assistance in health maintenance, provision of psycho-social support systems and provision of proper nutrition.
The off-site clinics are provided with all the support services available to the on-site service. These include:
- Engineering and Maintenance
- Patient Advocate
- Environmental Services
- Pharmacy
- Food and Nutrition Services
- Purchasing and Storeroom
- Infection Control Services
- Radiology Services
- Information Technology (IT)
- Social Work Services
- Medical Records/HIM
- WIC (Women, Infants and Children’s Program)
- Laboratory Services
Hours of operation are designed to meet patients’ needs and hours are adjusted to meet the demand of the community.
Appropriate Clinical Necessity and Timeliness of Services Provided
Providers assess patients at each visit to ensure that:
- Adequate care is provided in the appropriate setting.
- Patients are referred without delay should an urgent/emergent situation be present.
- Patients are referred appropriately within the Medical Center when needed.
- Appropriate referrals for evaluation are made to Social Work and other disciplines.
- Patients/Care Givers are knowledgeable of the conditions or diagnosis for which care is being provided based on patients desire.
Patients requiring services at Wyckoff who require transportation from an off-site location are provided with appropriate transportation.
During the employment orientation process, through ongoing continuing education and in-service, staff meetings, medical record review and through the Performance Improvement process, appropriate and timely provision of services and patient safety are continually emphasized.
Availability of Staff
The allocation of staff corresponds to the size and service needs of each service module at the main campus and outreach center. The personnel configuration includes:
- Attending Physicians, other Licensed Providers, and Residents appropriate to the service(s) provided
- Registered Professional Nurses and/or Licensed Practical Nurses
- Nursing Technicians/Nursing Assistants and/or Medical Assistants
- Other appropriate Support Staff.
Level of Care/Patient Needs
The level of care provided throughout the Ambulatory Care Services system meets the requirements set forth by regulatory agencies and established policies and procedures of the Medical Center. All providers are trained in their respective specialties. Resident staff is trained in BCLS and ACLS. Nursing staff and/or patient care support staff are trained in BCLS or Heart Saver. All staff completes an orientation process, followed by annual in-service. Administrative policies and procedures, departmental manuals and continuing educational offerings are available to ensure that staff is cognizant of current health care trends related to provision of patient care. In addition, all employees are expected to be “team players”, with knowledge of the Medical Center’s mission, vision, and values statements. All staff is expected to take an active role in the Performance Improvement process, to assist in maintaining a safe environment for patients, visitors and employees and to be knowledgeable of their Safety and Disaster responsibilities.
Standards of Practice
The recognized standards and guidelines from all regulatory agencies (The Joint Commission, CMS, NYSDOH, OSHA, Medicaid for Pregnant Women [formerly PCAP], etc.) are enforced and practiced throughout the Ambulatory Care Services system.
Measures of The Extent To Which Care Provided Meets The Patients’ Needs
- Care provided is appropriate, courteous and of high quality. Provision of appropriate, courteous, high quality care and monitoring for performance variance.
- Development and maintenance of a relevant performance improvement plan.
- Communication and reporting of performance improvement activities
- Identification of deficiencies and/or opportunities for improvement with development of appropriate corrective action plans
- Resolution of problems that impact on patient care delivery
- Resolution/Response of patient/family complaints.
- Continuing education and in-service offerings, including Customer Relations and Patient Safety.
- Patient Perception Survey (Press Ganey) and Providers’ Satisfaction Survey.
- Patient Education offering (printed materials, classes and support groups)
