Bastyr Center for Natural Health was recently recognized for communication between patients and providers, and personal attention, in a recent survey of 40 medical groups across Puget Sound.

Bastyr Center for Natural Health Scores High Marks on Regional Patient Survey

Newly released findings from the Puget Sound Health Alliance show that patients have a positive experience when visiting Bastyr Center for Natural Health, the teaching clinic of Bastyr University. Specifically, Bastyr Center scored very highly in two key areas: communication between patients and providers, and personal attention.

“We are thrilled to receive and share this information about our clinic with others across the region,” said Bastyr Center Chief Medical Officer Jamey Wallace, ND. “It illustrates what we have always believed in – understanding that patients are human beings who have come to us with their most personal issues and are deserving of our time and attention.”

Part of what makes Bastyr Center so successful is its unique Team Care model, where a licensed provider and two to three advanced student clinicians work together to provide patients with highly individualized treatments and generous practitioner time.

"My care team checks in with me as a person and asks me about my life — it isn't just about the chart and the symptoms,” said Bastyr Center patient Georgia Ray Williams. “It really feels like a higher standard of care."

According to the Puget Sound Health Alliance, the initiative, called Your Voice Matters, marks the first time any organization in Washington state has asked patients about their experience of care in the primary care setting. Then it compared the results of 40 other medical groups with clinics in 156 locations across Puget Sound. Bastyr Center was one of only three medical groups to score above 90th percentile on all four of the publicly reported measures.

“Natural medicine’s strength is that it focuses on the whole person, which takes time,” Dr. Wallace added. “The current standard medical model, where a doctor sees a patient for 10 minutes before going on to the next one, assembly-line style, is what we want to avoid. We are glad to know our patients appreciate our efforts.”

Of the nearly 90,000 people in the Puget Sound area who received a mailing to participate in this survey between October and December 2011, 36 percent responded. The survey asked patients to report their experiences with their health care provider and the provider’s office staff over the last 12 months.

This report uses data gathered by the Puget Sound Health Alliance. We certify that our use is consistent with the Alliance’s Rules of Use for Performance Results from the Community Checkup. To view results for all measures included in the Community Checkup see www.WACommunityCheckup.org.