This article is sponsored by CenterWell Senior Primary Care and Conviva Senior Primary Care.
We’ve all taken a leap of faith at some point in our lives. For me, it was switching from a traditional physician’s practice to joining CenterWell Senior Primary Care, which employs a true team-based approach. Doing so has convinced me that it’s one of the best methods for keeping my patients healthy while benefiting me personally by maintaining a good work-life balance.
At CenterWell and our sister brand Conviva Senior Primary Care, a team of doctors, social workers, behavioral specialists, and other professionals work together to provide comprehensive, personalized care to seniors. Because physicians have so much support, we can focus more on patient care, spending up to 50 percent more time than typical provider appointments, which fosters a strong doctor/patient connection and allows us to learn about lifestyle factors impacting a patient’s health.
Our team provides services that go well beyond medical care, including transportation, housing, and food assistance, as well as mental health services. In fact, when one of my colleagues learned that a patient in his 80s had never learned to read, despite it being one of his lifelong goals, the care team found resources to help him start on the road to reading.
While there are many benefits of working at CenterWell, here are a few highlights:
- Mission-driven care: CenterWell’s value-based model gives us the time and support we need to address the medical and daily-life needs of our patients, helping them stay healthy and thrive as they age.
- Support: The care team not only benefits my patients, but it also sustains me. I feel more effective in my job because I have colleagues who provide a full range of patient care and services.
- Relationships: Having smaller patient panels and longer appointments allows me to build better relationships with my patients, which gives me greater job satisfaction.
- Care: I have had patients who would be labeled as “non-compliant” at other practices come to CenterWell and, once integrated into our care model, become healthier and adherent. One instance I am proud of is a patient who frequently missed appointments, which we were alerted to by the appointment analytics. Our team took action, and just months later, the patient had reliable transportation to the office, affordable housing, healthy foods, and his A1C normalized.
- Growth: CenterWell Senior Primary Care is part of the nation’s largest senior-focused primary care network, which also includes Conviva Senior Primary Care, treating more than 600,000 patients at nearly 400 centers across 15 states.
I am grateful for our robust clinical support team, which allows me to deliver quality care to seniors and do what I love while avoiding the burnout many physicians experience. You can learn more about careers at CenterWell Senior Primary Care or Conviva Senior Primary Care by visiting CenterWellCareers.com.
Erica L. Savage-Jeter, MD, MBA, is a vice president and regional chief medical officer at CenterWell Senior Primary Care in Greenville, South Carolina, where she puts patients at the center of every decision, delivering personalized, senior-focused care that supports their physical, emotional, and social well-being.
Her work focuses on delivering care that reduces the complexity and burden of disease, promotes well-being, and develops the next generation of physician leaders. She has been recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for excellence in evidence-based diabetes care.
Savage-Jeter earned her MD from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, completed family medicine training at the Palmetto Health Family Medicine Residency program, and earned her MBA from Auburn University.
CenterWell Senior Primary Care and Conviva Senior Primary Care are value-based primary care organizations built around older adults, with more than 350 centers across 15 states. The model is designed around smaller panels, typically 12 to 15 patients a day rather than the 25 to 30 common in traditional settings, giving physicians time to build relationships with patients and their families and to focus on long-term outcomes rather than volume.
Physicians practice alongside an integrated care team that includes advanced practice providers, medical assistants, care coordinators, behavioral health specialists, and pharmacists, with daily team huddles to share the workload. Specialist input is available through secure eConsult technology while clinical decisions stay with the treating physician, and modern electronic medical record systems and AI-enabled tools absorb much of the documentation and routine administrative work. Benefits begin on day one and cover health and well-being programs, retirement savings with a company match, continuing medical education time and allowance, and paid time away.
