Innovative Programs at Martin's Point Attract National Attention

(PORTLAND, Maine) á Martin's Point Health Care has been featured recently in three national publications, and a chapter in an upcoming book on health care practices will be devoted to its new Internet-based program linking doctors and their patients.

"At Martin's Point our efforts are forever focused on finding improved and innovative ways to provide and deliver health care services to patients," said David H. Howes, M.D., president and chief medical officer at Martin's Point. "It's rewarding to see that others are taking notice of those efforts."

A new interactive service at Martin's Point, called Patient's Personal Points, is attracting heavy media attention locally, regionally and nationally.

Medical Tribune, a national publication based in New York, featured the specialized Internet service in an issue last month. And Patient's Personal Points is the focus of a chapter about the Internet and the practice of medicine in the revised edition of Marketing Your Clinical Practice. The author, Dr. Neil Baum, a noted urologist and professor from New Orleans, touts the Martin's Point program, created by MediVation, Inc., of Needham, Mass., as a valuable tool for physicians and patients in an age where time pressures have created a growing disenfranchisement between them. The revised book will be published internationally in the coming months.

Patient's Personal Points allows patients from the Martin's Point facility in Brunswick, Maine, to discuss medical issues, request prescription refills and appointments, and seek and receive health care information, all confidentially with the click of a mouse on their personal computers. In three months since the program began, more than 500 patients are participating, setting up their own password-protected personal medical Web page.

When launched in August, Martin's Point was the first primary care practice in Maine, the second in New England á and the third in the country á to offer this particular interactive electronic communication service.

"This breakthrough technology has proven itself useful to our patients by making the practice accessible to them 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the response from physicians has been positive as well," said Jan Wnek, M.D., medical director at Martin's Point, who was interviewed for the article and the book.

Also, Modern Physician, a national medical publication based in Chicago, featured the Martin's Point Physician Outreach program in its August issue. The free program is designed to promote wellness among the state's working men and women. Martin's Point physicians are going into workplaces throughout southern Maine to speak and answer questions on a variety of health issues, ranging from weight loss, smoking cessation, and disease management to yoga and homeopathic medicine.

The national Uniformed Services Journal, too, recently published an article written by Dr. Howes about the Uniformed Services Family Health Plan (USFHP), a U.S. Department of Defense sponsored managed care program. Martin's Point holds a contract with the federal government to provide health care services for retired military personnel and the dependents of active duty personnel. Martin's Point is one of seven civilian health care facilities nationwide where USFHP programs are administered.

Established in 1981, Martin's Point Health Care employs 290 healthcare professionals who serve 44,000 patients at clinics in Portland, Windham, Brunswick and Newington, N.H. Headquartered in Portland at 331 Veranda Street, Martin's Point accepts all major health plans and insurance, including but not limited to HealthSource, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Harvard Community Health Plan, Tufts Health Plan, Maine Partners, Champus, Tricare, Aetna, Cigna and NYLCare Plans.

For more information, call Amy Weinschenk, director of marketing and communications at Martin's Point Health Care, at 774-5801, extension 2231. Or visit the Martin's Point website at www.martinspoint.org.

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