Martin's Point Health Care Profile

Established in 1981, Martin's Point is a not-for-profit health care provider with facilities in Portland, Brunswick, and Windham, Maine, and Portsmouth, N.H. The largest primary care practice in Maine, Martin's Point has a staff of more than 300 health care professionals and serves 54,000 patients - including military retirees and dependents of active military personnel - under all major health plans.

Martin's Point holds the distinction of having a physician, Dr. David H. Howes, as its president and chief medical officer. Howes helped create and implement a new strategic plan for Martin's Point, transforming the organization into a major health care provider. Under Howes' leadership, Martin's Point has experienced significant growth, and is now the 80th largest employer in Maine. Howes was recently invited to address the House Armed Services in Washington, D.C., as an expert on elderly military health care.

In addition to family practice, pediatrics, internal medicine, cardiology, general surgery and radiology, services at Martin's Point include contracted ophthalmology, optometry, physical therapy and laboratory services. In addition, its Health Education Center offers classes on topics ranging from smoking cessation to diabetes management for all patients and the general public. Martin's Point is accredited by the independent Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation's predominant standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. The Radiology Department at the Portland facility also recently received its fourth consecutive successful accreditation from the American College of Radiology for mammography imaging. In addition, Martin's Point is part of the state's new online immunization program as well as the new Care Partners program that serves working families without insurance.

Martin's Point is known for its innovative approach to health care. Unique to Martin's Point is its online communication program called Patient's Personal PointsÅ , which allows patients to communicate via a secure server with their doctors to schedule appointments, ask medical questions and obtain prescription renewals. The program won a national technology award from the Healthcare Innovations in Technology Systems (HITS) Partnership in Technology national awards program. For additional information on this program, visit them online at www.martinspoint.org.

Martin's Point is one of seven designated providers of the Uniformed Services Family Health Plan (USFHP), a managed care plan that provides services to about 100,000 retired military personnel and eligible family members of active-duty and retired military personnel nationwide. In the spring of 2001, an independent survey found that nearly 90 percent of military dependents and retirees served by Martin's Point are satisfied with their health plan. The 89.5 overall satisfaction percentage for the 2001 survey is nearly 20 percent higher than last year's national average of 70.2 percent among comparable military programs.

Martin's Point offers Employer Wellness programs along with a Physician Outreach Program to area businesses consisting of free presentations by physicians on a range of issues. It also offers an aggressive disease management program that addresses chronic illnesses such as pediatric asthma and congestive heart failure.

Martin's Point is growing and expanding. In May 1999, a new 12,700-square-foot health care facility opened in Brunswick at the corner of Farley and Bath roads. In January 2001, Martin's Point opened a new 19,000-square-foot health care facility at the Pease International Tradeport in Portsmouth, N.H.

For more information on Martin's Point Health Care, call Amy Weinschenk, director of communications, at (207) 774-5801, ext. 3852.

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