Milton Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Launch Partnership to Improve Emergency Care

MILTON, Mass. - Milton Hospital has established a partnership with Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians (HMFP) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to operate the community hospital's Emergency Department -- a move that is expected to result almost immediately in shorter wait times during peak hours.

The partnership expands upon the hospital's existing clinical affiliation with Boston-based Beth Israel Deaconess. The HMFP emergency practice will oversee day-to-day operation of Milton's emergency department and will employ all physicians and physician assistants providing care there.

The first new development that will directly impact patients will be an increase in physician coverage during the peak hours of 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., according to Richard Wolfe, MD, Chief of Beth Israel Deaconess' Department of Emergency Medicine. "This will help ensure that patients see an attending physician very quickly after they arrive," he said.

While most physicians and physician assistants from Milton's existing emergency staff will join the HMFP practice, five new physicians and four physician assistants from HMFP will also begin treating patients at Milton's emergency room on a rotating basis.

Paul Paganelli, MD, chief of the Milton Emergency Department, said, "We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with HMFP to take the department to the next level and leverage the hospital's investment in a brand new, state-of-the-art emergency department built with patient convenience and privacy in mind."

Dr. Wolfe added, "As we move forward, we will be building on the department's strong leadership and a strong emergency physician group that is well-connected to local primary care physicians."

In all of its locations, the HMFP emergency practice emphasizes measuring patient satisfaction and identifying areas for improving care, according to Dr. Wolfe. "Communicating with patients about their plan of care and paying constant attention to their needs goes a long way in improving a patient's feelings about their experience," Dr. Wolfe said.

Since its inception in 2000, the HMFP emergency practice has branched into several other hospitals in eastern Massachusetts, including departments at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital- Needham, Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket, RI, and St. Vincent's Hospital in Worcester. In 2006, the Beth Israel Deaconess emergency department and its community affiliates served approximately 200,000 patients.

Clinical ties between Milton Hospital and BIDMC began in 2003 with the introduction of gerontology and prostate seed programs and a rapid transport system that continues to seamlessly transfer heart attack patients in need of advanced cardiac care from the Milton Emergency Department to the BIDMC cardiac catheterization lab. The hospitals' affiliation expanded in 2005 and has since resulted in the development of joint programs in gynecology, hospital medicine, orthopedics and podiatry.