Providing our patients timely access to medical care is imperative to their wellness and it’s why UT Health Physicians' access initiative has long worked to streamline and increase access to our patient services. Our access initiative has been intensely focused on developing strategies, such as Early Arrival, Fast Pass and Practice-to-Practice scheduling, all aimed at helping our patients obtain appointments when they need them.

Overall at UT Health Physicians, new patients seen within 7 days are up 4%, slot utilization has increased 7% and the schedule referral work queue has decreased 45%.  Additionally, new patients, completed visits and UT Select appointments from 2017 to 2018 increased 22%, 6%, and 23% respectively, than the corresponding time period a year earlier. And, despite this increase in access, clinic cycle time, which is defined as check out time minus check in time, has only increased by one minute, from 84 minutes to 85 minutes.

Soon, the access initiative will be rolling out an Adaptive Reserve Survey to get a snapshot of the clinical environment from the perspective of practice staff and providers. This 26-question, nationally-validated survey was developed by Carlos Jaen, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair of Family and Community Medicine, and is required by the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality in studies of the Patient Centered Medical Home. This survey has been in use for several years by the Primary Care Center but was recently re-built in Qualtrics, tested in Ophthalmology and will be distributed within the next several weeks and then repeated quarterly. The survey takes only a few minutes to complete and will allow us to hasten the dialogues that will take us to the next level in patient care.

UT Health Physicians’ improved access will help all of us Make Lives Better® by improving the health of our community. A hearty Thank You goes to all of the practices, staff and providers for championing access on behalf of our patients and to UT Health's Practice Operations team and the Quality Team for hosting the Access Summit to educate our leaders in the importance of access.

Diabetes Alert Day was created by the American Diabetes Association and takes place on the 4th Tuesday in March. It is a day dedicated to informing the American public about the seriousness of diabetes, particularly when diabetes is left undiagnosed or untreated.  More than 14% of Texans have diabetes. And, over 600,000 Texans have diabetes and are unaware - which greatly increases their health risks.

This Diabetes Alert Day, Tuesday, March 27, from 10:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. you’re invited to join UT Health San Antonio's expert diabetes team in the lobby of the Medical Arts & Research Center. Take the shuttle as parking is very limited.

UT Health’s team of endocrinologists, nephrologists, certified diabetes educators and registered dietitian will be on the first floor of the Medical Arts & Research Center to help you learn your risk for developing diabetes or pre-diabetes. Enjoy prizes, diabetes risk screenings, nutrition demonstrations and more.

Did You Know?

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) facts on diabetes show us the reasons to be concerned:

• Diabetes affects about 30.3 million Americans or about 9.4 percent of the U.S. population.
• Nearly 1 in 4 adults with diabetes, or 7.2 million Americans, are unaware that they have the disease.
• Another 84.1 million Americans have pre-diabetes, a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.
• Nine out of 10 adults with pre-diabetes don’t know they have it.

If you have a family history of diabetes, you have a greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes. You are also more likely to develop type 2 diabetes if you are over age 45, are overweight, or are not physically active. 

To learn more about UT Health's diabetes program, call 210-450-9050 or visit UTHealthcare.org/Diabetes to learn more.

At your UT Health San Antonio, we make lives better through our missions of education, research, clinical care and community service. As we teach, discover and heal, we remain ever committed to building a brighter tomorrow — a future of hope for patients and their families — here at home and around the world.

The care we provide at UT Health Physicians endures long after an appointment ends. A patient's opinion on how they were treated and the care they received are remembered always and shared time and time again. The good stories our patients share about our practice establish an expectation and a reputation each of us is called to uphold. Here are recent comments directly from our patients.

"Dr. MacGilvray and the staff were kind and caring and took the time to talk with me. This was my first visit to establish care and I felt comfortable with the clinic. It is a very convenient location for us which makes it even better."

"Dr. Womack was really great, very professional, and explained everything in detail. Thank you."

"The Doctor (Dr. Dearmond) including his entire medical staff has always been rendering an exceptional quality of medical services at it's finest in every sense of the word."

"I am very pleased with all the staff providing care. Excellent services"

"I wouldn't change a thing I received excellent service!"

"All I can say about this doctor (Dr. Morehead) is he provides the best service, to me, than any other hospital, or doctor, or physician, I've ever seen in my 60 something years of life. He is one of the best I've ever dealt with."

"I'm so glad I'm a patient at MARC Neurology. Everyone is so kind and respectful and the staff always helps as best they can."

"I was seen near my appointment time, the staff was excellent, and Dr. Malave answered all my questions as well as listening to me and helping me to make decisions going forward. There is nothing I would expect to improve my experience. Very, very satisfied."

"Dr Lichtenstein always provides great advise, answers my questions with easy to understand replies and is a great all around physician. I hold him in high regard."

"Really, nothing short of picking up at home and driving me to the clinic, LOL, seriously everything about Dr. Moscrip and staff is the best. Nothing but praise for doctor and staff."

"Was very thankful for the complete and thorough information I received. Thank you so much. I really appreciate this doctor and his staff. Thank you so much."

"I think that everyone has paid clear attention to my concerns and have been careful to address their concerns fully with me. I am actually meeting tomorrow morning before my Doctor's regular hours so she can go over recent tests with me. I trust her completely. She is always very attentive and well informed."

"Every aspect of this visit was great. Appreciated the respect and detailed care provided."

"Dr. Morgan and PA Wall are phenomenal. They are attentive and caring. They take their time to explain and allow you to ask questions."