The Brigham and Women’s Primary Care Associates, Longwood, team. (Not all are pictured.)

On June 22, BWH’s newest primary care practice, Brigham and Women’s Primary Care Associates, Longwood, opened its doors at 800 Huntington Ave. Just a few blocks from BWH’s main campus, the practice is a patient-centered medical home, meaning that patients will experience an innovative approach to team-based care when they step inside.

The multidisciplinary team currently consists of internists Mustafa Khaled, MD—who speaks Spanish, Arabic and Portuguese—Erika Pabo, MD, MBA, Sonja Solomon, MD, and nurse practitioner Elizabeth Donahue, NP, (see related story on page 3) all of whom care for their own panel of patients. Longwood Medical Director Larissa Nekhlyudov, MD, MPH, who comes to BWH from Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, will begin seeing patients in September.

“Our hope is to welcome a diverse patient population to our practice from the local community and from BWH and encourage them to be active participants in their care,” Nekhlyudov said.

The team also includes Wendy Alcantara, LPN, Irma Valsamakis, LICSW, Elizabeth Decossa, MA, Adriana Paranhos, MA, Jennifer Allen, PharmD, practice manager Sheyla Aponte and practice assistants Ruth Rodriguez and Jennifer Fields. The practice is hiring additional clinicians, including a nutritionist, with the goal of having a fully staffed practice in about a year.

“BWHC and the entire Partners system understand and support the reality that we need to invest in creating new practices that reflect our best thinking about team-based care,” said Joseph P. Frolkis, MD, PhD, vice chair of Primary Care. “In addition to continuing to offer care to our local community, we are excited that we are also able to provide care to another important part of this community: our employees.”

The practice seeks to build a strong network of specialty providers from BWH and develop effective ways for the team and these specialists to communicate about patient care. This will include inviting specialists to visit the site, in person or virtually, to meet the team and learn more about the practice. The team will also work closely with BWH inpatient clinicians to ensure a smooth transition following hospital discharge.

The practice seeks to fill a gap as the need for primary care providers increases.

“It’s on the team’s shoulders to do the best job it can at preventing unnecessary utilization, so we can improve care and drive down costs,” said Frolkis.

Partners’ goal is to have all BWH and BWFH primary care sites certified as patient-centered medical homes by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) by 2018. Currently, three BWH practices are recognized by the NCQA as patient-centered medical homes: Brigham and Women’s Advanced Primary Care Associates, South Huntington, Brigham and Women’s Primary Care Associates, Newton Corner, and Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center.

Similar to other primary care practices, the Longwood practice is incorporating medical students and residents, and two residents have already followed Solomon, their preceptor, from the Phyllis Jen Center.

“Whether or not trainees eventually go into primary care, it’s important to expose them to this evolving model of care delivery that is becoming increasingly common at a national level,” Frolkis said.

To learn more or make an appointment, call 857-307-2200. View photos of the new practice.