November 13, 2019 – The national leader in medical groups, America Physician Group (APG), recognized the president of MSO of Puerto Rico (MSO), doctor Raúl F. Montalvo, with the America’s Physician Group Ambassador award for his successful trajectory in promoting coordinated care across the nation. The distinction granted to the MSO executive, who has to his credit over 34 years of experience in the health industry, reaffirms the positive impact of establishing coordinated care strategies which raise the quality standards for the benefit of patients.
The APG organization recognized the titanic effort spearheaded by doctor Montalvo and MSO in activating the recovery of the coordinated care system in the Island following the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017. As part of the recovery initiatives, MSO, an organization focused on the administration of health care entities in the Island immediately activated, right after this natural disaster, community clinics which traversed the Island taking basic health care services such as medical services, medicine prescription and preventive tests to thousands of residents, or even by simply extending a friendly embrace or helping hand to them. The Ambassador award which doctor Montalvo received is bestowed upon APG members who have distinguished themselves for having helped to expand coordinated care across the nation.
“Once more, it is reaffirmed that the innovative initiatives in the administration and coordination of care which we have implemented at MSO for the thousands of patients which our providers handle in Puerto Rico, have yielded outstanding results, worthy of recognition at a national level,” expressed Dr. Raúl F. Montalvo, MSO president. “Having been recognized as Ambassador of coordinated care not only fills me with pride, but it motivates me to continue working hand in hand with our team, as well as with the thousands of providers who are committed with improving the health care standards in the Island,” added the physician who, besides presiding MSO, is co-president of the Medical Groups’ U.S. Southwestern Region and is a member of its Executive Committee and Board of Directors.
In addition to this special recognition, handed at the APG congress recently held in Washington, D.C., MSO of Puerto Rico as a company also received, for the fifth consecutive year, the America’s Physician Groups (APG) Elite award, granted as part of their annual Standards of Excellence survey. This survey seeks to establish the highest standards in quality care, patient experience and administrative effectiveness of the medical groups.
MSO has been a pioneer in creating an avant garde business model that has evolved the medical practice and patient health care in Puerto Rico. Through its programs and initiatives, MSO has stood out for elevating the quality standards in complying with local and federal regulations. Since its very beginnings, it has pursued the development of an integrated service culture which permits to improve not only patient service and satisfaction, but which also promotes efficiency and effectiveness in the responsible utilization of the available funding.
One of the distinct and unique MSO programs is the intra-hospital level care transition program. This intra-hospital care program, known as Unidad Dorada (Golden Unit), was specifically recognized by APG as one of the success cases published in their annual magazine, Case Studies in Excellence 2019, for which they select only 10 organizations at national level for their achievements in patient focused coordinated care. The program has achieved favorable results for the MMM Healthcare Medicare Advantage health plan in several areas, among them: an 18 per cent reduction in hospital readmission and a 99 per cent score in patient and caretaker satisfaction. Furthermore, hospital release planning, medication adherence, and reconciliation and coordination of follow up visits have been one of the areas of greater improvement and which impact the results on quality care that are evaluated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
America’s Physician Groups (APG) is a professional association which encompasses more than 300 medical groups, independent practice associations and integrated health care systems in the United States and Puerto Rico. MSO provides administrative support to health care organizations through innovative tools focused on quality care and efficiencies which permit attaining excellent clinical, administrative and financial results. Currently, they manage a network of over 10 thousand health service providers which handle close to half a million patients between Medicare Advantage and the Government’s Health Plan. In managing MMM’s provider network, the leading Medicare Advantage plan in the Island, they have succeeded in being the only plan which has achieved a 4.5 star rating out of a total of 5, granted by CMS for 2020.
