ChenMed has announced results from a three-year study of nearly 60,000 patients, showing 22% lower incidence of primary stroke among those having benefitted from a year or more of ChenMed care. The study compared outcomes for more than 40,500 tenured Chen, Dedicated and JenCare senior medical centre patients versus nearly 16,000 newer patients—those having fewer than 12 months of primary care from a ChenMed clinician.
“Strokes are the fifth-leading cause of death in America,” said Christopher Chen, CEO of ChenMed. “So, it is outstanding news that the affordable VIP care our doctors deliver consistently yields better health outcomes, including an average of 22% fewer strokes during the three years following a year or more of medical care from a ChenMed doctor.
“This lifesaving ChenMed difference for seniors living with multiple and complex health challenges is noteworthy. Every year, some 800,000 Americans have a stroke, and four out of five strokes are preventable. Plus, about 50% of the patients ChenMed serves are African Americans, for whom the risk of having a first stroke is nearly twice as high as that for white Americans.”
A hyper-growth company providing primary care for Medicare-eligible seniors, ChenMed operates nearly 100 primary care practices in 12 US states and focuses on serving underserved Medicare populations—a group that, on average, receives less preventive healthcare than the overall population.
Bringing healthcare to its target population by positioning medical centres in neighbourhoods with concentrated numbers of low-income, minority seniors allows ChenMed to extend preventive care to those who need it most, a press release from the company states. ChenMed also increases access to preventive care by providing door-to-doctor transportation; by giving patients their doctor’s cellphone number; and by welcoming both same-day and walk-in appointments.
“Our doctors focus on earning trust and on doing whatever it takes to truly personalise care for each patient year-round,” said Faisel Syed, national director of primary care at ChenMed. “By emphasising preventive care, we better address the leading causes of stroke by better managing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes and smoking, while simultaneously encouraging healthy lifestyle changes including diet, exercise and limiting alcohol consumption.”
