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Shared medical appointments (SMAs) are also called group visits, group medical appointments, and group clinics. Various SMA models have been used for many years to optimize patient-centered medical care. John Scott, MD, a JasterHealth consultant, developed one of the main models of SMAs.

SMAs began as a response to frustration with the medical care delivery system. Dr. Scott realized he could not take care of chronically ill seniors with complex health concerns in a 15-minute office visit. He knew his patients needed more time to have their concerns and questions answered, and he needed more time to provide quality medical care and avoid preventable complications. Ed Noffsinger, PhD, a creator of 2 models of SMAs, was a patient at the same time he was a psychologist. He drove a long distance for his medical appointments, then waited and waited and waited, in order to finally see his doctor. At one appointment he waited 3 hours for a typical short and rushed office visit, and then drove the long distance home with several questions that he had forgotten to ask his physician.

SMAs were created to resolve much of the dissatisfaction that occurs commonly within the medical system. SMAs typically bring together 8-12 patients, their medical provider, and a health professional/guest educator (to help direct the group) for 90 minutes of relaxed, interactive, educational, and empowering medical care.

Guest Educators

• Nutrition specialist
• Diabetes educator
• Foot doctor
• Exercise specialist
• Pharmacist
• Social worker

Elements of Shared Medical Appointments

• Socializing
• Education
• Medical care
• Questions/answers
• Participant feedback about future educational sessions

SMAs are not classes or support groups, although participants will leave feeling supported and with improved knowledge about health promotion and disease management. Participants commonly mention that they:

• Heard questions that they had never thought to ask.
• Asked all of their questions.
• Learned new information.
• Prefer SMAs to individual visits with their medical provider.

A unique aspect of SMAs is the opportunity to meet other people who share similar health concerns. Participants typically form an informal support network, which may include a partner to exercise with during the week, a friend who understands the challenges of weight loss or quitting smoking, and a team approach to living with diabetes, heart disease, or other chronic medical conditions.

Participant and medical provider satisfaction improves with SMAs, along with improved quality of medical care. Studies show better outcomes, such as:

• Less hospitalizations and emergency room visits in geriatric patients.
• Superior disease control, quality of life, knowledge, and self-management for diabetes patients.
• Fewer babies born before their due date.

SMAs improve access to medical appointments, and help guarantee that patients are up to date with all of their preventive medical services, such as flu shots, mammograms, and colonoscopies. SMAs can also give patients access to information that is not typically covered by insurance, such as:

• Proper nutrition.
• Sustainable exercise.
• Long-term weight loss and weight maintenance programs.

Focus on health, not illness, by optimizing the benefits of shared medical appointments.