Obesity Care Model Collaborative (OCMC)

• Obesity Clinic: A new clinic was created as a strategy to address obesity in the patient population.
• Obesity Support Group: A physician-led community support program was created for patients suffering from obesity.
• Shared Medical Appointments: Group appointments for obesity and diabetes, obesity and comorbidities, and obesity and chronic pain were expanded.
• Metabolic Care Program: A program focusing on culinary medicine was launched.
• “Weight for You” Program: This three-month program focused on obesity and primary care.
• Community Garden/Food Pharmacy: A garden and healthy food bank was created to engage community members while providing healthy food for patients and the larger community.
• Community Partnership: A partnership was formed between a member and a third-party organization to establish a social media-based cooking class.
• Community Resources: Hospitals and clinics established centers to identify patient resources within the community and provide patients with information about them.
• Reducing Disparities: Three members began assessing of their organization’s obesity care framework as it relates to equity.
• Nurse Navigator: A new position was created to assist providers caring for patients with obesity and to connect patients with available resources.
• Best Practice Alerts: A system of alerts for documenting BMI was implemented into an EMR.
• Clinic Environment: Several groups made environmental changes to better accommodate patients with obesity (i.e., larger blood pressure cuffs, larger gowns, wider chairs in waiting area, etc.). One group designated an exam room in each practice specifically to patients with obesity.
• Patient Champions: Patient champions were selected to directly represent the interests of stakeholders during the development of obesity care programs.

“The obesity data AMGA collected and analyzed throughout this program has been extremely valuable. This data can’t be found anywhere else, though; it’s unique to this program and the providers in it.”
– Timothy Garvey, M.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama Birmingham

“Knowledge and best practices are meant to be shared, and these meetings allow us to do just that. This collaborative has exposed us to new ideas and strategies, many of which we may never have thought of on our own.”
– Marianne Sumego, M.D., Physician, Community Internal Medicine, Cleveland Clinic

“This program empowers better practice and influences the delivery of higher quality care. AMGA’s staff does a remarkable job, and I’m very thankful for the opportunity to be a participant!”
– 2018-2019 OCMC Participant