Southeast Texas Medical Associates, LLP James L. Holly, M.D. Southeast Texas Medical Associates, LLP


Letters - Letter to Carlos Roberto Jaén, MD, PhD
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May 27, 2016

Carlos Roberto Jaén, MD, PhD
Professor and Chair of Family & Community Medicine
The Department of Family and Community Medicine, MC 7794
7703 Floyd Curl Drive
San Antonio, TX  78229-3900

Dear Dr. Jaén:

I enjoyed talking with you about your proposal for the THECB’s Graduate Medical Education Expansion Primary Care Innovation Grant Program.  The project you propose will definitely encourage and support more UTHSCSA Medical School graduates to pursue primary care careers.

You and I share a passion for primary care and its key role in healthcare transformation.  Working with you, your faculty, and students has fulfilled me personally and professionally.  As an Adjunct Professor in your department, teaching UTHSCSA students in our Fourth Year FAPR 4030 The Patient-Centered Medical Home in Family Medicine is one of my favorite activities.  Since 2013, this unique course has given students an in-depth experience in the Patient-Centered Medical Home (SETMA is accredited by the Joint Commission, the National Committee for Quality Assurance, URAC and the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care as a PC-MH, 2010-2019) within the context of my multi-specialty practice, the Southeast Texas Medical Associates, LLP (see http://jameslhollymd.com/).

SETMA’s model emphasizes care coordination, patient outcomes through data analytics (see Presentations - The Importance of Data Analytics in Physician Practice), electronic patient management (see Your Life Your Health - May, 1999 -- Four Seminal Events in SETMA’s History), and care transitions.  It also features public and online reporting of provider performance by provider name on over 200 quality metrics (2009-2016).

Students love experiencing a learning organization in which primary care and specialty physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, support staff and other members of the healthcare team function as a unit.  Within this course I provide the mentoring and support that is noted in your proposal’s fifth element:  Establishing collaborations with private practices in which Fourth Year medical students rotate and see innovative patient-centered practices that focus on population health, disease prevention, and value-based care.

Since we have existing Affiliation and Program Agreements, I will continue to work with you and teach UTHSCSA students.  I will provide these rotating students with free housing, some meals, and cover their round-trip transportation costs from San Antonio to Beaumont.

Thank you for including me in “Llama:  Igniting and Keeping the Primary Care Flame Alive”.  I look forward to continuing to teach and mentor the next generation of primary care physicians!

Sincerely yours,

James (Larry) Holly, M.D.
C.E.O. SETMA
Adjunct Professor
Family & Community Medicine
University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio School of Medicine