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


Letters - The Joint Commission Accreditation for Ambulatory Care and PC-MH
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Southeast Texas Medical Associates, LLP (SETMA, LLP)

“They know what they are doing and they know why they are doing it.” (Joint Commission)
“They marveled at the wedding of the technology of IT with clinical excellence and knowledge.” (RWJF)

The Joint Commission Accreditation for Ambulatory Care and PC-MH

Both the surveyors and one of the executives at The Joint Commission commented about the philosophical foundation of SETMA’s work.  Wednesday afternoon (March 5, 2014) I called my executive contact at The Joint Commission. He said “I was just talking to one of my colleagues and showing him SETMA’s notebook which was prepared in response to The Joint Commission’s Standards and Requirements Chapter Seven on leadership.” 

The executive said, “Look at this; everything they do is founded upon a philosophical foundation.  They know ‘what they are doing,’ but more importantly, they know why they are doing it.’”  SETMA is not the result of random efforts but of innovations and advances which are consistent with a structured set of ideals, principles and goals.  It is helpful that The Joint Commission recognized this and commented upon it.  It is one of the strengths of SETMA and it is one of the principle guides to SETMA’s development history, i.e., what caused SETMA to become what it is.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation LEAP Study

Selected as one of thirty exemplar practices out of over 400 nominated, SETMA had a four-day site visit by a MacColl Institute survey team.  They identified five areas of excellence in SETMA.
The fifth area of uniqueness of SETMA identified by the RWJF team was a surprise to them; it was SETMA’s IT Department.  The RWJF team felt that SETMA has approached healthcare transformation differently than anyone they have seen.  They related that uniqueness to the decision we made in 1999 to morph from the pursuit of “electronic patient records” to the pursuit of “electronic patient management.” 

They were surprised to see how centrally and essentially electronics are positioned into SETMA and how all other things are driven by the power of electronics.  They marveled at the wedding of the technology of IT with clinical excellence and knowledge.  The communication and integration of the healthcare team through the power of IT is novel, they concluded.