News & Announcements

Jan 15

Scheduling Your Appointment

We at AIM can now provide COVID-19 vaccines for our patients 65 and older on a limited basis. To schedule an appointment, you MUST follow the below process. Do NOT call our office to schedule an appointment for your COVID-19 vaccine.

Click here to complete the form to be added to our COVID-19 vaccine waitlist.

When we receive your vaccine dose in the office, you will receive a text message to the phone number you provided on the online form. These automated text messages will walk you through the process to schedule an appointment. *Due to the limited number of doses that we are receiving at a time, it may be a few weeks before you are prompted to schedule your appointment.*

If you have already received your first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, then we will not be able to vaccinate you at AIM. If you already have an appointment with another vaccine provider, please keep that appointment. If you are under the age of 65, you can go ahead and register for the waitlist at the link above, but will not be able to schedule until the state of Georgia expands eligibility to your age group.

On the Day of Your Appointment

On the day of your vaccine appointment, please arrive to the AIM lobby 5 minutes ahead of your appointment time. You must wear a mask, and you must bring with you a completed consent form, which you can print out and complete ahead of time from the following link: https://www.albanyim.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/COVID-Vaccine-Consent-Form.pdf . You must also bring with you a government issued ID and your updated insurance card.

Facts and Safety Info about the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine

Here is a fact sheet about the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine.

For anyone concerned about whether you should receive the COVID-19 vaccine, here is an information sheet that our doctors developed to address a number of safety concerns.

If you are unable to schedule with us via the above process using the online form and text messages, we recommend contacting one of the below vaccination sites:

Phoebe Putney 229-312-1919
Phoebe Healthworks Gym at 311 W. 3rd Avenue
Albany, Georgia 31701

Dougherty County Health Department 229-352-6567
1710 S Slappey Boulevard
Albany, GA 31701

Thank you for your interest in receiving your COVID-19 vaccine at Albany Internal Medicine. Please be patient with us as we work to provide this service. Please do NOT call our office to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment or to ask about vaccine availability.

Jun 1

We are excited to announce that we will have in-house COVID-19 antibody testing available for our established patients beginning Monday, June 1st. This test is conducted via blood draw. *No appointment is necessary; however, you must be able to pass the screening questions that we ask every patient visiting our office related to fever, respiratory symptoms, and potential recent COVID-19 exposures, as well as wear a mask for the duration of your visit.* If you think you currently have COVID-19, this is
not the test for you and you should contact your doctor for assessment and potential nasal swab testing. We will have 400 antibody tests available each week on a first come, first served basis. Results should be returned to you within 24 hours.

The COVID-19 antibody test can help to indicate whether or not you have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus in the past. A positive antibody test does not necessarily guarantee temporary or long-term immunity. If you have a positive result, you should still proceed with caution for the duration of the pandemic.

Dec 29

We are excited to announce that we are now offering online scheduling! With the convenience of online scheduling, you can schedule your appointment online or through the patient portal at a time convenient to you and without having to wait on the phone. Simply click on the “Make An Appointment” button or “Get Care Now” button on our website and follow the prompts. If you need care within a couple of days, you may need to call into the office to check for more availability than shows online. We highly recommend this new, easy, and convenient perk of being an AIM patient!

Jan 2

Laura Stubbs Fay grew up in Albany and is the middle daughter of internist Dr. Joe Stubbs, who has been with Albany Internal Medicine for 35 years, and his wife Annabelle. As the daughter of a physician (and the granddaughter of two doctors), Laura has seen firsthand the special relationships that physicians and their patients develop over time and the opportunity that doctors have to make a real impact on people’s lives.

 

Read more about Dr. Laura Fay

Dec 1

 
 

ALBANY INTERNAL MEDICINE
EARNS NATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR
PATIENT-CENTERED CARE

 

NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home™ standards emphasize enhanced care through
patient-clinician partnership

WASHINGTON, DC—The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) today announced that Albany Internal Medicine of Albany, Georgia has received NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition for using evidence-based, patient-centered processes that focus on highly coordinated care and long‐term, participative relationships.

 

The NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home is a model of primary care that combines teamwork and information technology to improve care, improve patients’ experience of care and reduce costs. Medical homes foster ongoing partnerships between patients and their personal clinicians, instead of approaching care as the sum of episodic office visits. Each patient’s care is overseen by clinician-led care teams that coordinate treatment across the health care system. Research shows that medical homes can lead to higher quality and lower costs, and can improve patient and provider reported experiences of care.

 

“NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition raises the bar in defining high-quality care by emphasizing access, health information technology and coordinated care focused on patients,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “Recognition shows that Albany Internal Medicine has the tools, systems and resources to provide its patients with the right care, at the right time.”

 

To earn recognition, which is valid for three years, Albany Internal Medicine demonstrated the ability to meet the program’s key elements, embodying characteristics of the medical home. NCQA standards aligned with the joint principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home established with the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Osteopathic Association.

 

To find clinicians and their practices with NCQA PCMH Recognition, visit http://recognition.ncqa.org.

About NCQA
NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA’s Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS^®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA’s Web site (ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.

 

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Jun 13

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Albany Doctors Deliver High-Quality Care and Cost Savings for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia Members with New Value-Based Payment Arrangements

Statewide Results Show Improvements in Quality, Cost Savings

ALBANY, Ga., (June 2, 2016) By participating in a program sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBSGa), primary care doctors practicing in Albany have been among the most successful in the state at delivering high-quality care and lower costs.

Enhanced Personal Health Care (EPHC) was launched in Georgia in July 2013, and more than 1,200 physicians across the state currently participate in the program. These doctors care for more than 200,000 BCBSGa members.

In recognition of their results in delivering efficient, high-quality care, participating BCBSGa providers received $21.5 million in shared savings. In many cases, practices reinvest the shared savings by hiring care coordinators or purchasing electronic health records to assist with population health management.

Locally, Albany doctors had exemplary results, including these improvement rates for delivering evidence-based care:

• Since February 2015, Shaw Center has maintained 100% compliance with delivering recommended cervical cancer screenings.
• From September 2014 through February 2016, there has been a 22% improvement in the rate of annual eye exams for patients with diabetes who are treated at the McIntosh Clinic.
• From September 2015 to February 2016, Brian Griner, MD maintained 100% compliance prescribing the most effective asthma medications for his patients.
• Between September 2014 and February 2016, at Southwest Georgia Healthcare, there has been a 19% increase in testing diabetic patients’ HbA1c levels.
• Since beginning participation in July 2014, primary care providers at Albany Internal Medicine have seen an 18% overall drop in their patients’ ER visits and a 32% decrease in the rate of potentially avoidable emergency room visits.
• The Veranda has seen a marked drop in the same measure since July 2014, lowering the rate of potentially avoidable ER visits by 28%.

BCBSGa members who see a physician participating in the EPHC program reported many benefits, including better access to urgent care, better communication with providers and higher satisfaction with the amount of time they spent with their doctors.

Enhanced Personal Health Care is the centerpiece of BCBSGa’s collaboration strategy, known as BCBSGa Togetherworks℠. Enhanced Personal Health Care is built on the belief that the primary care-patient relationship is the most important part of promoting health and wellness. The program’s goal is to strengthen that bond while rewarding primary care physicians for emphasizing quality and value in everyday practice.

“The increased collaboration between primary care physicians and specialists has made a tremendous impact on our members who are looking for quality and affordability. The physicians who participate in the EPHC program have made a huge impact on their patients’ health,” said Jeff Fusile, president of BCBSGa. “We found that our members who see EPHC physicians require fewer follow-up visits since health challenges are treated proactively.”

The BCBSGa Enhanced Personal Health Care team is equipped with many tools to share, arming providers with information and insights they need to manage population health and deliver patient-centered care. Resources include member data that enables providers to target members with chronic conditions or gaps in care — like prescriptions that have not been filled or missed medical testing, as well as a system to flag members at risk for readmission to the hospital.

Statewide in 2014, participating Georgia primary care physicians had 1.7% higher rates of delivering recommended care for diabetic patients, a 3.5% better rate of delivering evidence-based adult preventive services, and 4.4% better performance on ensuring patients took their medications as prescribed.

More than 40,000 PCPs are participating in the program across the country, caring for 4.7 million members of BCBSGa and its affiliated plans.

To earn shared savings bonus payments, practices must meet quality performance goals, which include quality standards established by organizations such as the National Committee on Quality Assurance, the American Diabetes Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and others. Primary care physicians who maintain or improve quality may earn up to 35 percent of any cost savings that have been obtained over the last year.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, Inc. and Blue Cross Blue Shield Healthcare Plan of Georgia, Inc. are independent licensees of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. The Blue Cross Blue Shield names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Additional information about Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, Inc. is available at www.bcbsga.com.

 

Jun 7

As of June 7, 2016, we are proud members of Privia Medical Group!

Jun 1

For the convenience of our established patients we have an acute care walk-in clinic Monday thru Friday from 8:00 am to 9:30 am.  Appointment times are assigned upon arrival on a first come first serve basis. Convenient on-site diagnostic services are available to aid in your diagnosis and treatment. Saturday acute care and walk-in clinic hours for our established patients are 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.