The Best and Worst Doctors in Central Mass

Friday, June 01, 2012

Walter Bird Jr., GoLocalWorcester Reporter

A recent survey of Massachusetts doctors’ offices yielded good news for several Worcester-area health practices. For others, not so much.

“Consumer Reports” recently released its rankings of adult and pediatric medical practices, based on survey responses from more than 60,000 adults and parents of pediatric patients. Topping the list for adult care in Central Mass was Auburn Internal Medicine (AIM) in Auburn. The facility earned a “4” in three of the five ranking categories, on a scale of 1-4. Its lowest score was a “2” under the category of how well doctors coordinate care. AIM got top marks for how well doctors communicate with patients, offer timely appointments and courteous and respectful help from office staff.

Overall, 90 percent of those who took the survey were “willing to recommend” AIM to other patients.

Medical Practice Honored

Not far away, employees at Grove Medical Associates (GMA) in Auburn were celebrating their ranking, which was second behind AIM.

“I was so proud of everyone here,” said nurse and office manager Gail Cetto. “We were just talking about it before you called. Everyone is talking about it.”

GMA earned a “4” in two categories: doctors' communication with patients and how well doctors know their patients. In each of the remaining three categories, GMA earned a “3.” Overall, 89 percent of survey respondents indicated a willingness to recommend the office to someone else.

Cetto said it was gratifying to be recognized for providing competent care, but she wasn’t resting on her laurels.

“We are excited, we’re happy, but we have some areas we need to improve upon,” Cetto said, acknowledging that it is “hard to keep people happy.”

System Helps

Cetto credited the office's Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system for helping improve doctor-patient relations. Many medical facilities have switched to the EMR system, which allows doctors to automatically call up patient information, something Cetto said especially helps when different doctors are treating the same patient.

“The patient really feels like the doctors are keeping up on them,” Cetto said.

High Scoring Physicians

Five Worcester medical practices finished in the Top 10 among Central Mass facilities, including Primary Physician Partners, Hahnemann Medical Group, Hahnemann Family Health, Chadwick Medical Associates and Benedict Internal Medicine. Of all survey takers, 89 percent would recommend Primary Physician Partners, 88 percent would recommend Hahnemann Medical Group, 84 percent would recommend Hahnemann Family Health, 82 percent would suggest Chadwick Medical Associates and 81 percent would recommend Benedict Internal Medicine.

Rounding out the Top 10 were Reliant Medical Group in Spencer, Reliant Medical Group in Auburn and Harrington Health Care at Charlton.

Harrington Ranks Lowest

That was the only good news the Harrington Health Care System received in the rankings, however, as two of its other facilities were the bottom two in Central Massachusetts. Only 67 percent of survey takers said they would recommend Harrington Physician Services in Southbridge, while just 63 percent would recommend Harrington PHO, also in Southbridge. Harrington PHO scored a “1” coordinated care, a rating of “2” in both doctor knowledge of patients and timely appointments and two ratings of “3” in doctor communication and respectful help from office staff.

Scoring Not Accurate

Tom Nutile, a spokesperson for Harrington Memorial Health Care, cautioned against reading too much into the rankings, saying, “We find it difficult to discuss these ratings in detail because we’re not certain of the accuracy of the scoring or the methodology. For example, every one of our groups that is rated is part of our PHO, which also gets a rating, so the numbers don’t seem to be ‘apples to apples’ comparisons.”

Nutile noted, however, that Harrington’s Charlton facility scored well. Many of its services also fared well in pediatric care.

“We are heartened that many of our practice groups scored well in many categories – in the top half of all practices in the state, particularly our pediatrics groups and, for adults, our Charlton practices,” Nutile said.

Room to Improve

For those that received high marks, the pride was palpable, but as Cetto observed, it didn’t mean things couldn’t be better.

“I just think we have room to improve,” she said. “That’s our goal, to get four of four on everything.”

Not that she wasn’t savoring the moment and enjoying the honor.

“I just think that was so cool,” Cetto said of the rankings. “We work very hard to take care of people because that’s the name of the game and that’s our job.”