Dr. Allen Perkins Awarded HRSA Grant

Dr. Allen Perkins, professor and chair of family medicine at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and a family medicine physician with USA Physicians Group, recently was awarded a $2.3 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The purpose of this award is to help establish an inter-professional training environment focused on population health and improving care for complex patients at the USA Family Medicine Center.

The project, titled �The Complex Patient in the Primary Care Medical Home,� focuses on team-based care in the family medicine, mental health and pharmacy training environment.

Dr. Perkins said he is very excited about the possibilities that this funding provides. �Through the incorporation of the enhanced use of data, population metrics, mental health access and team-based care we will be able to provide better care at lower costs to patients,� he said. �By utilizing medical professionals in training, not only will the patients in the center receive better care, but as those in training move into their practice setting they will take their skills with them. Our hope is that we will improve access to mental healthcare and improve the health and well-being of many in lower Alabama.�

�Aside from the transformative value the grant will have for family medicine in the management of complex patients, the lessons from this project will ultimately improve the health of the broader population,� said Beverly Kellen, chief administrator for the department. �The collaborative approach with professionals from medicine, nursing, nutrition, social work, pharmacy and health education is unique but necessary to provide care to complex patients.�

Dr. Perkins will be the guest speaker at the USA Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice (IPECP) Interest Group inaugural meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, at 3:30 p.m. on USA�s main campus. He will discuss this project along with additional opportunities for interprofessional research and training.

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