MPAC CEO Dr. Dwight Jones Talks About ACOs
By Space Coast Medicine & Active Living // May 2, 2014
BREVARD'S Largest Network of Independent Physicians
ABOVE VIDEO: Dr. Dwight Jones is the CEO of Medical Practitioners for Affordable Care (MPAC), an ACO made up of more than 130 independent medical professionals across Brevard County. “We use coordinated healthcare to improve treatment of Medicare Fee-for-Service patients while making significant operational savings,” says Dr. Jones.
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – The times they are a-changin,’ wrote balladeer Bob Dylan many moons ago. The sentence holds true today for Brevard Physicians Network (BPN) and Medical Practitioners for Affordable Care (MPAC), where last November Dr. Dwight Jones took over the CEO reins.
Dr. Jones oversees the work of BPN, the largest network of independent physicians in Brevard, and MPAC, an ACO made up of more than 130 independent medical professionals across Brevard County.
BPN currently numbers 300 credential-checked primary care physicians and specialists throughout the county.
With the healthcare hubbub ahead, Jones expects to be a very busy man the remainder of 2014.
“In this ever-changing health care environment, BPN will have to carve out its new role as an advocate of the independent physician practice,” he said.
“Exactly how and where the BPN membership fits in with managed care in all markets and how it should function in this new Medicare ACO world will be questions we seek to answer over the next year.”
SHIFTING HEALTH INSURANCE LANDSCAPE
Dr. Jones plans to draw on BPN’s primary strength – its membership of board-certified physicians – to direct the organization through the shifting health insurance landscape.
“Re-crafting and obtaining new or additional contracts with insurance providers will give BPN added financial strength with insurance providers will give BPN added financial strength,” said Dr. Jones.
Challenges are ahead, he says, and they range from financial to member and insurance beneficiary education, as well as the need to add to the organization’s knowledge base as it pertains to patient and case management and to physician and physician office education.
Jones, who has been commuting from Orlando since he took his new BPN position on Nov. 5, now lives in Suntree and has settled nicely into the Brevard community. “This is a wonderful place to live,” said Dr. Jones.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL FOR FIVE DECADES
With 30-plus years as a senior health care executive, Jones brings a wealth of experience to his new job. President of two health plans for Amerigroup Corporation, he retired as corporate senior vice-president over national corporate partnerships in the spring of 2008 and then embarked on a position as medical and executive director at SouthSide Health Care in Atlanta.
He has consulted extensively for both primary care and managed care organizations.
With 30-plus years as a senior health care executive, Dr. Jones brings a wealth of experience to his new job. President of two health plans for Amerigroup Corporation, he retired as corporate senior vice-president over national corporate partnerships in the spring of 2008 and then embarked on a position as medical and executive director at SouthSide Health Care in Atlanta.
His last position was as CEO of Florida Accountable Care Services in Winter Park, an ACO development and management agency managing two ACOs in the State of Florida.
Dr. Jones earned his medical degree from Meharry Medical College in 1973. He specialized in pediatrics at Bridgeport Hospital, affiliated with Yale University, and in child neurology at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals.
He practiced adult and child neurology in office, hospital and clinic settings for 20 years, primarily in the Atlanta area, and was responsible for the oversight of neurology activities at Atlanta Southside Community Health Center.
Dr. Jones is an avid traveler, although he expects to be able to spare little time for it with his new job. He’s done quite a lot of globetrotting already.
“I have been all over the world, to Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East, as well as throughout the United States,” he said. “I enjoy photography and have thousands of digital pictures that I organize and share.”
For other spare time pursuits, Dr. Jones bikes, swims, reads and listens to music. “I have an extensive music collection which I maintain on an Apple computer,” he said.
EXPERIENCED BPN STAFF
Other staff changes at BPN include Cindy Hambidge, recently named vice president of provider operations. Among Hambidge’s duties are working under contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to provide high quality, cost-effective care to Medicare beneficiaries.
“I enjoy working with physicians and their staff to help them improve their practices,” said Hambidge. “In the ever-changing world of health care, the independent physicians greatly need the help of an organization like BPN.”
– Cindy Hambidge, CPPM, Vice President of Provider Operations
Hambidge also educates physicians and their staff on Medicare issues, coordinates health and wellness seminars for Medicare beneficiaries and works with pharmaceutical companies, health plans and community health care organizations to strategize for the benefit of consumers and providers.
A native Floridian, Hambidge has “insider” knowledge of the Space Coast health community, for she was born at Cape Canaveral Hospital. The summa cum laude graduate from Warner University has worked in health care management in Brevard County for two decades.
In her spare time, she accompanies her husband on hiking trips to northern Georgia and is active in local events for organizations such as the Boy Scouts, Brevard Schools Foundation, Aging Matters in Brevard and the Faith Fellowship Youth group.
“I enjoy working with physicians and their staff to help them improve their practices,” said Hambidge.
“In the ever-changing world of health care, the independent physicians greatly need the help of an organization like BPN.”
Also changing titles at BPN is Laura Byer, vice president of quality care management.
“This position oversees the medical management team of two registered nurses consisting of utilization management, Hedis/Star Education and MRA education,” said Byer.
Like Hambidge, Byer was born and raised in Brevard. The Melbourne resident earned her bachelor of science in nursing degree from Florida State University before joining the trauma ICU staff at Health First Holmes Regional Medical Center for six years.
Her new duties at BPN include raising awareness of quality measures for the Medicare Advantage plans and working very closely with these plans on overall performance. Brevard Physicians Network and her two-year-old son encompass most of Byer’s time.
Created to help independent practices to deliver effective, cost-efficient service, BPN helps free physicians from the ever-growing administrative tasks of the nation’s unwieldy healthcare system.
Highly skilled, energetic staff such as Jones, Hambidge and Byer are crucial for any organization, but particularly so for BPN, which relies on its ability to rally independent physicians for a “strength in numbers” approach that should prove very effective in the coming months as America redefines its health care.
Created to help independent practices to deliver effective, cost-efficient service, BPN helps free physicians from the ever-growing administrative tasks of the nation’s unwieldy healthcare system.
For more information about MPAC or BPN contact Cindy Hambidge at 321-757-7600 – ext. 108.
