Much has changed in healthcare in the 25 years Genesis has been in existence, including how physicians provide care. Back in the day, most physicians across the nation were in private practice. That meant they not only had to provide medical care, but they also had to worry about the business side of their practice. This was true in our community.

Genesis and other healthcare organizations then began to employ physicians to better support them in caring for patients. Why does this matter? And what does it mean for you?

In a nutshell –when your physician is employed as a member of Genesis Physician Services (GPS), your physician is aligned with the Genesis mission, vision and values to provide you with the highest-quality care possible. GPS physicians are dedicated to you. They can spend more time with you – at the bedside in the hospital and when they see you in their offices – because they don’t have to worry about running a business. They do what’s right for you, because it’s the best medical decision, not because it impacts their bottom line.

“We have created a culture at Genesis with highly motivated, compassionate, kind and mutually respectful providers,” said Scott Wegner, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and President of Genesis Medical Group. “We are in the top 10 percentile in the nation for physician engagement with our organization and our mission, vision and values. This directly correlates with patients being highly satisfied with the care they receive, as shown by our patient satisfaction scores.”

These days, chances are you also have another kind of provider who sees you – advanced practice providers (APPs). The most common APPs at Genesis are nurse practitioners and physician assistants, but there are others, such as certified registered nurse anesthetists who provide anesthesia during surgeries.

“In the last 10 years, Genesis has added many APPs to the medical team. They are an integral part of our team providing high-quality care to our patients,” said Dr. Wegner. “They have dramatically improved access to medical care for our community. In many of our outlying primary care clinics, APPs are the primary provider. They build important relationships with patients to ensure they get the best care possible.”

When Genesis Physician Services first formed in 2008, there were 24 physicians and four APPs. Today, we have 148 physicians and 158 APPs. “We saw an opportunity with GPS to make sure the people in our community get the healthcare they need, regardless of their ability to pay,” said Dr. Wegner. “As physicians, we are grateful to be able to focus on the care we provide to our patients. We give them our all, and that’s as it should be.”

Much has changed in healthcare in the 25 years Genesis has been in existence, including how physicians provide care.

Salmon is one of the most nutritious foods on the planet, loaded with nutrients, like omega-3 fatty acids, which may reduce your risk factors for disease. Perfect summer weeknight meal to take advantage of vitamin-packed summer tomatoes. 

Salmon is one of the most nutritious foods on the planet, loaded with nutrients, like omega-3 fatty acids, which may reduce your risk factors for disease.

If you’ve ever kept a food diary logging every morsel you pop into your mouth every day, it can be jaw dropping.   

If you haven’t kept a log, give it a try. Get out your red pen, and on your food log, write down or circle the three foods that are highest in calories. Then think of strategies to reduce the calories from these foods. Can you eat less, substitute a lower fat/lower sugar version, or replace it with a lower calorie healthier version? By making a few small changes, you can lose weight – without going to the gym every night.  

If you cut 100 calories from your daily food intake, you could lose as much as 10 pounds in a year. Give it a try and see how you do. Below are a few suggestions to help you get started.  

Breakfast 

• Replace your morning glass of juice with reduced sugar juice or eat an orange. 

• Switch out 1 ounce of cooked pork bacon for 1 ounce of turkey bacon.  

• Trade ¼ cup of regular pancake syrup for ¼ cup of lite pancake syrup. 

• Try replacing 2 fluid ounces of flavored coffee creamer with 2 fluid ounces of fat free half-and-half. 

Lunch 

• Replace 1 cup of a cream-based soup with 1 cup of a broth-based soup. 

• Skip the cheese on your burger, sandwich or salad. 

• Choose carbonated fruit-flavored water instead of regular soda. 

• Trade a 6-ounce yogurt with fruit on the bottom for a 4-ounce light yogurt with fresh fruit. 

Dinner 

• Make your tacos with 3 ounces of grilled chicken breast instead of 3 ounces of ground beef. 

• Choose one slice of thin crust pizza, instead of a slice of pepperoni pan pizza. 

• Replace pork or beef sausage with either turkey or chicken sausage. 

• Replace 2 tablespoons of stick butter with 2 tablespoons of a reduced-calorie margarine spread. 

Snacks 

• Munch on five reduced fat vanilla wafers, instead of one big chocolate chip cookie. 

• Use ¼ cup fat free ranch dressing, instead of French onion dip. 

• Replace half of the oil in your favorite baking recipe with unsweetened applesauce. 

Now, that’s not so hard, is it? And you didn’t even work up a sweat. 

If you’ve ever kept a food diary logging every morsel you pop into your mouth every day, it can be jaw dropping.   

Prevention is the key, and there are some simple habits that can build and strengthen your bones.

There’s something fishy about eating fish. Nearly half of Americans eat fish occasionally or not at all. Yet the American Heart Association, the National Institute of Health and Myplate.gov, to name a few, recommend eating fish at least twice a week. We won’t go into why people don’t eat fish – that’s personal. Here are the reasons why we should:  

• Strong evidence has shown that eating fish and other kinds of seafood improves brain, eye and heart health.  

• Fish is packed with protein, vitamins and nutrients that can lower blood pressure and help reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke. 

• May decrease the risk of depression, ADHD, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and diabetes. 

• May prevent inflammation and reduce the risk of arthritis. 

• It is an important source of omega-3 fatty acids, which our bodies don’t produce, so we must get them through the food we eat. 

Fish is rich in calcium and phosphorus and a great source of minerals, such as iron, zinc, iodine, magnesium and potassium and vitamins such as D and B2 (riboflavin). Omega-3 fatty acids are found in every kind of fish but are especially high in fatty fish. Some good choices are salmon, trout, sardines, herring, canned mackerel, canned light tuna and oysters. 

No thank you?  

As we know from the statistic previously mentioned, non-fish eaters are not alone. Our body benefits from omega-3 fats, and fortunately, there is a source besides fish. They can also be obtained through plants. Flaxseed, walnuts and a few vegetable oils are also high in omega-3 fats.  

Nearly half of Americans eat fish occasionally or not at all. Yet the American Heart Association recommends eating fish at least twice a week.

The bass is booming, the treble is high and your favorite artist hits that note on the guitar. Your feet begin to tap, your head starts to bop and your body moves joyously to the sound of the music. Listening to music is extremely powerful. It has countless benefits for the mind and body. Music can help slow the heart rate, lower blood pressure and ultimately calm the mind. Other benefits include increased memory and a sharper mind. 

Effects of music on the body 

In a Cochrane Systematic Review, scientists found that patients with coronary heart disease had reduced heart rate and lower blood pressure after listening to music. That’s enough to make you build a playlist and plug in your headphones. Observe your mood and body when listening to music and choose slow rhythms that are calming and make you relax for optimal results on your heart rate.  

Effects of music on the mind 

Try calming your anxiety with a bit of music before a test and observe the difference. A study at McGill University in Montreal tested patients about to undergo surgery. The participants were randomly assigned to listen to music or take anti-anxiety medications. Those who listened to music had less anxiety than those who took drugs.  

How our brain computes music is fascinating. Vibrations travel through the air inside the ear canal when you listen to music. Those vibrations stimulate the eardrum and are transmitted into electrical signals that travel through the auditory nerve to the brain stem. They are then collected and converted into what we perceive as music. According to a study done at John Hopkins University, areas of the brain used to compute technical information light up when you hear new music. The next time you hear a new song you like, try to learn it. New music gets your brain moving and grooving in ways familiar tunes don’t. 

Effects of music on memory 

Part of staying young is keeping your memory intact. Experts say using music to remember events from the past is an excellent tool for memory exercise. Reach into your memory bank for an event that happened in your life and play a song from that period and you will recall more. Listen to music often and get groov’n to a healthier you.    

Music can help slow the heart rate, lower blood pressure and ultimately calm the mind.

How often do you say, “I’m going to get more active,” but you put it off? Maybe it seems overwhelming, and you aren’t sure where to start? We get it. Here are some tips that may help you to kick off your goal of being more active… and healthier because of it. 

Like any lifestyle change, adding activity to your daily routine is easier if you have a plan. Experts recommend doing moderate to vigorous activity to get and stay healthy. Work with your doctor to create a plan that is right for you. Start slowly. And set small goals. 

Tip 1: Start with walking. 

For most people, walking is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to get moving. Keep track of the number of steps you take each day. You can use a phone app, a fitness tracker or a pedometer. Tracking can help you see the progress you're making toward your goals. That progress might inspire you to move more. 

Tip 2: Work up to a comfortable level. 

Even small amounts of activity add up. It's fine to be active several times throughout your day and week. If you're not active at all, work up to it. You may want to start by walking around the block every morning or walking for just 10 minutes. Over time, you can make your walks longer or walk more often throughout your day and week. 

Tip 3: Do activities you like. 

Find activities that fit your lifestyle and your personality.  

For example: 

• Do you like to be active on your own or with others? Joining a group or a class helps some people stay motivated. 

• Do you like structured activities like classes or everyday activities like gardening? 

Many people find that everyday activities are easier to fit into their life. Others are more likely to stay with an activity if it requires them to show up for a class or for a game. 

Tip 4: Take stock of how much you want to spend.  

How much money, if any, do you want to spend on gear or other expenses? There are activities to match every budget. You can walk around your neighborhood without spending any money. You may be able to join a community swimming, dancing or tai chi class for a small fee. 

How often do you say, “I’m going to get more active,” but you put it off? Maybe it seems overwhelming, and you aren’t sure where to start? We get it.

Together

Together

We often mindlessly do routine tasks. Do you ever get to work and try to recall if you shut off the coffee pot or closed the garage door? Neither instance impacts your health but trying to remember if you took your medication — and missing a dose — can.

Northside Pharmacies offers a solution with All My Meds, a way to package maintenance medication for chronic illnesses to easily see if you’ve remembered to take all your meds. Taking medications as prescribed is critical to keeping you well.

Right dose. Right time.

High blood pressure, high cholesterol, COPD, diabetes and similar conditions are better controlled when people take their prescribed medications correctly. Studies show that only 50% of people with chronic conditions take their maintenance medication, and when people don’t take their medicines as prescribed, their health suffers. All My Meds packages prescribed medication by date and the time of day for 28-day cycles in easy-to-open, color-coded multi-dose packs in either tear-away blister packs or pill pouches. The question, “Did I take my medication?” is eliminated.

Who can use All My Meds

Do you take more than one medication or pill multiple times a day? Approximately 62% of adults forget to take their medication regularly. If you take two or more maintenance medications for a chronic condition(s), All My Meds is a visual reminder, so you don’t miss a dose.

You choose

• Blister pack or pouches at no additional cost.
• To have your medication mailed or available for pick-up at the Northside Pharmacy of your choice.

How it works

• The first package includes medication synchronization or getting meds filled at the same time so that all the medications you take are in a 28-day fill.
• After the machine counts the pills and places them in the appropriate time of day slot, a camera captures an image for an automated visual inspection.
• In addition, a Northside pharmacist takes multiple steps to review each package carefully.
• Each month, the pharmacy calls patients before refilling the prescriptions and will contact the prescriber for refills when needed.

For more information on Northside Pharmacies, go to northsiderx.com.

Learn about a new medication packaging solution from Northside Pharmacies.

After mentioning a persistent cough to her primary care doctor, Judy Medley saw a lung specialist every six months. He eventually referred her to Shyamal Bastola, M.D., Fellowship-trained and Board-certified Hematologist Oncologist at the Genesis Cancer Care Center.

“When I went to see Dr. Bastola, I had no idea it was cancer,” Judy said. “Dr. Bastola spoke kindly, with truth and honesty. He said I needed to get things squared away for myself. I had stage 4 lung cancer, and without the treatment, I had about six months to live.”

Shock flooded Judy’s senses, and tears streamed down her face. She wanted to spend time with her children, grandchildren and new greatgrandchildren. She wanted to live.

Dr. Bastola told Judy that chemotherapy might extend her life. So, she went to the Genesis Cancer Care Center multiple times a week for two months. While the chemo drained her energy, she hoped it was also draining the cancer cells that swarmed her lungs and had spread to her liver. At the end of chemo, she went with her family to their favorite place, Myrtle Beach, for a celebration.

Yet the celebration took place too soon. Upon returning from the beach, Dr. Bastola reviewed the latest scans and shared the bad news that the cancer had not gone away.

“He said, ‘Judy, we have something new we can try.’ Then he told me about immunotherapy.”

“The immunotherapy approach we chose for Judy was nivolumab, which aims to enhance the immune system to fight cancer cells,” said Dr. Bastola.

Judy went to the Genesis Cancer Care Center every other week to have the medication delivered intravenously.

“After three months of treatment, we did a scan, and Dr. Bastola said to me, ‘Guess what … the tumors have shrunk by 50%.’ I jumped up and hugged him. I was so happy,” Judy said.

Judy continued immunotherapy treatment for another three years. Her tumors continued shrinking, and her body stabilized.

“At first, I went to get scans and see Dr. Bastola every three months, but now we only see each other every six months, and he’s talking about extending it to once a year.”

Judy has lived seven years longer than she first thought possible, and she’s going strong. She plans to continue celebrating life by living each day to its fullest and visiting the beach as often as possible with her eight great-grandchildren, four grandchildren, two children and Jack, her husband of 33 years.

Immunotherapy aims to enhance the immune system to fight cancer cells.