About Our Primary Care Practice
Healthcare Associates (HCA) is BIDMC's hospital-based primary care practice. In our four suites across the medical center, we provide care to over 41,500 patients. Our teams include 65 faculty physicians, 145 rotating medical housestaff, 6 nurse practitioners, 15 clinical triage nurses, 6 licensed practical nurses, 6 clinical social workers, and support staff.
HCA Clinical Leadership
- Maureen Cassidy, MSN, RN, Director of HCA Nursing
- Marc L. Cohen, MD, Medical Director
- James Heckman, MD, Assistant Medical Director and Medical Director of High Risk Care Management
- James J. Heffernan, MD, MPH, Section Chief, Primary Care
- Jonathan Li, MD, Medical Director of Population Health
- Julia Lindenberg, MD, Assistant Medical Director and Medical Director of Office-Based Addiction Treatment Program
- Elizabeth Norian, MD, Assistant Medical Director and Medical Director of Resident Practice
- Eileen E. Reynolds, MD, Chief, Division of General Medicine
- Barbara Rosato, DNP, ANP-BC, CDCES, Nurse Practitioner Lead
- Lynda Seletsky, LICSW, Social Work Team Leader
HCA Administrative Leadership
- Matthew Blais, Call Center Manager
- Evelina Ceca, Practice Manager, Atrium Suite
- Krystle Finn, Practice Manager, Central and South Suites
- Brendan Murray, MBA, Manager of Practice Operations
- Oluseun Spencer, Practice Manager, North Suite
- Kayla Tremblay, MBA, PMP, Director of Ambulatory Operations
- Jeff Vale, Call Center Supervisor
- Heather Wathey, Practice Administrator
- Lauren Wemple, MPH, Manager of Population Health
Mental Health Services
HCA is unique among Boston's academic primary care practices in its integration of mental health services, MSW counseling and psychiatric care. To schedule an appointment with one of our social workers, please note that you must be an HCA patient.
HIV Program
Within HCA, we provide care to approximately 500 HIV-infected people. We use a primary care model with social services support to address the special needs of these individuals. Howard Libman, MD, MPH, leads our primary care HIV Program and education efforts.
Innovative Patient Care and Teaching
HCA is a leading site for innovation in patient care and teaching:
- We use a modern, responsive Web-based electronic record, called the Online Medical Record (OMR).
- Many HCA providers use PatientSite, a secure Internet resource that allows patients to communicate through encrypted email with their physicians, request appointments and prescription renewals online, and review parts of their medical records.
Wellist
BIDMC partners with Wellist to offer our patients personalized recommendations for more than 20 categories of helpful services such as grocery shopping, childcare and laundry. You can also set up a private registry to share with loved ones who want to offer support.
Quality and Safety Improvement
HCA focuses on service, safety and quality improvement. Highlights include:
- A pilot program to increase and improve the use of support staff to enhance the experience for both patients and providers. This pilot led to improvements in staff morale and productivity, and will be expanded
to the entire practice.
- An electronic diabetes registry now allows more focused attention on the care needs of approximately 4,000 patients with diabetes.
- We have partnered with the Joslin Clinic to obtain digital retinal photos onsite at HCA to assess the presence of diabetic retinopathy or other eye pathology. These photos are evaluated by trained readers
within 24 hours or instantly, if indicated.
