The Family Medicine Center of Akron (FMC) is the "home" of the Summa - Akron Campus residency training program. The FMC occupies the entire third floor of the Summa Health South Pavilion on the Summa – Akron Campus. The FMC is equipped, staffed and functions like a family physician's office to simulate as closely as possible a private practice setting. It consists of 17,000+ square feet and houses 30 examination rooms.
The FMC is equipped to perform many procedures, including:
Diagnostic capabilities include:
A wide range of behavioral health services are embedded into the practice. Behavioral Health Consultants (BHCs) can meet with a patient during their visit to the PCP, and they can also have them come back for brief counseling. The BHCs can coordinate care for patients who need longer-term specialty mental health treatment. BHCs can help with many health concerns, including: Smoking cessation, weight management, managing diabetes and other chronic diseases, depression, anxiety disorders, acute distress, coping with chronic pain, addiction, unexplained physical symptoms, and social determinants of health. We also provide Medication Assisted Therapy (MAT) for addiction, and we have providers available who have DEA waivers to prescribe Suboxone therapy.
The Family Medicine residency offers home visits for those patients who are established patients and who are frail or have medical conditions that qualify them for homebound status.
Residents are required to complete six home visits during their residency and are accompanied by Dr. Schiaffino. This allows them to understand the unique challenges that these patients face when managing their medical conditions. Some patients may only be temporarily homebound, while others are permanently restricted to their homes. We help patients coordinate their care, reconcile their medications, and arrange for home services and durable medical equipment.
This curriculum educates residents on what constitutes a viable home visit program that they can use later in their own practice.
There are currently more than 14,000 patients registered with the center. Approximately 2,000 patients are seen in the center each month. Diagnostic and demographic breakdowns of patients are comparable to those of the private family physicians in the Akron area. Each resident is assigned a panel of patients. We can offer patients the option of face to face or virtual visits. Prior to the start of patient care, residents review patient lists for the half-day with his/her assigned preceptor. Residents receive both direct and indirect supervision, depending on the needs of the resident and the patient. Following each half-day of patient encounters, the resident participates in a chart review with a teaching staff member. Video reviews of patient encounters with residents are also conducted periodically. During both types of reviews, emphasis is placed on communication skills, organic knowledge and behavioral techniques.
