{"id":31667,"date":"2025-09-02T20:12:40","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T20:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifestylemedicine.org\/?p=31667"},"modified":"2025-09-05T14:17:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T14:17:29","slug":"how-to-use-shared-medical-appointments-in-under-resourced-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifestylemedicine.org\/how-to-use-shared-medical-appointments-in-under-resourced-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use shared medical appointments in under-resourced communities\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How to use shared medical appointments in under-resourced communities<\/strong> <\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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Two lifestyle medicine-certified clinicians who have successfully launched shared medical appointments share their experiences and advice for other clinicians interested in starting the innovative delivery model in their communities. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

By Alex Branch<\/strong> | ACLM Director of Communications<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

September 4, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Will Koopal, <\/em>PA-C<\/em>, DipACLM<\/em>, and his team at Albany Area Primary Health Care provide monthly shared medical appointments for 10 to 15 patients.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As the chronic disease epidemic continues to grow\u2014particularly in underserved and rural communities\u2014lifestyle medicine clinicians face a pressing challenge of how to effectively deliver care that requires more time and education than the typical 15-minute exam allows.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shared medical appointments (SMAs) are not new, but have emerged as an innovative delivery model that allows lifestyle medicine clinicians to scale their impact by synergizing clinical care, education and peer support in a group setting. But clinicians who are exploring the possibility of starting SMAs may feel daunted by logistical, payment and cultural factors.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To support clinicians interested in lifestyle medicine, ACLM offers a number of resources, including a Shared Medical Appointment Calculator<\/a> and a Reimbursement Roadmap<\/a>, as well as educational opportunities in which members learn from clinicians who have started SMAs in the communities they serve.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACLM spoke with two lifestyle medicine clinicians who have put SMAs into practice: Kathleen Findley, MD, MPH, DipABLM, medical director of the Lifestyle Medicine Program at Western Wisconsin Health, and Will Koopal, PA-C, DipACLM, of Albany Area Primary Health Care, a Federally Qualified Health Center in southern Georgia. In a Q&A interview, they share how they established SMAs in their communities and the key lessons they\u2019ve learned along the way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kathleen Findlay, MD, MPH, MHCDS, DipABLM<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tell us about the area you serve?<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re about 45 minutes outside the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in a unique area where we have access to some city amenities but are also a rural community. Many of our patients are unable to access the city for healthcare. Residents in our service area experience significant financial, housing and food insecurity. I joined a team with a dynamite dietitian and health and wellness coach, and we realized that the work we were doing was actually lifestyle medicine. I got my certification in lifestyle medicine<\/a> from the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine in 2021.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What led you start shared medical appointments?<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In trying to grow and scale a lifestyle medicine program, we discovered shared medical appointments. This was not an easy fit within a rural health clinic. Initially, we were told \u201cNo, you can\u2019t do group visits because regulations don\u2019t allow it.\u201d But working with our coding team, we found that we could<\/em> do shared medical appointments. You just can\u2019t call them group visits. That\u2019s important because colleagues across the country often say they aren\u2019t allowed to do group visits. Sometimes it\u2019s semantics, but by using the specific verbiage around shared medical appointments from the American Medical Association, you can get them validated through your legal department. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are your shared medical appointments structured? <\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Often shared medical appointments are organized around patients with a certain diagnosis, such as hypertension. But we call our program \u201cdiagnosis agnostic\u201d and bring in patients with different conditions\u2014Dan has type 2 diabetes, John has hypertension, etc. Patients get to be their whole person, not a diagnosis, and we work in a holistic way. The variety in patient diagnoses actually contributes to the shared compassion and wisdom shared among participants. Initially, our intervention began as a three-week program, then grew to four weeks and now we are 12 weeks. We added an orientation session to level set on things like nutrition and goal setting. That has been helpful to our retention rate\u201347% of participants complete at least nine of the 12 classes. We also offer secondary SMAs, including a culinary series of SMAs and a monthly maintenance SMA for program graduates.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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