Due to the recent merger between Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Lahey Health hospitals, approximately three-quarters of eastern Massachusetts residents have access to an employed primary care physician within five miles. Learn more.
Our system comprises internationally recognized academic medical centers and community hospitals, award-winning ambulatory centers, home care services, hospice and palliative care, and senior care resources throughout northeastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.
Patient Portal
The Patient Portal provides an efficient means of communicating with your doctor’s office online. Here, you can schedule in-person or telehealth appointments, access medical records, and send messages directly to them; also request referrals for advanced practice providers like physical therapists or psychologists and arrange meetings with other specialists.
Beth Israel Lahey Health, located in eastern Massachusetts, is one of the region’s largest health systems. Comprising an academic medical center, community hospitals, ambulatory centers, home health services, and a network of highly-trained physicians, nurses, and other health professionals, Beth Israel Lahey provides high-quality, accessible care that meets the personal needs of people of all ages.
Lahey Clinic Hospital of Burlington is widely respected for its clinical programs and research. Notable initiatives include its Cerebrovascular Disease Center – considered one of the top centers in New England for treating strokes and brain aneurysms – liver transplant team performing adult living donor transplants as well as cancer care, women’s health, and newborn services.
Health system staff take an exemplary commitment to the communities it serves, providing health education and outreach efforts designed to promote healthier lifestyles that reduce chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes. Patient navigators have also been specially trained to assist in navigating healthcare system processes.
Home health services this system provides include skilled nursing care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and nutrition services for homebound individuals with long-term conditions such as Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Furthermore, assistance is also offered for long-term diseases that need home care assistance, such as Alzheimer’s. Sawtelle Family Hospice House also offers residential hospice as part of its palliative care and hospice offerings. These services allow patients to remain at home with a familiar care team who stay together as they transition through different levels of care. Furthermore, its system also features various mental health programs and support groups designed to help people cope with depression, anxiety, other mental illnesses, and addiction treatment; this system also offers family services.
Online Appointments
Your primary care physician (PCP) offers personalized advice and medical care to improve the overall health of their patient population. They perform preventive screenings, diagnose problems, order laboratory tests and imaging studies (radiology) when necessary, and collaborate with other healthcare team members in managing care delivery. Your PCP may refer you to specialists within or outside the Clinic depending on their assessment of your specific needs.
Your primary care team may include physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and health educators and psychologists as members. At Lahey Hospital & Medical Center – one of Tufts University School of Medicine’s teaching hospitals – our primary care teams also collaborate with medical students enrolled in their third year of medical school to gain practical experience under supervision; during an appointment, they may take your history or conduct a brief physical exam with care by your supervising physician.
Telehealthcare is easy and accessible no matter where you are. Use your patient portal to book, reschedule, or cancel appointments and access test results – everything in one convenient place! Additionally, American Sign Language interpreters are available during meetings if necessary.
Your primary care provider can be found at one of our facilities in Burlington, Lexington, or Peabody medical centers or one of over 12 community locations throughout northeast Massachusetts. Our health system comprises academic medical centers, teaching hospitals, and community and specialty hospitals with over 4,000 physicians employed across three regions – all working toward one mission – expanding access to high-quality care while furthering research and education on medicine.
Beth Israel Lahey Health – Methuen Family Medicine was recently honored to receive recognition as the Best Primary Care Family Medicine Practice by the New England Quality Assurance Program (NEQAP). NEQAP honors practices that consistently meet high standards for patient care and satisfaction; we’re honored that Beth Israel Lahey Health- Methuen Family Medicine was honored with this accolade, which recognizes practices committed to providing patients with excellent healthcare.
Online Requests for Referrals
If your primary care provider identifies that you require specialized care, he or she will work with you to locate an ideal provider. From internal medicine specialists, oncologists, neurosurgeons, or any other specialty provider – Lahey Health offers many excellent options that could meet your needs.
Referrals are vital to providing top-of-license specialty care in the community and hospital. Our PCPs use an online process that expedites insurance approval to refer patients to specialists within our system quickly – this ensures all our patients can easily access only the highest-rated and most suitable providers available within their communities.
The online referral process facilitates better coordination of patient care between primary care physicians, specialists, and the referring physician’s office. It also fosters fantastic communication among physicians who form part of a patient’s primary care team to promote clinically integrated care.
Lahey Health is committed to keeping referrals within our network when clinically necessary and cost-effective, reflecting our system-wide focus on optimizing the utilization of high-value providers while limiting out-of-network utilization.
Attaining these goals will take time and require significant efforts from all our stakeholders; we are encouraged by our progress so far, particularly concerning identifying and treating our highest risk/cost patients more directly.
Winchester allows us to leverage Lahey Health’s systems, processes, and people to accelerate our efforts in these areas and accelerate results that would not otherwise be achieved by individual affiliates alone. This can include attaining our targeted performance metrics for post-acute care, readmissions, and avoidable ED visits and driving the continued improvement of care outcomes we seek across our system.
Referral Management Center
Lahey Health system delivers accessible and high-value healthcare, from its academic medical center, community hospitals, ambulatory centers, behavioral health services, home healthcare solutions, and skilled nursing facilities – to skilled nursing facilities and specialty providers specializing in homecare. Lahey is dedicated to improving overall patient care while increasing efficiency and decreasing costs.
An integral component of reaching these goals is having a referral management center (RMC). This center oversees all out-of-network referrals for specialist visits and works closely with local teams to ensure all referrals are medically necessary. Furthermore, RMC staff reviews clinical records, engages patients to assess why they chose out-of-network care, and attempts to redirect patients towards appropriate services within their system.
Referral Case Managers, typically nurses with extensive referral management experience, perform this function. The CM reviews the clinical record, contacts patients/PCPs to collect pertinent information or redirection attempts as necessary, and then forwards cases to medical directors for final review and decision.
If an out-of-network request is considered medically necessary, CM will notify the PCP to discuss options and verify their insurance plan. Once confirmed, the PCP will fill out a Medical Necessity field before forwarding it to a Referral Specialist for final disposition.
Once the Referral Case Manager receives a referral, they will evaluate its clinical record and any mitigating circumstances, verify plan requirements, and contact the patient to schedule an appointment with one of Lahey’s specialists. If they refuse, a Referral Specialist will inform them of their options and any applicable restrictions.
Beth Israel Lahey Health offers an expansive roster of specialists equipped to treat even the most complex medical conditions within their offices, eliminating expensive and stressful hospitalizations. Furthermore, BILH also boasts extensive extended care community programs, including skilled nursing facilities and assisted living communities – plus, it can deliver care directly into patients’ homes or primary care provider offices throughout eastern Massachusetts.
