Dr. Joel Edelstein was recently appointed to fill a vacancy on Arizona Care Network’s Board of Managers after serving on the Quality and Performance Management Committee since 2017, and is the newest member of ACN’s provider-governed board.
Dr. Edelstein was born and raised in Philadelphia and graduated from Temple University with a degree in Biology. He attended graduate school at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Botsford General Hospital in Farmington Hills, Michigan, in 1980.
Currently at Integrated Medical Services (IMS) in Phoenix, Dr. Edelstein has practiced internal medicine in the Valley for more than 25 years. He is a charter member of Paradise Valley Hospital, currently Abrazo’s Scottsdale campus, and has served as their Department Chair and Chief of Staff. He has been honored multiple times by his peers in Phoenix Magazine’s “Top Docs” issues.
What led you to join ACN?
I wanted to work with a group that has transparency regarding quality metrics and allows physicians to participate in pay for performance, and incentives that reward physicians (groups) that provide real quality care to their patients.
What aspect(s) do you like the most about being in ACN?
The information we receive about all the stakeholder practices regarding cost and quality of care metrics.
What do you envision as your role to promote population health within IMS leadership?
Helping the providers to understand the importance of working together as a team to provide timely and high-quality care to patients and be rewarded for saving money across the continuum of care within both the office and for our patients.
Why do you feel it’s important for specialists to participate in ACN?
So they are aware of the importance of using ACN facilities for outpatient and inpatient procedures or surgeries. They benefit from seeing their costs compared to our peers.
Have you changed anything within your practice to be more aligned with ACN participation requirements?
All of our referrals to specialists are ACN providers. We also changed our EHR to Athena to be better aligned with ACN for following quality measures.
What’s your experience been like working on the Quality Committee?
It’s been a good experience. I’ve enjoyed reviewing clinical guidelines we come up with and approve for the ACN primary care network.
