Influenza Vaccines Have Arrived

The 2010 influenza season is quickly approaching, and One Medical Group is now offering seasonal flu vaccines!  The 2010-2011 flu vaccine will protect against three different flu viruses, including the H1N1 virus.

Beginning 9/8/10, we’ll be offering flu shots at our midtown office at 489 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor. Shots will be given on a walk-in basis Monday through Friday between 9:00am – 1:00pm and 2:00pm – 4:00pm.

You won’t need an appointment, but we recommend you review the official Vaccine Information Statement before you come to the office. The vaccine costs $25 and is covered by most insurance plans.

Check out our Influenza FAQs for more info, including advice about prevention and treatment.

In late September we will also begin administering the vaccine at our new downtown office at 30 Broad Street, 45th Floor. (For patients coming to Broad Street, please plan to call the office ahead of time so we can give your name to lobby security in advance of your arrival)

Influenza Vaccines Have Arrived

The 2010 influenza season is quickly approaching, and One Medical Group is now offering seasonal flu vaccines!  The 2010-2011 flu vaccine will protect against three different flu viruses, including the H1N1 virus.

Beginning 9/8/10, we’ll be offering flu shots at all of our downtown San Francisco offices:

• 110 Sutter Street
• Two Embarcadero Center
• 559 Clay Street

Shots will be given on a walk-in basis Monday through Friday between 8:00am – 11:00am & 12:00pm – 3:00pm.

You won’t need an appointment, but we recommend you review the official Vaccine Information Statement before you come to the office. The vaccine costs $25 and is covered by most insurance plans.

Check out our Influenza FAQs for more info, including advice about prevention and treatment of influenza.

To email, or not to email…

Email can be a great way to communicate with your health care provider at One Medical Group, but did you know that for many issues we offer even faster ways to get the help you need? The following tips should help steer you in the right direction:

• If you need to schedule an appointment, just go to our website and log in to My One. You can see our available appointments and take care of the entire booking process online in moments!
• If you have a question about your bill or any other administrative issue, you should contact our helpful administrative staff by emailing admin@onemedical.com.
• If you need a medication renewed – and you’re sure that you don’t have any refills remaining on your prescription – just log in to My One and click “Prescription Renewals” to submit a request online; we’ll begin processing your request immediately!
• If you have travel-related questions, e.g. about vaccines or anti-malaria drugs, go to our website and click on Traveler’s Health to get prompt answers from our travel health specialists!
• If you have cold, flu or sinus symptoms, or seasonal allergies, or if you’re a woman with a urinary tract infection, we might be able to take care of you over the phone, saving you the time & expense of an office visit. Just give our office a call and ask to speak to the Medical Advice Team.
• If you have an emergency, call 911 rather than sending an email. And if you have an urgent issue that isn’t serious enough for 911, just call our office. We try to respond to all emails within 24 hours, but when you need a faster response, one of us is always available by phone.

If after reading all of the above, you’re certain that you need advice from your provider via email, then keep your e-mail focused and to-the-point. If your email is longer than a few sentences, or if you have multiple complex issues to discuss, you’re almost always going to need an office visit so it’s usually best to go ahead and schedule one.

Avoid using email to discuss highly confidential topics. Remember that standard e-mail is not considered a secure method of communication, and is vulnerable to being read by third parties.

New Website Launched!

We’re very proud to announce the launch of our new website, which you’ll see when you visit us online at www.onemedical.com.

Whether you’re signing up as a new patient, searching for a provider, or using the new My One portal to book an appointment, update your health information or request a prescription renewal, you’ll find the entire process faster and more elegant on the new site.

We welcome your feedback, so please add a comment to this posting or send an email to feedback@onemedical.com if you have suggestions!

Important Update about One Medical Group, Hill Physicians and Brown & Toland

As you may be aware, UCSF will be changing its primary HMO group relationship from Brown & Toland to Hill Physicians effective January 1, 2010. If you have PPO insurance, this should not impact your care or ability to be seen at UCSF. But if you have HMO insurance and have a strong preference for seeing UCSF specialists, you should read the information below.

To ensure that all One Medical Group patients have access to the best specialists in the city, we have decided to accept patients from both HMO networks — Hill Physicians AND Brown & Toland. While this has added some administrative complexity for us, we know that this decision will allow you to choose which network best serves your specialty care needs, and will allow you to maintain your primary care relationship with us at One Medical Group in either case.

Please be aware that some administrative glitches may occur as health plans begin to process the new information. We appreciate your patience during this transition.

More complete details are below. Please let us know if you have any questions!

Wishing you happy and healthy holidays,

One Medical Group

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Important Information about One Medical Group, Hill Physicians and Brown & Toland

If you have PPO insurance, none of the information below will impact your medical care or insurance in 2010. You can continue to see primary care providers at One Medical Group, as well as any of your preferred specialists. If you have HMO insurance, some of the information below is important for you to know, especially if you have a strong preference for seeing specialists at UCSF.

• One Medical Group is in the process of joining the Hill Physicians network.  We anticipate being officially accepted January 1, 2010.
• One Medical Group plans to continue its relationship with the Brown & Toland network.
• HMO patients of One Medical Group can choose to affiliate with either network (Brown & Toland or Hill Physicians), depending on personal preferences.
• For those HMO patients who have a strong preference to see UCSF specialists, you may want to consider switching from Brown & Toland to Hill Physicians (please review all implications of such a change directly with Brown & Toland and/or Hill Physicians).
• If you wish to change to Hill Physicians AND maintain your primary care relationship with us at One Medical Group, we recommend you make the change AFTER January 1, 2010. That way you can switch to Hill Physicians and select us as your primary care provider with just one call.
• To make the change to Hill Physicians, call the phone number on your insurance card, ask them to switch you to the Hill Physicians Network, then tell them the name of your One Medical Group primary care physician.
• If your One Medical Group primary care physician is not yet listed, please be patient. The health plans may need several weeks to update their databases.
• Should you have further questions, send us an email: info@onemedical.com

We’ll also be sending periodic updates as they develop; stay informed by subscribing to this blog or by following us on Twitter.

Influenza Vaccine Availability Update: New York City Office

H1N1 (Swine Flu) Vaccine

Our New York City office has received a limited amount of the H1N1 vaccine. While supplies last, we are offering this to our members on a first-come, first-served basis.  Priority will be given to members who are at-risk, including:

• Pregnant women and women planning to become pregnant
• Household contacts and caregivers of children under 6 months of age
• Young adults between 14 and 24 years of age
• Patients with a chronic medical condition, such as diabetes, obesity, heart or lung disease, asthma, cancer, AIDS, etc.

Members can receive the vaccine on a walk-in basis during regular office hours.  Non-members should call the office to make an appointment. Please note that while the vaccine itself is free, we do charge a small administrative fee.  This fee is covered by most insurances.

Seasonal Flu Vaccine

Because vaccine manufacturers have been diverting their resources to producing the H1N1 vaccine, the entire U.S. is currently experiencing a shortage of the seasonal flu vaccine. We’re sorry to report that we have exhausted our supply of seasonal flu vaccine at our New York office. We will let you know if we receive an additional supply.

Influenza Vaccine Availability Update: San Francisco Bay Area

H1N1 (Swine Flu) Vaccine

We’re happy to report that we have received a large supply of H1N1 influenza vaccine from the state, and we are now offering vaccination to all members. We recommend vaccination for anyone interested in being protected from the virus, and especially for high-risk individuals. If you aren’t sure whether you should receive the vaccine, you can check our FAQs or contact your provider. Please note that the $25 vaccine administration fee is almost always covered by health insurance.

Hours and locations (no appointment necessary at downtown SF offices):

559 Clay Street
Monday through Friday
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

2 Embarcadero Center
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
7:45 AM – 2:45 PM

Tuesday & Thursday
7:45 AM – 12:45 PM

110 Sutter Street, 6th floor
Monday & Wednesday
8:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Tuesday & Thursday
8:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Redwood Medical Group and Noe Valley Clinic
Vaccines available by appointment

Seasonal Flu Vaccine

We have exhausted our supply of seasonal flu vaccines in the San Francisco Bay Area; we will let you know if this situation changes.

The relationship between Brown & Toland and UCSF will soon be changing, but HMO patients needn’t worry

As you may have heard, Brown & Toland (B&T) will be altering its longstanding HMO relationship with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) at the end of 2009.   If you have HMO insurance (or plan on signing up for an HMO in 2010), then you will likely be impacted by this change.  Specifically, if you want easily-obtained referrals to specialists at UCSF, you will likely need to change your Primary Care Provider (PCP) from a physician in the B&T network to one in the Hill Physicians network.

At One Medical Group, we are well aware of this situation and we’re sorry about the inconvenience it may cause our HMO members.  Negotiations between B&T and UCSF appear to be ongoing, but once the dust has settled we’ll send you our official recommendations to help you adjust.  In the meantime, we want you to know the following key points:

• We’re working to make sure that you can continue to see UCSF specialists while also maintaining your relationship with your One Medical Group PCP.
• If you don’t have a preference for HMO versus PPO coverage, signing up for a PPO will be the easiest way for you to see physicians at both One Medical Group and UCSF.
• If you prefer to stay with an HMO, you will still be able to see One Medical Group and UCSF MDs, though it’ll be easier if you join the Hill Physicians IPA.
• There’s no hurry to make the switch from Brown and Toland IPA to Hill Physicians IPA.  You can do it anytime, even after January 1st, 2010.

For updates about this subject and more, subscribe to this blog or follow us on Twitter!

We’re working to make sure that our HMO members can continue to see UCSF specialists while also maintaining the relationship with One Medical Group.

Welcome to the One Medical Group Blog

The 2009 influenza season is quickly approaching, and seasonal flu vaccines are now available!

For more information about influenza, including great advice about treatment and prevention, check out the most frequently asked questions, or for up-to-the-minute information, follow us on Twitter.