Integrated communication makes better health care

Two doctors, who have served the local community as primary care physicians over the last two years, recently renewed their contract with HealthCare Partners, agreeing to continue serving the Pahrump area for another three years.

Dr. Troy Schumacher and Dr. Saira Beg, a married couple who moved to the southern Nevada area and began practicing in here in late 2011, said the decision to continue working in Pahrump came down to two factors — the patients and the company they work for.

“We like it out here. We like the patient population, we like the company and we like the diversity of the patients,” Schumacher said.

“I think the people and the community here have been very kind to us. I really appreciate their loyalty and respect and they’re very appreciative of us. And I think we’ve developed a really good relationship with many of our patients. In the beginning it was kind of hit or miss you know, some people come back and some felt it wasn’t a good fit. But now, my patient panel, I feel very close to them and we have a good relationship, so I really enjoy that interaction,” Beg added.

In addition to making their working relationship with patients easier, Beg said she believes building a good relationship with a patient is good for their overall health care as well.

“I think it’s easier to get to the bottom of what’s going on when you can connect with the patient,” Beg explained.

Over the last two years working for HealthCare Partners in Pahrump, both Beg and Schumacher said they have seen the company grow quite a bit, adding those changes have benefited their practice and the patients they serve.

“I think HealthCare Partners has done a really good job in the community here. They’ve kind of tied everyone together because it’s one company with the same standard of care throughout all of the doctors and all of the clinics,” Beg said. “HealthCare Partners has brought in a lot of specialists as well. Before, it seemed like everyone was kind of spread out, but now they’re all working under one company, and that there are more of them here now, which is nice because it means patients don’t have to travel to Vegas all of the time for care.”

“We’re all connected now too. So if you see me then someone else they can look your information up. So I would say the communication has improved within the health care community. Especially with the specialists. Now I can go, ‘here is what’s going on and here’s what you need to know,’” Schumacher added.

As they look toward the next three years of their practice, both Beg and Schumacher said they would like to continue to build strong relationships with their patients and to improve their communication with both patients and other doctors in the area to provide the best care possible to the community.

“I’d like to continue to improve patient satisfaction,” Schumacher said. “We have patient satisfaction surveys we get back and every quarter we all get together and talk about what we can improve in patient care and patient satisfaction…The patients are our bosses. We work for them. If they’re not happy then the company’s not happy and we’re not happy.”

“The company is really good about that, if they do see a problem they really work at it and we as doctors sit together and see how we can improve,” Beg added. “We’re here to take care of the patients, if we’re not doing that then what are we here for?”

“It’s been really nice to actually see how things improve. Unlike in the big cities you can actually see how things change and grow here,” Beg said.

Beg currently practices at HealthCare Partners’ West Calvada office located at 1280 E. Calvada Blvd. Schumacher is currently practicing at the organization’s Desert View office located at 330 S. Lola Lane.

For more information about HealthCare Partners or to find out more about these two physicians visit http://www.hcpnv.com.