Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/945876
Drs. Joseph Zarconi and Christopher Boshkos (third and fourth from the left) founded NEONA in 1987. They are pictured here with Drs. Richard May and Melinda Phinney. a re academica lly-oriented exempla r y mentors in t he f ield of medicine a nd nephrolog y," says Dr. Boshkos. N E ON A's of f i c e i s c on v e n i e nt l y located on East Market Street in down- town A kron. The physicia ns a lso ca re for patients on hemodia lysis in-home a nd at severa l communit y-ba sed out- patient dia lysis units across Nor theast Oh io. Inpatient consu lt ative ca re is delivered at a ll Summit Count y hospi- ta ls, including Clevela nd Clinic A kron Genera l Medica l Center, Summa Hea lth A kron Cit y Hospita l, Summa Hea lth St. Thomas Hospita l, Western Reser ve Hospita l, Select Specia lt y Hospita l of A kron a nd Summa Rehab Hospita l. "Ever y physician in our group under- stands the importance of not spreading ourselves too thinly over a broad geog- raphy, or over too ma ny hospita ls a nd dia lysis units, because we a lways wa nt to ensure our focus rema ins centered on the qua lit y of the ca re we provide, rather tha n the qua ntit y of our ca re," says Dr. Zarconi. " With a ll partners sup- porting this vision, it becomes a rea lity." The group, as a team, even created and enacted practice policies that suppor t their commitment to qua lit y. "A s resea rch a nd a necdota l sit ua- tions point out, qua lit y improves with c ont i nu it y. T hu s , w e h a v e w ork e d ha rd to create practice policies t hat ma ximize patient ca re continuit y, so t hat , to t he g reatest ex tent possible, a ny g iven patient would be seen by the sa me nephrolog ist for a s long a s that patient rema ined within our practice," says Dr. Za rconi. He poi nt s out t hat t h is is not on ly a n adva nta ge to the patient , but a lso for t hei r refer r i n g physicia n s. "O u r approach to practicing medicine creates a rhy thm, and a high level of conf idence a nd tr ust bet ween a l l pa r ties. We a l l (the physicia ns a nd patients) lea rn a nd grow together, a nd the mutua l benef its from these long-standing relationships i nc lude i mpr ove d pat ient c a re a nd professiona l colleg ia lit y." Dr. Bosh kos a g rees. "Our patients' interests come f irst, because patients a re the reason why we a re in practice." One of t he a rea s in which N EONA specia lizes is tra nspla ntation medi- cine, a n a rea of focus for Dr. Boshkos who completed a fel lowship in Rena l Tra nspla ntation at Clevela nd Clinic. He pr ides h i m sel f on t he u se of t he l a t e s t c o n t i n u o u s r e n a l r e p l a c e - ment tech n iques (CR RT) a s wel l a s t he employ ment of s t at e - of-t he -a r t i m m u n o s u p p r e s s i v e s t r a t e g i e s t o en s u r e lon g-t er m s uc c e s s i n r en a l tra nspla nt recipients. " The process is complicated a nd our tra nspla nt patients a nd their ca reg iv- ers need to be educated a nd suppor ted clinica l ly a nd emotiona l ly to ensure success. This is g reatly facilitated by our abilit y to provide the highest level 0 7 M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S C L E V E L A N D /A K R O N / C A N T O N ■ J A N U A R Y/ F E B R U A R Y 2 018