Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/945876
HOW CAN A specia lt y physicia n g roup thrive for 30 yea rs — while rema ining independent? Joseph Za rconi, MD, of Northeast Ohio Nephrolog y Associates (NEONA) was asked this question. And he had no trouble a nswering it. "Qua lit y ca re is our hig hest prior- ity," he sa id. "It 's a commitment that is sha red by ever y physicia n in our group, a nd one of the key reasons why we have such a great track record in the region." Founded in 1987 by Dr. Za rconi a nd Ch r i s t opher B osh kos, M D, N EONA wa s established in A kron a long w ith t w o o f t h e i r f o r m e r t e a c h e r s a n d ment ors — Dona ld Pa rker, M D, a nd NORTHEAST OHIO NEPHROLOGY ASSOCIATES: BY NEIL ALLEN A Legacy of Quality Care NEONA is a nine-physician specialty group which includes (seated, L-R) Joseph Zarconi, MD, FACP; Charina P. Gayomali, MD; and Christopher Boshkos, MD, FACP; (standing L-R) Thomas Kayani, MD; Savio M. Kumar, MD; Melinda S. Phinney, MD, FACP; Richard E. May, Jr., MD; and Darryl P. Anderson, MD. Missing from this photo is Susan M. Ray, MD, FACP. PHOTOS © KEN LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY, COPLEY OH 0 6C O V E R S T O R Y Hayes H. Davis, MD. This, according to Dr. Boshkos, was a n ea rly indication of their ongoing commitment to education a nd tra ining. " We recognized the need to develop an increased ava ilabilit y of high-qua lit y, academ ic-or iented ter tia r y neph ro- log ic ca re in the reg ion," Dr. Boshkos expla ins. " There is no better way to do that tha n by enthusiastica lly mentor- i ng a nd educati ng medica l st udent s a nd residents. Dr. Za rconi a nd I had fa milia rit y with the communit y [ both complet ed t hei r residenc y t ra i n i n g at Su m ma A k ron Cit y Hospit a l]. So we chose to ba se our practice here in Nor thea st Ohio where we could work closely w ith our ow n educators, sup- por t ive peers a nd t he hospit a ls a nd medica l school." " We had ver y impactful experiences during our time in medica l school, being taught by physicia ns who put patients at the center of ever y thing they did," a dd s Dr. Za rcon i . " T here were ver y hig h ex pectations placed upon us a s tra inees, a concer ted effor t that drove us to become t he best physicia ns we could be. During that time we rea lized the impor ta nce of involving ourselves i n t he tea ch i n g of med ica l st udent s a nd residents, a nd have followed that path wherever we have practiced. We believe these commitments have kept us up-to-date in the deliver y of current, state-of-the-a r t ca re, of which the by- product is improved qua lit y for those we ser ve." Today, NEONA is a nine-physicia n g r oup a nd i nc lude s , i n a dd it ion t o Dr. Bosh kos a nd Dr. Za rconi, Da r r yl Anderson, MD; Charina Gayoma li, MD; Thomas Kayani, MD; Savio Kumar, MD; Melinda Phinney, MD, Richard May, MD; a nd Su sa n R ay, M D. Toget her, t hey diag nose a nd treat patients suf fering from reduced kidney function, chronic kidney disease (CKD), hypertension and other complex nephrologica l disorders. Some of these physicia ns have been tra ined a nd mentored by the orig ina l four NEONA partners. Others have been recr uited from nephrolog y prog ra ms across the countr y. " Ever y one of our physicia ns prac- tices evidence-based medicine, a nd we 0 6