Summit Health and COPE Health Solutions Launch Primary Care Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Fellowship Program in Effort to Bridge the Gap Between Academia and Practice

Summit Health, the region’s premier integrated network of primary, multispecialty, and urgent care, has partnered with COPE Health Solutions to design and implement a novel 12-month post-graduate Advanced Practice Provider (APP) fellowship program for Advanced Practice Nurses (Nurse Practitioners [NPs]) and Physician Assistants (PAs) who are seeking to advance their academic training in Primary Care. The program – a first for Summit Health – will focus on further strengthening and developing skills in a variety of domains and through multiple learning modalities. Summit Health is currently accepting applications for its inaugural cohort of fellows to begin the program in December 2022: PA fellowship and NP fellowship.

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The fellowship curriculum and learning modalities were intentionally developed not only to focus on clinical skills and competencies, but to provide the fellows with new provider tools, resources, and value-based payment education to be successful in their practice and grow in their leadership capabilities. Dr. Beverly Karas-Irwin, RN, A.P.N. Vice President of Nursing & Advanced Practice Providers at Summit Health, stated that “The implementation of this program at Summit Health is integral in continuing our commitment to primary care transformation and population health aimed at improving outcomes for patients, and in achieving our vision of building healthier, kinder communities. Advanced Practice Providers’ contributions to our clinical teams at Summit Health cannot be overstated. They play a vital role in our patient-centered care model, as well as with developing new and innovative approaches to serving our patients and communities.”

Developing Strong Leaders in Primary Care

The Summit Health APP Fellowship Program prepares the fellow to become a versatile provider, leader, and asset to the Primary Care health care team. Throughout the program, fellows will have the opportunity to participate in core rotations such as cardiology, and endocrinology, and supplemental rotations such as nephrology and rheumatology to expand knowledge and improve patient outcomes.

Fellows will also participate in various activities such as weekly didactics, discussions surrounding evidenced base medicine, skills labs, presentations, and other projects. Each graduate from the program will be equipped with vital experiences to confidently deliver exceptional patient care.

The Future of Health Care

“As more and more health care organizations prepare and transition to risk-based payment arrangements, it is critical to have a workforce, including providers, that are trained in providing value-based care. At COPE Health Solutions we think it is crucial to include educational components related to providing care under different payment arrangements as a part of the fellow’s core curriculum,” said Dr. Elizabeth DuBois, FNP-BC Principal and Chief Operating Officer at COPE Health Solutions.

This unique fellowship will include training around value-based care and population health, which is an essential component to the future of fellow’s practice. The missions of both Summit Health and COPE Health Solutions aligns in the development of APPs as a vital part of the future of health care. With a focus on population health and patient-centered care, fellows will become leaders among the Summit Health team as patient advocates in preventative medicine. Additionally, Summit Health’s partnership with Cope Health Solutions, a leader in value-based care transformation, provides a unique opportunity to develop fellows in the changing health care environment.

About Summit Health

Summit Health is a physician-driven, patient-centric network committed to simplifying the complexities of health care and bringing a more connected kind of care. Formed by the 2019 merger between Summit Medical Group, one of the nation's premier independent physician-governed multispecialty medical groups, and CityMD, the leading urgent care provider in the New York metro area, Summit Health delivers a more intuitive, comprehensive, and responsive care experience for every stage of life and health condition through high-quality primary, specialty, and urgent care. Summit Health has more than 2,500 providers, 12,000 employees, and over 340 locations in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Central Oregon.

About COPE Health Solutions

COPE Health Solutions is a national tech-enabled services firm, with a population health management analytics subsidiary — Analytics for Risk Contracting (ARC), collaboratively implementing proven products with payer and provider clients to power success in risk arrangements and development of the future workforce. Our multidisciplinary team provides payers and providers with the experience, capabilities and tools needed to plan for, design, implement and support strategy development and execution. We are driven by our passion to help transform health care delivery, align financial incentives to support population health management and build the workforce needed for value-based care.

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