Dr. Jon Regis, a longtime accessible wellness advocate and pioneer in New Jersey’s health care industry, became one of the few doctors from the southern New Jersey region to participate in a Capitol Hill briefing when he participated in panel discussion on value-based health care last month.
Regis, the founder of Reliance Medical Group, one of the largest medical practices in South Jersey, now serves as business development executive for VillageMD, a national health care provider, which acquired Reliance last year.
As the founder of Reliance, Regis has dedicated several decades to ensuring health equity to patients throughout New Jersey — including in underserved communities such as Atlantic City and Newark, as well as migrant populations in rural areas such as Hammonton — with a mission to provide high-quality and affordable medical care to all, regardless of a patient’s income level.
Regis spoke on the importance of programs that incentivize physicians for implementing a value-based health care model, especially in urban and underserved communities. He mentioned VillageMD’s success with the model, including over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its benefits to patients in contrast to traditional fee-for-service model.
Highlighting VillageMD’s emphasis on providing quality care to underserved communities, Regis also discussed the provider’s partnership with Walgreens to open 1,000 Village Medical at Walgreen’s primary care practices across the country.
“VillageMD’s main purpose is to empower primary care doctors, looking at value, and how we can reach these communities,” Regis said. “(With) our partnership with Walgreens, we’re opening 1,000 co-located (primary care) clinics, 51% of which have to be located in geographically underserved areas. Can you imagine how game-changing that will be getting care to those geographically underserved areas?”
The briefing was sponsored by America’s Physicians Group, the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations and Premier Inc.
