Amai is a new medical practice in Santa Monica where the emphasis is on having the patient be in charge of his/her health and wellness. It is a throwback to the day when doctors took time to learn about all aspects of a patient’s life.
This is not the kind of medical office where a patient will be seen for seven minutes and prescribed medication, but rather a setting when Dr. Joseph Pinzone, an internist and endocrinologist, will take as much time as necessary to educate his patients and help them form a plan.
In his offices at 2001 Santa Monica Blvd., Pinzone has assembled a health team consisting of a nurse practioner (Breana Wheeler), a registered dietitian (Shani Verchick), two personal trainers (Andie Schwartz and Eric Braham) and two licensed psychologists, Jaclyn Bauer and Lori Schur. (Pinzone doesn’t think everyone needs a psychologist, but when dealing with a serious illness such as cancer, it may benefit not only the patient, but the family, too.)
“I spent two hours with a woman yesterday,” said Pinzone, who graduated from New York University School of Medicine in New York in 1992 before teaching at George Washington University and later at Ohio State University School of Medicine. “She needed and wanted the time. When we finished, she had all of her questions answered.
“There is a big difference in dealing with a patient in an unhurried manner,” Pinzone continued. “We’re not in the business to do it hard and fast. It’s an organic approach.”
Verchick explained, “When someone comes in with an elevated blood sugar level, we will work with them on nutrition and medical education to make necessary lifestyle changes, which may prevent them from going straight to medication.”
“Many aren’t convinced they need to make a change until they know why,” Pinzone added. “So I explain the importance of blood sugar control in diabetes. With diabetes, your cells become resistant to insulin and sugar can’t get into the cells. It literally sticks to protein.” He said the membranes in capillaries thicken and provide less and less oxygen transfer, which affects the kidneys, nerves and eyes.
“Because of the slow oxygenation, the eyes grow new blood vessels, which are more fragile and they bleed,” Pinzone said. “People eventually can go blind.”
When Pinzone explains the various effects of diabetes over time, he compares it to a mortgage. Diabetes is like paying 6.5 percent over 30 years, rather than 5 percent.
“That’s when patients take action, when they understand why,” he said.
“Amai is about lifestyle change,” Verchick said.
“We want you to get to a point that you can say, ‘I’ve done everything I can,’” Pinzone said. “It puts your mind at ease. Just as people don’t build a financial portfolio with one person—you need a team—we feel the same is true with health and wellness.”
In 2009, Pinzone was the lead clinical research medical director for Xgeva for Amgen and in 2012 was the medical director for the drug Prolia.
“It was a great job, but I realized I missed patients,” he said, and he credits his dad, who was in the printing business, for his current venture. “Anytime he had a problem, he always said, ‘It’s important to always go back to the fundamentals.’”
Pinzone asked himself what were the fundamental aspects of medicine and realized there were four pillars: medicine, nutrition, fitness and psychology. He opened Amai last April, with the intention of making the patient the center of the practice, bolstered by a support team.
He said the current medical model pits insurance against doctor against patient and that medicine becomes a financial relationship, where reimbursement becomes a moving target.
“We have an inadequate system, because doctors have to work on volume,” he said. “If you have 30 patients a day, the number doesn’t permit anything other than a cursory interchange.”
Pinzone and his team would like to change that, making healthcare a place where patients can be heard and learn about available options.
“We have built a model that serves everybody,” Pinzone said. “Amai serves you when you are ill and gives you what need when you’re well.”
“During a psychology class in college (Washington University), Amai was defined as a Japanese word for unconditional love,’” Pinzone said. “We’ve broadened the definition to mean ‘total care.’”
Call: (310) 453-2624 or visit: medAMAI.com.
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