October 2012

Flu Season is here! Don’t forget your flu shot.

To improve service to our patients, we have made a number of changes this year to our process for getting a flu vaccination. Granite Medical Group offers three ways for patients to get their annual flu shot: scheduled flu clinics, drop-in service, or during an appointment.

1. Flu Clinics – Granite Medical will continue to offer the fall flu clinics on Tuesday evenings, Thursday evenings and Saturdays starting on October 13 until November 15.

The full schedule of flu vaccination clinics is:

Saturdays Tuesdays Thursdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. October 20 October 16 October 18 October 27 October 23 October 25 November 3 October 30 November 1   November 6 November 8 November 13 November 15

2. Starting this year, Granite Medical will offer a Drop-in service. If it’s more convenient, patients can stop by the Granite Medical Laboratory during normal operating hours, Monday-Friday 8:00-5:00 p.m., and receive a flu vaccination. Drop-in service started on Monday, October 15, 2012.

3. Finally, you can also get your flu vaccination during your regularly scheduled clinical visit. Care providers have already started to administer flu vaccinations to patients.

The effectiveness of flu shots is about 6 months, so Granite Medical begins administering flu vaccinations in October to ensure that the vaccine is still effective during the typical flu seasons in February and March.

Our goal is to provide a number of ways for you to get your flu shot in as convenient a manner as possible. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call us at 617-471-0033.

Granite Medical Adds Preferred Hospitals

We are pleased to announce that Granite Medical Group is now affiliated with South Shore Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton as our preferred community hospitals. Granite Medical Group clinicians are now able to refer patients to services at both South Shore Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton to support our goals of improving patient experience and patient health close to home, while also increasing the quality and affordability of healthcare.

Granite Medical has enjoyed a long-time, collaborative relationship with South Shore Hospital which was recognized in U.S. News and World Report’s 2012 Best Hospitals Issue as ranking #3 overall in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and we are delighted to be expanding our partnership with them in the care of our patients. South Shore Hospital is located on Route 18 in Weymouth.

Granite Medical also offers patients access to services at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton, formerly Milton Hospital. The hospital recently announced an expanded clinical affiliation with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and Granite Medical’s designated Boston-based teaching hospital.

This affiliation will result in an expansion of local clinical services and enhanced coordination of care between the hospitals, enabling us to better coordinate your care should you need hospitalization either locally or in Boston. Conveniently located just off Route 28, BIDH-M is an 83-bed hospital with general medical and surgical inpatient care and 24-hour emergency services in a recently expanded and renovated emergency department that is staffed by physicians from BIDMC.

BIDH-Milton has been serving residents of the South Shore since 1903. Consumer reports, in the August 2012 edition, named BIDH-M as one of the best hospitals in Massachusetts for patient safety.

For more information, ask your provider or call us at 617-471-0033.

Granite Expands Programs for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

COPD is a lung disease. It causes problems with your breathing because your lungs have trouble pushing “used” air out and may not have enough room left to take healthy air in. 

COPD is not just one disease; it’s a group of diseases including chronic bronchitis (swelling and scarring of the main airways in the lungs) and emphysema (damage to the air sacs in the lungs). Patients can have one of these diseases or both.

Asthma is not COPD. Asthma is a disease that affects the airways but is a different disease. Patients with both asthma and COPD need different treatments for each disease.

COPD is typically caused by smoking, being around smoking, or working and/or living in an area polluted by dust and chemicals. Approximately 1 in 4 smokers get COPD. Once patients have COPD, it is a long-lasting disease that often gets worse over time, especially without treatment. 24 million Americans have impaired lung function and 50% of those are undiagnosed.

Are you at risk? Take the COPD screener at granitemedical.com. It only takes a few minutes.