Health care for her
University of Colorado Hospital Opens First Comprehensive Women’s Health Care Program in Region
Some women make “to-do” lists to improve their lives and enhance their well-being. University of Colorado Hospital created Women’s Integrated Services In Health (WISH) as one way to make life easier for today’s busy woman, offering comprehensive health and wellness services designed to meet the specific needs of women. WISH is the only center of its kind in the region.
WISH represents a revolutionary approach to delivering women’s health services, addressing the differences in diagnosing and treating women. Not only does WISH cover all stages of a woman’s life — from young adulthood through geriatrics — it includes a full spectrum of services beyond obstetrics and gynecology not typically offered by other women’s health programs.
“ There is growing scientific knowledge that certain health conditions disproportionately affect women, manifesting themselves in different ways and requiring treatment that is different from that for men,” said Christina Finlayson, MD, WISH medical director. “It’s becoming increasingly important to women to find health care providers who understand these gender-related differences.”
For example, recent scientific studies show that women respond to pain and medication differently than men and present different symptoms for diseases and illnesses.
WISH brings together the vast array of University of Colorado Hospital’s numerous expert resources into one comprehensive and coordinated program. “WISH makes it easy for women to find physicians and other health care providers who have expertise in treating women,” Dr. Finlayson said.
WISH is housed on University of Colorado Hospital’s Fitzsimons campus in new state-of-the-art facilities, with more than 60 specialty clinics integrated in one location. WISH intends to set the standard for how all other women’s health care programs will be modeled in the future.
WISH has adopted customer service practices to help enhance the patient’s experience.
A WISH personal care coordinator assists each patient with myriad — and sometimes complex — details associated with getting the right services when she needs them. The coordinator schedules appointments, handles insurance matters and ensures that each patient’s medical information and paperwork are shared with the appropriate physicians. As a program of University of Colorado Hospital, WISH has contracts with major insurance companies to provide these services.
“ In many ways, I’m like a health and wellness concierge, and I make sure each woman’s care is well coordinated,” said Mary Jackson, WISH personal care coordinator. “I work with the patient’s primary care provider’s office; update records; work with insurance companies and design an individual preventive screening package based on health history and age.”
Another patient-oriented aspect of WISH is the integration of medical records from all providers, giving patients a single electronic medical record that encompasses all treatments, including doctor appointments, pharmacy visits and hospital stays. This allows for all University of Colorado Hospital providers to access their patients’ medical histories. The next phase of the program will be to incorporate a secure Web site that enables patients to review and manage their health care online.
WISH offers experts in more than 80 specialty and sub-specialty services to treat or assist with health issues including Alzheimer’s, arthritis, depression/anxiety, heart disease, chronic pain, anti-aging/cosmetic procedures, cancer, diabetes, complementary and alternative medicine, genetic counseling, irritable bowel syndrome, nutrition/weight loss, infertility, sports medicine, menopause, osteoporosis, primary care, research studies, sleep disorders, etc.
For more information, visit WishForWomen.org.
