Blog

Raising the Bar on Patient Care

In the fall of 2017, the Angel Harvey Family Health Center began a new service model known as Care Coordination.  Since then, our Pediatric Care Coordinators have helped IWS to ‘raise the bar’ on patient care.

purple team 5Pediatric Care Coordinators have made an enormous impact on the quality of care we provide our patient families by connecting families to life-enhancing services both inside and outside our family health center home.  The patient-centered Care Coordination model is a “deliberate organization of patient care activities between two or more participants involved in a patient’s care to facilitate the appropriate delivery of healthcare services”. Our families are always happy to let the Care Coordinators know how much the support they receive from Care Coordinators means to them.

When a young pregnant mother along with her autistic child moved to Chicago from Guatemala, they had little to no resources.  Relocating to the United States is no small feat, and the family faced many challenges and barriers. One of her toughest challenges was finding the support to help her understand and navigate some of Chicago’s systems and locating community resources like food and clothing. In the patient’s own words, “I am thankful for the support that I received through Care Coordination. I received resources available in my community and I was able to enroll my child in a child development program because of the support that I received. I’m very grateful.”

Our Pediatric Care Coordinators work with the medical assistant and the provider to complete the circle of care for patients. Pediatric Care Coordinators provide health education to parents and families, resource referrals and follow up with patients and families if they miss appointments, among other services. Currently, the care coordination model is available exclusively for the pediatric department. Keep in touch for updates about this and other programs and services at the Angel Harvey Family Health Center.

Dr. Tara Ioffe

Family Practice

Dr. Tara Ioffe is a dedicated and compassionate Board-Certified Family Medicine physician with a strong commitment to providing excellent care to her patients. She obtained her medical degree from Avalon University in Curacao and went on to complete her Family Medicine Residency at the University of Oklahoma. She has worked at the University of Chicago and most recently NorthShore University. She has since returned to Chicago and is thrilled to join the IWS Family Health team in 2023, where she will continue to provide excellent care to her patients.

Throughout her career, Dr. Ioffe has gained experience in diverse medical fields, such as immediate and urgent care medicine while working at NorthShore Immediate Care. She did clinical research at the University of Chicago. Dr. Ioffe strives to foster a secure and inclusive environment for all her patients. She believes in an integrated approach to medicine, dedicating her time to understand each patient’s unique needs.

During her leisure time, Dr. Ioffe indulges in reading a variety of books for pleasure, plays boardgames, and loves to explore Chicago with her spouse and young child.