Rancho Family Medical Group and UC San Diego Health Enter into an Exclusive Affiliation

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UC San Diego Health and Rancho Family Medical Group (RFMG) announced today that they have entered into an exclusive strategic affiliation designed to enhance the delivery of high-quality care to patients in Southwest Riverside County.  

Walter Combs, MD, chairman, Rancho Family Medical Group

“Both Rancho Family and UC San Diego have a long history of providing high-quality patient care and I believe this partnership will significantly boost medical services offered to our community,” said Walter Combs, MD, chairman of Rancho Family Medical Group.

The affiliation will provide RFMG with the opportunity to combine its signature local health care with the expertise of UC San Diego Health, among the nation’s top academic medical systems.

“Patients desire personalized care within their local community, but they also want it to be delivered at a level of quality consistent with academic health systems,” said RFMG CEO Josh Snow. “Our affiliation with UC San Diego Health will achieve the well-balanced intersection between local, personalized care and academic health system quality. This affiliation is another step in our ongoing pursuit to deliver the best possible care to our patients in the communities in which they work and live.”

Josh Snow, CEO, Rancho Family Medical Group

The partnership between UC San Diego Health and RFMG is designed to elevate primary care standards in the local area and create a larger, cost-effective, clinically integrated network of care. RFMG will continue to operate as its own entity, in alliance with UC San Diego Health Physician Network (UCSDHPN), as the family practice hub for the Southwest Riverside Network.

“Our mutual goal is for Rancho Family patients and residents to not only enjoy access to the best possible health care locally, but also be able to take advantage of the expertise and resources of an academic health system with proven experience and excellence in treating complicated conditions, frequently through new or original therapies and discoveries,” said Patty Maysent, CEO, UC San Diego Health.  

Rancho Family Medical Group will continue to collaborate with local specialists for excellence in care, but if needed, RFMG patients will also have access to tertiary and quaternary care services at UC San Diego Health. These include highly specialized and advanced diagnostic imaging, surgical, oncologic, neurologic, and cardiac services, along with clinical trial interventions typically available only in academic health centers. Additionally, due to their status as an Accountable Care Organization, Medicare patients will experience high-quality coordination of care between UC San Diego Health and Rancho Family Medical Group.

Through a shared strategic plan, RFMG and UC San Diego Health will recruit physicians; develop customized clinical programs based on local patient population needs; and integrate information technologies and care pathways to improve clinical outcomes, practice protocols and patient satisfaction. RFMG’s health care providers will also hold faculty positions with UC San Diego Health, and participate in the training of medical residents from UC San Diego School of Medicine.

Patty Maysent, CEO, UC San Diego Health

UCSDHPN is a collective of regional health care providers that includes UC San Diego Health and faculty physicians, community hospitals, medical groups and physicians based in San Diego, Riverside and Imperial counties. Affiliates of UCSDHPN collaborate to develop systems, infrastructure, care pathways and quality initiatives that provide excellent health care and value for patients, health plans and employers.

RFMG has been a fixture in Southwest Riverside County since 1942. It is the oldest family practice group in Temecula Valley. In recent years, the growth of Rancho Family has been significant, expanding from Fallbrook to Hemet to include eight clinics and more than 30 primary care providers. All providers are board-certified in family practice or internal medicine and many hold staff positions within local hospitals.

For many years, UC San Diego Health has been top ranked in San Diego by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals, with nationally recognized clinical excellence in eight specialties. It is comprised of UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest, Jacobs Medical Center, Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center, Shiley Eye Institute and Moores Cancer Center in La Jolla, plus numerous primary and specialty practices located throughout Southern California.